Schools

Trends in Catholicism

March 29, 2022

The largest study in the United States of religious belief, behavior, and practice is conducted every 4 to 5 years by MissionInsite. MissionInsite is a technology-based research group that provides data to thousands of organizations, mainly religious ones, around the country. They operate under the premise that “to love your neighbor, you must know your neighbor.” What follows is some key national research that impacts Catholicism. To benefit most from the research, it needs to be compared with the local situation. The results are from their 2022 study.

Religious Preference as Catholic

2012 – 23.1% of all Americans considered themselves Catholic
2022 – 24.9% consider themselves Catholic for an increase of 1.8% over the previous 10 years. The gain was greater for Catholicism than any other religious preference.

Observation: After a lengthy decline, the number of Americans who self-identify as Catholic is increasing. That does not mean, however, that the number of Catholics registering in parishes is also increasing.

Nones/No Religious Preference for a Congregation or Community

2012 – 23.6% of all Americans considered themselves “nones” or had no preference for a religious congregation or community
2022 – 20.8% consider themselves “nones” for a decrease of 2.8% during the previous 10 years. The decline was the greatest for all religious preferences.

Observation: After many years of increases, the number of nones is decreasing. That is a good sign but it is too early to determine what the ramifications may be.

Non-denominational/Independents (this includes many of the so-called “Big Box” churches)

2012 – 8.7% of all Americans considered themselves part of a non-denominational or independent religious community
2022 – 7.7% consider themselves part of a non-denominational community for a decrease of 1% during the previous 10 years.

Observation: For a period of time, non-denominational churches were making large in-roads among Catholics and mainstream Protestant denominations to the extent that they had become the second-largest denomination. That trend appears to be changing.

Baptist

2012 – 7.8% of all Americans considered themselves Baptist
2022 – 8.4% consider themselves Baptist for an increase of +.6% over the previous 10 years.

Observation: Not only is the number of Americans who self-identify as Baptist increasing, but all mainline Protestant denominations are also increasing. It seems that there is a trend away from being nones as well as joining non-denominational churches.

Percentage of Involvement of All Americans in a Religious Congregation or Community

4% are involved
6% are not involved

Observation: While there are some encouraging signs from this study, this data point is still cause for concern. Only about 1 of 3 Americans are involved in a religious congregation or community. This finding reinforces the need for Catholics in the United States to become more active in evangelization efforts. As the largest denomination, the Catholic Church is the only denomination with the size and resources to bring about a significant change and not just by focusing on Catholics or other denominations.

Trends Among Those Actively Involved in a Religious Congregation or Community

5% have made no change and are likely not to make a change
7% are likely to have ceased to be active
8% are likely to have become active again.

Observation: This finding can provide some helpful insights into the dynamics of a parish community. The vast majority of parishioners are stable in their connection to the parish. About 1 in 8 are thinking of either leaving the parish or becoming inactive. Another 1 of 25 are ready to become active.

Significance of Religious Faith to Life to All Americans (How important is faith in your life?)

23.5% no significance
15.9% minor significance
20.1% moderate significance
20.5% considerable significance
20.0% utmost significance

Observation: About 60% of Americans see faith as having a significant impact on their lives at least to a moderate degree. These populations can be reached to deepen their faith and to be motivated to a greater level of awareness about faith and life. The more difficult challenge from this survey point is to discover how to help people recognize the connection of faith with life so that there is a realization that faith can influence one’s life. This seems to be the survey area which indicates the influence which science and technology can have on faith.

Other research groups may arrive at different conclusions, but MissionInsite’s research is the largest and most in-depth study. What their research tells us has many implications for community life, community building as well as evangelization. The best way to use this research is to compare it with your own parish or diocese.

Dr. Mark Kemmeter

Fourth Source Funding for Schools

March 15, 2022

In Catholic schools, like other schools affiliated with a religious congregation, revenue comes from different sources. Primarily, tuition supplies the cash needed to operate a school. For elementary schools in particular and some high schools, parishes affiliated with the school provide subsidy to cover the gap between expenses and tuition revenue. This is the traditional second source of revenue. A third source of funding came from various contributions, such as extra collections at Sunday Mass aimed at the school or annual fundraisers in which parents and neighbors were invited to purchase candy, pizzas, and wrapping paper.

In the past decade or two, tuition has been stretched to the limit of some parents and is causing questions related to the school’s value proposition, that is, Is the school worth the cost? Subsidy from parishes in many cases is being capped, reduced, or even eliminated because parishes themselves are experiencing financial restrictions. An unfortunate result of the limits of the first two sources of funding is a dramatic expansion of fund-raising activities. The extra work involved in supporting their child’s sales activities, from “inviting” co-workers to buy this event’s item to simply buying enough items themselves to reach the child’s quota, has the potential to dissuade some parents from enrolling their child in a Catholic school. And the extra work for the school staff related to organizing and participating in these fundraisers is often exhausting and, frankly, unrelated to educating our youth.

