Community Building (Saturday, September 26, 1:00-3:00)

The report on Community Building is concerned with the complex community of St. Camillus - how we maintain unity and diversity, and the right hand might be better informed on what the left is doing.  The report examines how St. Camillus builds and refines its image of what it can and should be, including how long-range planning is done, how the Parish Council works, and how congregants are informed and invited to participate.   The report asks about communication between the many communities of St. Camillus, and how that communication can be improved.  It also looks at some of the ways a sense of community is built, such as through social events and, small Christian communities, and asks the question: How does St. Camillus build and reinforce a sense of larger community, both within the parish and as part of the larger community of believers? 

Report from the Community Building Working Groups (7 groups total)

The working groups in this category examined pastoral planning, the role of the Parish Council, communications, social opportunities and small groups.  Questions were asked to determine if those responsible for a ministry perceive their work differently than those who are the beneficiaries.  We discovered that there was a general consensus shared across these groups in regard to key strengths and weaknesses in these areas.  The groups began with consideration of what they perceived to be the key values informing the ministries of our parish.  Across many communities, the answers focused on our celebrations of the holy Mass.   Groups also noted the Franciscan character of the parish.  One group described it as a “nobody dictates, everybody collaborates” style of leadership, and others noted the preferential option for the poor, awareness of our blessedness and of our ability to make a difference in the lives of many people, and a sense of welcome and kindness.  Moreover, many of the participants in these survey groups pointed out the inclusive, charismatic and socially committed quality of our parish and its leadership.  

Building a Shared Vision: Pastoral Planning 

English Group:  This group was comprised of English-speaking representatives from the various language groups existing in our parish. In the group discussion on long-term planning, it was noted that St. Camillus has made an effort over the years to engage parishioners in a planning process. However, in the view of this group, the hard part has consistently been getting people to take part in these efforts.

In the individual survey, the group questions about pastoral planning rated on average below a score of 2 (“Adequately”).  This may be due to dissatisfaction, or due to uncertainty about the outcome of the relatively new Best Practices for Parishes (BPP) program.  The group gave the highest score (2) to the statement, “The parish involves as many parishioners as possible in a credible planning process led by the pastoral council.”  No other question yielded a 2 (“Adequately”) or higher.  The question that yielded the lowest score of 1 ( “to some extent”) was the statement: “A significant percentage of individuals/households participate in the planning process.”  This perhaps reflects a sense that a smaller than ideal group of people are willing to be involved, even if they are invited.  In general, the group judged that the parish’s commitment to planning is satisfactory.  Nevertheless, the availability of resources and the commitment to implement these plans at the level of individual ministries are lagging behind.  

Key Recommendations: 

• Each community needs to be aware of the parish events calendar, pay attention to it, and respect the needs of other groups.  All groups that want to reserve a space at the church/school facility should be given a specific set of criteria to follow.   In addition to it, there has to be an effective mechanism for enforcing these rules.   There have to be clear rules about using space at our campus.    Groups should not overextend time of their meetings.  

• Organize a one day parish retreat that would focus on fostering unity among the diverse groups that make up our parish – perhaps it could be done in a tri-lingual fashion while giving people opportunity to pray, cook, eat together, and to get to know one another.  

Spanish Group: This group also rated questions regarding pastoral planning consistently below a score of 2.  The highest score they gave (1.7) was to the statement “Leaders remain mindful of and committed to implementing the parish vision and goals throughout the life of the plan.”  The lowest score (1) was given to the same question that received the lowest score from the previous group: “A significant percentage of individuals/households participate in the planning process.”

Key Recommendations:

•Parishioners should be informed about the progress of the implementation of the pastoral plans.

•The groups in the parish should be informed about the parish plan, and periodically be assessed on how well they implement or support the parish plan in their respective areas of ministry.  

•The catechists and personnel at St. Camillus church should be evaluated regularly.

French Group: This group also rated the questions consistently below a score of 2.  Like the Spanish group, the highest score they gave (1.82) was to the statement “Leaders remain mindful of and committed to implementing the parish vision and goals throughout the life of the plan.”  They gave the lowest score (1.18) to the statement “All parish committees and ministry groups study the parish plan to determine how to implement it in their respective areas.”  The group noted that St. Camillus has a vision and goals, but they need to be stated more clearly, and that communication among the many multicultural communities should be improved.

Key Recommendations:

•The Parish should establish priorities, and assess to what degree the various groups of the parish  are acting on these priorities.

•The parish should create a Task Force Committee to periodically evaluate the implementation of the 3-5 year ministerial plan at St. Camillus Church.

