Parish Survey Results

Dear OLA family,

I wanted to give you a brief update on the results of the Parish Feedback Survey and how they relate to other initiatives underway at the parish.

What were the results of the Survey?

As I shared back in June, we received nearly 600 responses to the Survey. Your honesty and love for OLA came through in every response.

Based on your feedback, it is clear our parish is in a very good place. By almost every measure, the OLA community is thriving. You feel welcomed, you feel that you belong, you would recommend our parish to a friend, and OLA has helped you grow in your Catholic faith. Your responses emphasized the reverence of our liturgies, the involvement of our priests, the joy of seeing young families in the pews, the friendships built through small groups and Christ Renews His Parish, and the strengthening bond between our parish and our school.

Your responses also helped us identify some areas that need closer attention, areas such as music at Mass; the accessibility of adult faith formation; how we are serving our youth; how newer families, single adults, and parishioners not connected to our school experience life at OLA; how we communicate; and how we deepen the ties between our English-, Spanish-, and Indonesian-speaking communities. These all represent growth opportunities for our parish.

For those who would like to dig deeper into the survey results, I provide a link HERE.

What are we already doing?

A few things we are already acting on. Our new Family Faith Formation and Adult Faith Formation Coordinators are already making a great impact on our faith formation programs. The energy and enthusiasm of these new staff members is spilling over into our youth ministry programs, which are seeing higher levels of participation. We've had two recent parish social events—75th de Mayo and our Parish Picnic—that saw great participation by all three language communities here at OLA. And many families are already commenting on how the school and parish communities are feeling much more unified.

 What happens next?

For some time now I have been working with our parish staff, Pastoral Council, Finance Council and other members of the parish on a pastoral framework for OLA. This framework is intended to articulate what we are called to do as a parish over the coming years and how we will grow together into it. I will share the framework at all masses on the weekend of October 17-18.

The survey has been a valuable resource for that work. Much of what you told us aligns directly with what we have been discerning, and your voices are helping to sharpen the focus of the framework.

Beginning in the second half of October, we plan to host town-hall-style sessions where I and other parish leaders will speak to specific features of the framework, share where OLA can go in the coming years and answer your questions in person. Watch for dates in the eNews and the bulletin.

As we roll out the framework in the months ahead, I look forward to engaging more with you. In the meantime, please pray for me, for our priests, for our staff, and for our Pastoral Council as we continue to shepherd OLA forward. I am praying for you.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Dan

Pastor