St. Columba is partnering with Catholic Leadership Institute to become a “Next Generation Parish” during a 4-year program beginning this Advent. Together, our parish family will unite in faith to forge a renewed path, bringing hope and Christ’s love into our community. We want to leverage the best of what we have to offer, while we develop a plan for St. Columba that will transform our future, and embrace Christ’s vision for missionary discipleship so our parish can thrive and be a place for others to grow together in faith.  This is our personal invitation for each of you to become involved with developing the growth and vibrancy that you envision for our parish. The first step is completed, the exciting opportunity for our parishioners to assess our greatest opportunities and strengths.  The Disciple Maker Index survey is an important tool that will help us do just that. Thanks to all who completed this survey!!

As we envision the future together, we will work to grow into what we call a Next Generation Parish. Over the next four years, we will:

● Assess our greatest opportunities and strengths

● Develop a plan to move into the future

● Cultivate a deeper missionary spirit within the community

Please hold this intention in your prayers over the next four years, as our community continues to grow, guided by the Holy Spirit.

PROGRESS REPORT:

As you recall, in Advent all the members of Saint Columba parish were strongly encouraged to participate in a parish-wide survey. The results of the survey were entered into a “Disciple Maker Index” which is a database that summarized the responses and views. This data will be examined carefully to analyze and prioritize needs and concerns of parishioners from different ages, genders, ethnicities, marital and family statuses.

We are now entering PHASE TWO of this process, in which this information , along with interview comments and parish staff recommendations, will be integrated. An Envisioning Team has been formed, using the recommendations of the Catholic Leadership Institute, and representing a cross-section from our parish who will dedicate many meetings and hours to analyze this data and develop a PRIORITY PLAN. The Envisioning Team members are:

The Team will be led by  Mrs. Lucille Smith, the Catholic Leadership Institute’s Leadership Consultant assigned to our parish, of the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), an organization based in Philadelphia, PA of former business executives all of whom are active Catholics. The Team used a systematic analysis presented by the CLI. This method has been adopted and used successfully by hundreds of parishes across the USA to develop their priority plans.

The Next Generation Parish experience takes approximately four years to come to fruition. During this time, different groups will be active at different times. Please prayerfully consider if God is calling you to serve one or more committee throughout this process.

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