Nov. 19, 2014

Parishes take first steps in conducting diocesan-wide census

By Father Jay Seymour
Pastor, Catholic Community of
Morristown, Hammond and Rossie

One of our diocesan goals related to Building Parishes with Living Stones is to complete a diocesan-wide Find Your Home in Christ Census of all households between Oct. 1, 2014 and Aug. 1, 2015.

When we were first presented with this idea of a diocesan-wide census many were probably scratching their heads.  Did the Bishop and the Envisioning Team bite off more than they can chew with this one?  This is pretty ambitious!  I mean, we are being asked to visit not just Catholics but EVERY HOME IN THE DIOCESE!

Indeed it is an ambitious undertaking but there is good reason for the census and it is not being asked of us without the diocese providing us with a great deal of support.

Under the direction of St. Joseph Sister Shirley Anne Brown and her working committee the groundwork now has been set to help us to achieve this rather ambitious goal.

Among the accomplishments of this committee has been the development of Parish, Leader and Volunteer Guides that provide the framework for conducting the parish census.  They have also selected and are making available a choice of handouts that can be used during the home visits that parishes can either purchase or produce locally. 

A second phase of the work of the committee involves the training of pastors and parish leaders on the census protocol.  Trainings in Lewis, Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton-Herkimer and St. Lawrence Deaneries have already taken place.  Upcoming trainings have been scheduled for Jefferson Deanery Jan. 13 and Essex and Adirondack Deaneries in April 2015.

Most parishes will be undertaking the census in the Spring or Summer of 2015 but the Catholic Community of Morristown, Hammond and Rossie has already begun.  Having Sister Shirley Anne as our resident pastoral associate was certainly an advantage in helping us to get started. The recommendation of our Parish Council was to conduct it in phases, two weeks in October of this year and two weeks in July 2015 when we could connect with our summer parishioners. 

As might be expected, on first hearing of the census there was some anxiety on the part of parishioners.  It seemed to be asking us to move out of our comfort zone going door to door to visit people we didn’t know or perhaps people we did know who were not even Catholic.  This is something other religious sects may do, not Catholics.  At least, this is what some may have argued in our minds as an excuse in order to escape volunteering.

The volunteer training helped to alleviate much of the anxiety.  It was made clear that we were not pushing anything but were simply reaching out to our Catholic brothers and sisters, listening to their concerns and inviting them back to church if they happen to have drifted away.

If it happened to be a non-Catholic household being visited, we were just offering a friendly greeting reminding them that we were neighbors and that our church wanted to work together with them to help better our local community.

The census also had the practical purpose of updating our church records giving us a more accurate picture of the Catholic population within our parish bounds. 

Although there may have been some initial apprehension, volunteers in our parish are reporting mostly positive experiences.   A once reluctant but now enthusiastic volunteer, after some meaningful sharing in one visit with some inactive Catholics, commented that maybe the Bishop intended this census to be more for ourselves and our own spiritual development than for those being visited.  Actually, it is not either or.  We both benefit. 

The Catholic Community of Morristown, Hammond and Rossie is already seeing some of the fruits of the census visits with new faces showing up at church.  The on-going challenge is to have them keep coming by making them feel welcome and thanking them for enhancing our celebration with their presence.

We have something very special in the Catholic Church and we need to witness to that fact not only with our liturgies but with our lives so that people will be attracted to the faith we profess understanding that our true home is indeed in Christ.

Editor’s Note
Father Seymour, pastor and episcopal vicar for clergy also serves as the point person for the implementation of the  Building Parishes with Living Stones diocesan priority

Photos Supplied
Bev Newton, Sandy Lyons, Mary Truskowski and Nancy Williams were among the parish volunteers from the Catholic Community of Morristown, Hammond and Rossie who took part in the  recent training session to conduct their parish census. At right, St. Joseph Sister Shirley Ann Brown, diocesan point person for the goal of completing a diocesan-wide census, is shown leading the training workshop for pastors and parish leaders in the Clinton Deanery.