Last week, I presented to you the first look at our CAT survey results, which Rev. Andrea Mysen presented to the vestry and me at our retreat weekend. The summary showed St. Michale’s moving from Low energy/low satisfaction in 2015 to High energy/high satisfaction today, albeit only a small distance into that quadrant. You can see it again here: https://www.stmichaelsbarrington.org/church-blog/1217-from-the-rector-first-look-at-cat-results.
The High energy/high satisfaction quadrant of that graph is the place where positive transformation can happen. But what is it that determines which quadrant a church finds itself? Or in our case, what makes St. Michael’s more energized and more satisfied? What makes us tick?
For St. Michael’s, the CAT survey listed these items at the top drivers for satisfaction (these only describe our parish, and do not say whether we are doing them well or poorly).
As you can see with the drivers of Satisfaction, St. Michael’s tends to be very Rector/Clergy focused. At our retreat, the vestry and I spent a lot of time discussing how this dynamic plays out within our parish, and the shift in the last decade from a much larger staff with several full-time clergy, to one full time priest and one faithful, non-stipendiary deacon. If clergy drive parish satisfaction (three out of five), how can we improve satisfaction with the staff we are able to have today, while balancing the risks of staff burnout?
Drivers of energy center around: leadership who is representative of the parish, decision making processes, education that fits schedules, and doing a good job of helping each member understand that he or she is called to ministry. The vestry has some great ideas of how to broaden our volunteer and lay involvement with an eye towards our annual meeting.
Understanding these descriptive statements about St. Michael’s helps us not only understand what has gone well as we moved from low/low to high/high, but also what can further our growth and transformation. “Churches in this quadrant are source of new meaning and purpose for their members.”
There is so much more information to share! Keep an eye out on the Sword/blog to continue learning about what makes St. Michael’s tick, and to journey with the vision team, vestry, and myself as we search for one or two initiatives next year that will enhance our common parish life. Next week, we will do a deeper dive into eight different areas of our parish.
Blessings,
Jesse+
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