A three-year long study draws to a close

Diocesan churches serving more than 800,000 Catholics engaged in a lengthy period of self-study and reflection and came up with goals they shared with other churches in their regions.

The last of 12 major regional confabs involving nearly 2,000 majority-lay leaders was held Sunday, and the 131 ministry teams that were formed out of the process are now working on specific ways local churches can work together.

Catholics filling out surveys after Sunday Mass or by mail were asked to rate how well their parish was doing in 39 categories. On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 meaning they were not at all satisfied to 7 indicating the services were very well done, parishioners gave a mean score of 5 or higher in 37 areas of ministry.

The scores fell below 5 only in the categories of outreach to non-practicing Catholics and educating the flock on other major world religions.

In relative terms, the surveys exposed some differences between what parishioners want most and what the church is doing especially well.

For example, the two areas of ministry most important to parishioners were having spiritually moving Masses and a supporting, caring environment in their churches. But churchgoers ranked those areas 18th and 21st respectively in evaluating their church’s performance.

There you have the problem: Lengthy periods of self-study. Endless meetings to reflect on ourselves. How about this: study the Gospels. Then do it.