The ongoing work of parish development is essential for parishes and congregations that wish to become and remain sustainable and thriving. Our Parish Development Subcommittee, after broad consultation, has identified eight pillars that are given attention and care within parishes that are thriving. The insights of the School for Parish Ministry Development have also been incorporated into this work.
During our consultation process, many people across our diocese told us that they “didn’t even know where to begin” to improve the health of their parish. This self-assessment tool was designed to help address that concern. This tool is intended for use by parish and congregational councils across our diocese. As the title suggests, this is a self-assessment tool. The results of the assessment will remain within your parish leadership, and they do not have to be reported back to anyone else. It is not a test. It is meant to be a helpful tool.
Parishes are invited to engage this form of self-assessment in a way that would be most helpful to their particular context. If you find yourself in an Area Parish, or a Multi-Point Parish, you might want to have each congregational council or leadership do its own assessment. It may also make more sense for you to use it with leadership at a higher level in the parish. However you feel your parish leadership will get the most honest and helpful information is the right way to do this.
Once you have completed the assessment, the results should direct you to the areas of parish development that are most in need of some attention. This section of the Learning Commons Matrix will have a series of links for things such as an introduction to the topic at hand, resources for your parish to use if deemed helpful to you, a list of best practices, and in some cases, videos and contact information for those who might be able to help with the topic.
No matter the results of your assessment, every parish will have full access to all of the resources and insights for the eight areas of parish development. If you’re keen, dive right in. Otherwise, it is our hope that this self-assessment will be of help as you begin your journey towards becoming a thriving and sustainable parish through the insights of parish development.
Frequently Asked Questions
A. This is a self-assessment tool; it is not a report card for the Bishop’s office. The results of your assessment will only be known by your parish council and anyone you choose to share it with. The tool is intended to help give an idea as to where your most important parish work could start. You are not limited by the assessment, nor will anyone be judged or graded by the assessment.
A. During the Shape of Parish Ministry consultation, our diocese leadership received a lot of feedback from parishes saying that they were unsure as to how they could respond to the challenges within the congregation and wider parish. Intentional parish development provides direction and best practices to parishes who wish to begin finding a way to address the challenges in their particular context.
A. To be clear, this is not another list of tasks for the Incumbent to take on. Parish development is the work of all members of parish leadership. In fact, it is advised that this self-assessment is done by parish council, with support from the Incumbent, not by the Incumbent themselves. Once the areas of need are identified, it will be up to all parish leadership to enable, equip, raise up, and support parish leaders as they take on the work ahead.
A. Our subcommittee wanted our Learning Commons to have information on the topics that were specific to the needs of our diocese. It was with that in mind that we tailored the areas of development to respond to the concerns raised from our diocesan consultations.
A. Yes and no.
Each parish is expected to engage in parish development. However, how you do so is up to the leadership of your parish. Not every parish is the same and so tailor your engagement in a way that makes the most sense. Use the tool to get started if you’d like. Or you can systematically look at each of the eight areas of the Learning Commons as a council together if that’s a better way. Maybe each congregation within your parish specializes in one or two of the areas and then leads them for the rest of the parish. Find the way that works best for you.
A. Yes. Should you need some help going over the tool, or navigating next steps, please reach out to the Parish Development Subcommittee and we will be happy to help.
A. Your parish clergy can help define the terms, or can point you to resources on our diocesan website that can help.