Meet Maria Schram, a 34-year veteran of Catholic education. Beyond her deep understanding of Catholic school leadership, her team-building mindset, and focus on Catholic Identity will make her an amazing consultant and resource for our clients.
Schools
Tending to your Faculty’s Faith Formation for Stronger Catholic Identity
Catholic Identity is a key element of a thriving Catholic school. In most Catholic schools, their Catholic identity is visible on the walls and in their traditions around the liturgical year. If you ask, most people in Catholic schools would say that they value their school’s Catholic identity, and that their Catholic identity is good. It is important, though, not to settle into thinking that Catholic identity is just something you have, and not also something you continually do. Let me offer an explanation of what I mean.
In our home, my wife has two impressive houseplants. One is a Christmas cactus (which is really more of a Thanksgiving cactus). It doesn’t take much work – occasional watering is all it needs. It’s rather ordinary most of the year, but each November it puts a lot of energy into generating an abundance of beautiful flowers. The other houseplant is a hibiscus. The hibiscus is less effusive but more consistent than the cactus. For much of the year it generally produces several flowers each week. The consistent flowering, though, requires consistent work. My wife waters it every other day, pinches off the leaves that have turned yellow, fertilizes it from time to time, turns it every so often so that it grows more evenly, inspects it for bugs (washing them off as needed), and moves it outside in the summer and inside in the winter.
Given a choice, most people would want the Christmas cactus instead of the Hibiscus. In the midst of our busy lives, it’s nice to have something that is low maintenance. I have come to realize, though, that while my wife likes the Christmas cactus, she loves the hibiscus. And I would propose that she loves it precisely because she cares for it daily.
We don’t want the Catholic identity in our schools to be a Christmas cactus – something we celebrate during important holidays and then simply water occasionally the rest of the year. We want our Catholic identity to be a hibiscus plant that we are regularly watering, fertilizing, turning, inspecting, and even pinching.
I was struck recently by a quotation from James Clear, author of the book Atomic Habits. He writes, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” There’s a lot of truth to that. Setting a goal for a strong Catholic identity is not enough; our schools need to have systems in place, habits of regularly nurturing faith, in the same way that my wife has systems and habits of care for her hibiscus plant.
And even though we who work in schools are always thinking of our students, I would propose that it’s important to begin by focusing on the faith lives and the faith formation of the faculty and staff in the school. If we have systems and habits of care to keep the faith of the adults alive and growing, then that faith will flow out to touch the faith of the students as well.
While it is good to set aside a couple of in-service days each year for classes to help faculty and staff have an informed faith, it’s even better to also have systems that share small bits of knowledge regularly – a little about this Gospel reading one week, a little about that saint the next week, a little about a particular part of the liturgy the week after that.
While it is good to have a retreat each year to help faculty and staff have a heartfelt faith, it’s even better to also have systems that regularly give them moments of quiet reflection, experiences of meaningful prayer, images or music that lift their spirits.
And if we want to help faculty and staff have a faith that is connected to their life and their ministry, we need to have systems that engage them in bringing those connections to the surface – small conversations in groups of three at each faculty meeting, for example, where teachers are invited to talk about what happened in their classroom that week and then pick a Gospel story that connects with those experiences.
The presence of an informed, heartfelt, and connected faith in each faculty and staff member is not something we can take for granted, and it’s not something that can be accomplished through a goal and a couple of days on the school calendar. Like my wife’s hibiscus that thrives from her regular watering, inspecting, turning, and fertilizing, a living faith among your school’s adults is the product of regular, patient, caring, attention. It is a product of love.
4 ways your parish can avoid a long slow death
The Parish Pastoral Council and Strategic Planning
Most parish pastoral councils operate on a year-to-year basis with little focus on the long-term future. Many are unaware of the community trends which are impacting the parish or the changing patterns of membership, sacramental practice, and finances. Few see the need for a strategy for the future, instead placing their hopes on a return to the “good old days.” Around the country, parishes are dying slow deaths because there is no intentional or organized attempt to change their trajectories. The smaller a parish becomes, the more difficult it is to overcome the forces of decline.
Long-range planning is not something that can be done every year. For parishes who regularly long-range plan, they usually do so every decade. It takes time to develop a plan, organize the implementation, and then get results. That is why it is essential to use the services of someone who has experience in parish or pastoral planning as a consultant. Objectivity is critical in an effective planning effort. Community and parish data need to be analyzed and any recommendations must be grounded in these objective realities. If a parish wants to build a building, they will not proceed without the services of an architect or a design-builder. The same is true if a parish wants to conduct a large capital campaign. They will hire a fund-raiser to determine the financial potential for the campaign as well as conduct the campaign itself. As important as the future is to the parish, why would a planning consultant not be hired?
Here are several important understandings to know before you begin a long-range planning effort.
- It is easier to plan something quantitatively than qualitatively. For example, a number of parishes primary planning experience has been with a building project. Parishes can identify the cost, raise the money, and then watch the building being constructed. These efforts are visible to parishioners and not every parishioner needs to contribute to the project to make it happen. People can see the results of the effort develop right before their eyes.
- Qualitative goals are more challenging to achieve. There are few parishes in the country – although I have run into some – who would not welcome new members, especially young adults. If only all that had to be done was to hang out a sign saying, “new members welcome” or “young adults welcome here.” It takes coordinated effort, resources, formation, and time for parishes to reach out to those who not currently worshiping with them. The level of difficulty also applies if the parish is trying to improve the quality of ministerial programs, such as the academic or formation program in the school or faith formation program.
- Set reasonable and measurable goals. Parishes tend to either establish no metrics to determine whether they are getting results or metrics that are unreasonable. If a parish sets a goal of increasing young adult membership and then does not track those members or see any increase, the strategy which was devised is likely flawed and should be rethought. A parish that wants a 100% increase in young adult involvement in the parish is setting itself up for disappointment. Achievable goals are preferable to “pie-in-the-sky” ones. A future blog will address some of the metrics which parishes should be monitoring and trying to improve.
- A qualified consultant will form the parish pastoral council to monitor and guide the implementation of a pastoral plan. Since “planning for pastoral activity” is the primary role of the council, the members will assist the groups which will directly implement the goals and will conduct the ongoing evaluation of the progress of the implementation.
Most parishes are formed or were formed by some significant population event or events. In most cases, the establishment of a parish followed the population growth in a specific geographical area. In most cases, this was a one-time event as the area was eventually “built out.”. Parishes in metro and city areas thrived, then experienced decline, and now are seeing people return to the cities. Suburban and ex-urban parishes are also experiencing transitions as their populations' age and economic makeup change. Rural parishes have been especially hard hit as the agricultural economy has moved from the small farm to agribusiness leaving few jobs for the young to afford to stay in the area. All these trends and transitions can be addressed by a comprehensive planning process led by a qualified consultant.
Is it time for your parish to develop a strategic plan for the future?
Meitler Minute
Most clients never meet our project coordinators in person, but they are a vital part of the Meitler Way. Tina Heding explains how she and her colleagues help support each client’s project and mission behind the scenes.
Meitler at 50: A Glance Back…
Thank you for joining us as we look back over our first 50 years. Here is to the next 50!