Third source funding evolved and expanded, initially at the high school level, to emulate the development approach colleges were using. Creating a “case” for additional funds, such as tuition assistance, technology, upgraded facilities, etc., and presenting that case to philanthropic individuals or organizations resulted in more money for the school and less work for the parents. Elementary schools soon joined in this move to development and began reducing the number of fund-raising activities.

All of this fund-raising is independent of capital campaigns. Those are large projects aimed at building, expanding or renovating a school building. The money collected is aimed at a project and not at the annual operating budget. But a piece of many capital campaigns might have the potential to be spun off and reformed into what we are thinking of as a fourth source of funding.

In the 1980s and 90s, Catholic high schools and elementary schools looked to colleges for new ways to increase revenue and found development activities. Perhaps we can look again at colleges and see that they have another source of funding for annual budgets – endowments. While endowment contributions are often added to the case statement of capital campaigns, it is usually considered a low priority, as in “If someone wants to contribute to an endowment, we won’t say no.” One reason for this is that an endowment is hard to establish and takes years, decades really, to grow to a point where it can help the school. Assuming a school had a $100,000 endowment and was allowed to take 3-5% out annually, that would produce $3,000- $5,000. A $1,000,000 endowment would produce $30,000 - $50,000. While helpful, these amounts will not take care of six-figure deficits. An endowment must total in the millions of dollars to be truly effective. At this point school administrators and board members throw up their hands and say it can’t be done. That is correct in the short term. Without an extraordinary contribution, endowments take many years to grow to a sufficient level to be effective. But if we don’t ever start trying to establish a functional endowment, it will never happen. If we start now, the next generation of school administrators might be able to maintain the school’s viability.

When we say that endowments, independent of capital campaigns, are potentially a fourth source of school funding, we mean for those who follow us in years to come. If we don’t act now to secure the future of our Catholic schools, our legacy to that future might be only photographs of what once was.

Rick Pendergast

The Role of Ministry Committees and Teams

March 1, 2022

Over the years I have heard pastors comment on their councils with words similar to these, “our parish council is all talk and no action.” The pastoral council’s role is to assist the pastor with planning for pastoral activity. In order for them to plan, the council needs working groups. Councils are not working groups. They make the work of the people involved in pastoral activity easier and more effective.

Councils need committees or ministry teams and not just the pastoral council. Effective finance councils should also have established committees that carry out special tasks entrusted to the finance council. Every finance council, for example, should have a buildings and grounds committee. How can the finance council possibly monitor everything that needs to be done to the facilities and property which make up the parish? They need experts or qualified people in these areas as well as a committee or team which can devote an entire meeting to that area of administration.

If a parish has staff members, there should be a personnel committee that develops a manual for employees, reviews and determines benefits, works on salary ranges and job descriptions, and assists the pastor with job interviews as well as personnel issues. It is difficult to imagine in this digital age that a parish would not have a technology committee. Who is monitoring the update of the parish’s current technology, setting up a rotation for the introduction and replacement of computer systems, and studying and recommending new technology? Some parishes have other committees for investments, legal matters, and endowments. A finance council simply does not have enough time or expertise to do all these things plus review and monitor the parish finances.

Pastoral councils should have several essential committees or ministry teams based on Avery Dulles’ classic work, Models of the Church, which is rooted in the Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47. All institutional matters are addressed by the finance council. Pastoral councils should have an evangelization and catechesis committee, a worship and spirituality committee, a social concerns and pastoral care committee, and a community building and communication committee. These four areas address the mission and ministry of the Church. Parishes often do well with the first three areas but are short on the fourth. If a parish is not community building, the parish cannot grow in size or in vitality.

It is possible to have specialized committees under each area of mission. However, any specialized committees should report to and be coordinated by the overall committee. The overall committees should meet on a regular basis with the respective council so that there is not only good communication but opportunities to evaluate the ministerial efforts and to work together on matters of pastoral importance. Too many parishes maintain ineffective programs for too long with the hope they will improve next year or completely overlook major trends among the parishioners.

There are parishes that have eliminated committees because they have hired staff and staff suggest that “the committees are all talk and no action.” Committees or ministry teams need to be made up of parishioners who are working in the ministries. If staff is working mostly on their own, that is problematic. Staff should minister to the ministers. If a parish entrusts a ministry solely to a staff person, that is also problematic. Effective ministry is best achieved through collaboration. If parishes are trying to establish consistency in their ministries, there must be parishioners who know all the ins and outs of the ministry in the eventuality that a staff person leaves or retires.

Parishes may disagree about what these groups should be called. Are they commissions, committees, or ministry teams? What they are called is certainly not as important as having them in place. How they are named, however, does help parishioners understand their importance, role, and connection to the organization and mission of the parish and the Church. These committees or ministry teams should be formed from the people who are really making ministry happen in the parish.

Dr. Mark Kemmeter

Meitler Minute

February 15, 2022

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.

Tending to your Faculty’s Faith Formation for Stronger Catholic Identity

February 1, 2022

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.

Michael Taylor

Schools

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