•There has to be a greater investment on the part of the parish to develop and enhance the ministerial capacity of our lay leaders.

Building a Shared Vision: Parish Council.

Parish Council Group:  The members of our Parish Council perceived that diversity is one of their great strengths.  However, despite the significant role that it plays in the ministries of our parish, the Parish Council remains invisible to many of our parishioners. The Parish Council self-identified their strengths as meeting regularly to advise the pastor, identifying pastoral needs and making recommendations (2.45).  It also identified as strength its ability to support and promote the vision of this community (2.36).  The group expressed a collective optimism about these strengths and shared the hope that the Best Practices for Parishes (BPP) process would help to bring about a sharpened and shared vision for our parish.  The group identified its weaknesses as (1.36) “Members of the Council are recognized leaders in the community and available to parishioners for feedback and input.”  It identified the following statement as a second weakness (1.45) “Council members facilitate collaboration among parish groups by fostering dialogue, exchanging shared wisdom, and problem-solving mutual concerns.”  The Council doesn’t believe that the parishioners see them in an ombudsman role but was not entirely convinced that they should occupy such a role.  

Key Recommendations:

•.  Make the selection process for Parish Council members more widely known.  Review and assess the current model for the selection of Parish Council members.  

•Make the members of the Parish Council more widely known so that parishioners would be able to share with them their concerns and hopes for our parish..

Non-Parish Council Group: This group was only very slightly more critical of the Parish Council than the Council were of themselves.  In the group discussion about the Parish Council, it was noted that no one knows who they are, or what a Parish Council does.  The answers on average rated below a score of 2 (“Adequately”), suggesting that the role of the Parish Council is either not well understood, or that the Parish Council may not be adequately communicating and collaborating with other lay leaders of our Church.  The selection process for Parish Council received the highest score (1.9) from among the questions asked.  The parish-wide recognition of the Council, and responsiveness of the Council members to feedback and input received the lowest score (1.45), suggesting a weakness that needs to be addressed.

Key Recommendations:

• Develop ways in which the members of the Parish Council could be more easily identifiable and accessible to our wider parish community.  Among the ideas offered were: posting their pictures, holding a commissioning during the Mass to highlight their role and responsibilities, having them wear name tags, or perhaps listening their names in the bulletin..     

• Identify clearly the responsibility of the Parish Council.

• Be more intentional about the need of the members of the Parish Council to communicate and coordinate their activities across our diverse language and cultural groups. 

Building a Shared Vision: Communications.

Communications Ministry Group: The Communications Ministry group believes that communications in the parish are still inadequate.  .  However, they did note the recent improvements such as the new website.  A user-friendly bulletin was identified as strength (2.14 on the scale of 0-3) They identified the most significant weakness (0.57) in the statement, “The parish uses a variety of media in an effort to improve two-way communication.”

Key Recommendations:

• Establish a facebook group for the parish and its ministries.

•Provide a facilities map on the website, update driveway and other signs to be more accurate.

•Ask the county for a green street sign with an arrow off New Hampshire Avenue to help people locate St. Camillus.

•Design standing brochures (with graphics) for each ministry, and  make them available in the back of the church. 

•Identify ways to incorporate some French material into the bulletin, even if we can’t have the whole bulletin in a third language.

•Improve clarity of announcements made at the end of Sunday Mass by: noting when more information is available in the bulletin, rehearsing announcements in advance, posting announcements on the website or on a bulletin board in addition to reading them

•Welcome new people before mass (instead of at the end of mass), 

•Make a visitor’s packet available for those who stand up when welcomed at the Mass.  The visitor’s package should contain a visitor’s card to be completed and returned, and should contain a paragraph which captures the essence of St. Camillus parish and a listing of activities/events.  

Group not involved in Communications Ministry: This group viewed communications as being overall less than adequate.  The question that scored the highest was: “The distinct communities of the parish feel welcomed and heard by the Pastor,” with a score of 2.55, which is between “Adequately” and “Very much so.”  This reflected a strong sense of the group that our pastoral leadership is one of the parish’s great strengths.  The parish also received high marks for: “As needed, the parish provides translations for non-English speaking immigrants” with a score of 2.45.  The lowest score overall (1.5) was for the parish’s use of “a variety of media in an effort to improve two-way communication.”  

Key Recommendations:

• Improve communications between the ministry groups and make it the top priority.

• Create more opportunities for our diverse community to come together and celebrate.  

• Encourage priests, brothers, and congregants to visit other masses.

