AN UPDATE FROM FR. MARK ON THE MISSION ALIGNMENT SURVEY

July 10, 2022
Last fall our Diocese, under the guidance of our Bishop, began the “Mission Alignment Process” or MAP for short. The goal of MAP is to realign the resources of the Diocese (personnel, buildings, properties, and finances) to better accomplish the mission Jesus left us to “…go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19). As part of the MAP process, last fall every person in the Diocese of Oakland was invited to participate in a survey.
  
I am very grateful for the response our community made to the survey. We had 1,963 surveys completed! That is 71% of our attendance before COVID, and more than those who attend Masses at CCOP now. In terms of survey response, those numbers are enormous. The Catholic Leadership Institute, who created the survey, hoped to have an 8-10% response from parishioners. Thank you for your participation.
  
Today I want to share with you a few interesting results from the MAP survey. Of those who participated, 87% indicated they were Catholic, 9% said they were Catholic once but no longer consider themselves as such and 4% said they were not Catholic.
  
Interestingly, 30% of respondents say they never attend Mass. Given that Sunday Mass is the primary experience most people have of their parish, 30% of respondents never having that experience will impact their answers to many of the other survey questions.
  
That being said, when it came to Sunday Mass, 45% of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree with each of these statements:
  • They find our community welcoming
  • They feel we offer engaging and vibrant Sunday liturgies
  • The music encourages and deepens their engagement in the Mass
  • Preaching helps them connect faith to their daily life.
  
Our top strengths are:
  • 59% of respondents have individual prayer time with God either daily (37%) or weekly (22%).
  • 53% of respondents agree or strongly agree that the Eucharist is really the Body and Blood of Christ.
  • 49% of respondents agree or strongly agree that Scripture is the word of God.
  • 48% of respondents either agree or strongly agree they would recommend their pastor to a friend.
  • 46% of respondents attend Mass daily (4%) or weekly (42%).
  
Our top opportunities for growth are for the parish to equip parishioners to have conversations about faith with family and friends by:
  • Teaching me how to share my personal witness story (only 21% agree or strongly agree we do this)
  • Teaching me how to share the story of Jesus (28% agree or strongly agree we do this)
  • Growing my confidence in the church’s teachings so I can answer other’s questions (29% agree or strongly agree we do this)
  
Obviously if our mission is to “...go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19), these three opportunities to learn how to share our faith are something we will have to address. There is also clearly plenty of opportunity in our strengths as well as improving our Sunday Mass experience.
  
This fall, the leadership bodies of our community will be working to plan our course as a parish in light of the MAP Survey responses, the Synod responses as well as other observations and experiences in the parish. In the meantime, let us keep each other and our community in prayer, that we may hear and respond well to wherever God is leading us. Have a blessed week!

- Fr. Mark
VIDEOS & LINKS
DO YOU NEED A PRINTED COPY?
If you would like a printed version of the survey to complete by hand, please contact Olga Morineau at the rectory office and you can arrange to pick one up or have it mailed to you. 
MISSION ALIGNMENT PROCESS PRAYER
Dear Father in heaven, look kindly upon the Diocese of Oakland as we take stock of the many gifts you have given us.

Send your Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us so that our efforts to proclaim the saving gospel our Lord Jesus Christ more effectively may bear tremendous fruit.

May we, as your people, courageously proceed on this path of self-reflection and renewal.

In the end, with your divine assistance, we know that we cannot fail.
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Holy Mary, Queen of the World and St. Francis de Sales, co-patrons of our Diocese, pray for us!