• Organize key prayer and social events together to improve communications across communities.  (see Social Events for details) 

• Hold an Open House to help people be more familiar with all the facilities on our campus.  

Community Building Strategies: Small Christian Communities (SCC)

Spanish Group: The Parish has formally organized Small Christian Communities only within the Spanish community.  The Spanish group felt that St. Camillus has real strengths in this area.  They gave the highest score (2.63) to the statement “The Parish encourages membership in SCCs through homilies, witness talks, etc.”  They gave a similarly high score (2.42) to the statement “Prayer and Scripture are essential elements in the gatherings of our parish SCCs.”  However, their overall assessment of such communities at St. Camillus was mixed, as they gave very low scores (0.42 and 0.85) to the statements, “The Members of the small communities regularly get together” and “The parish provides resources (meeting time and space) as we are able to support groups in this community.”  

English Group: The English group which reviewed the question of Small Faith Communities had much lower overall satisfaction.  All scores, including the highest score (1.67), remained below “adequate.”  The group gave the highest score to the statement “Prayer and Scripture are essential elements in the gatherings of our SCCs.”   The group gave very low scores (0 and 0.6) to the statements “The parish encourages membership in SCCs” and “The percentage of parishioners who are members of SCCs is growing.”  The group noted, however, that we might define SCCs differently.  They noted that communities at St. Camillus are often formed around a mission or shared apostolate, such as St. Francis Builds.  They also noted that the Advent/Lent prayer groups attract about 300 participants each season: 200 in Spanish, 100 in English.  This group considered Teams of Our Lady, Servant Leadership, JustFaith and the Choirs as Small Christian Communities.  

Key Recommendations:

•Establish service-oriented small Christian communities that would then could meet the pastoral needs such as prison outreach, homeless shelter outreach, and hospital outreach.

•Improve ministry to the sick – they are not often visited by anyone from our Church.

•Establish a ministry to help assist with funerals.

•Re-invigorate the Lenten and Advent small prayer groups in English.  They have not been promoted for several years.  Consider establishing them in the French community.

•Make an effort to identify and support the existing Small Christian Communities – many exist within St. Camillus, but are not recognized or supported.

• Institute a formal program to welcome new people into the Small Christian Communities or other Adult Faith Formation programs.

Community Building Strategies: Social Opportunities

This group recognized that the provision of social opportunities is strength of St. Camillus, awarding a (2.16) to the statement “The Parish provides resources to promote social events.”  The group noted, however, that the most significant weakness was reflected in the low score given (1.25) to the statement “Long –term parishioners include and mentor newcomers to allow turnover in leadership roles for social events.”  The group noted a tendency to tap the same people over and over – and this tendency is not limited to social events.  A low score (1.3) was also given to the statement “Special efforts are made to invite and include newcomers, minority groups, and other marginal members to social events.”  The group noted that efforts to include the Langley Park community are very limited, and wondered if social events are the best way to welcome groups. 

The idea of improving communication in the parish by organizing key events together was given high priority by several of the groups that met to discuss community building, not only the group that met specifically to discuss social opportunities.  

Key Recommendations: 

•Fun events, such as pot lucks and musical celebrations, bring our diverse communities together.  St. Camillus should continue to seek to host events that involve food, children and games.  Organizing a soccer game or tournament was among the suggestions. 

•Events should be advertised in all languages – even if they are targeted to a specific language group in the parish

•The various parish communities need to come together and begin working together far in advance for true collaboration to occur.

•Increase the number of social events following the Sunday Masses.  (One suggestion was to offer wine and cheese after the evening Masses)

The group noted that there are a set of specific problems that create tensions between various communities in the church.  The following suggestions aim at reducing these tensions:

Key Recommendations:

• Each community needs to abide by the parish events calendar and respect the needs of other groups.  Space should be scheduled and posted in a more clear fashion.  Clear guidelines about the use of space at our parish campus should be available and distributed to all groups.

•Traffic between Masses is a key point of tension.  Participation and enforcement from all the communities may ease tensions between communities.    Traffic is an important ministry.  The parish needs to introduce those involved in this challenging ministry, ask for additional volunteers, and thank those who do serve.

•Repeat some announcements until they sink in - regarding, cell phones, food and children’s behavior- from the pulpit.  Disrespect ruins the mass for others.  Some felt that people should be encouraged to correct other people’s children when they misbehave.  

•Use of bathrooms in the corridor near the sacristy leads to a disruptive traffic.   Restrict the use of bathrooms near the sacristy during the Mass, making available only those bathrooms in the vestibule of the church.