Diocese to reach out to lapsed Catholics
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Mary Morrell | Acting Managing Editor
In a bold initiative designed to shed meaningful light on the pastoral challenge of lapsed Catholics in the Diocese of Trenton, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will launch a new diagnostic tool this month in cooperation with the Villanova University Center for the Study of Church Management.
The Villanova Exit Interview Study was the idea of Jesuit Father William J. Byron, university professor of business and society in St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, and developed in conjunction with Charles Zech, director, Villanova Center for the Study of Church Management.
The survey can also be completed online by going to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TrentonSurvey
The Diocese of Trenton will be the first diocese to implement the exit interview questionnaire, providing what Father Byron has referred to as an opportunity to “discover ways of welcoming back those who have left, even as it helps leaders find ways to strengthen the current worshipping community. This interview could also help identify what else might need to be taught to those called to positions of parish leadership.”
Consisting of a series of open ended questions, the questionnaire will “give the people a chance to speak and be heard in a confidential setting,” explained Father Byron, who serves on the advisory board of the Villanova Center. The anonymous responses will be sent back to Villanova, not the diocese, where they will be analyzed and a report of the findings provided to the bishop.
Unlike other studies on Catholics who have left the Church, which look only at numbers without looking at reasons, said Zech, the Villanova study will “provide an understanding of the reasons and tools for developing strategies to address those reasons.”
Zech noted that Father Byron, former president of The Catholic University of America, the University of Scranton, and Loyola University New Orleans, had written an article for the January issue of America Magazine on the subject, entitled “On Their Way Out: What exit interviews could teach us about lapsed Catholics.”
“He received a tremendous response from readers,” added Zech.
One of those readers was former CUA president Bishop O’Connell, said Father Byron. “He called and expressed an interest in applying the exit interview strategy in the Diocese of Trenton.
“The priests of the diocese offered good suggestions to improve the exit interview,” said Zech. “A final draft was approved in September,” with bulletin announcements and advertising in the secular press in the four counties of the diocese beginning this month, announcing the availability of the questionnaire and encouraging participation, he added.
The process will “rely on practicing Catholics to get the news out to friends and family” who do not have a regular presence at church, Zech relayed.
Father Byron recalled that his interest in the business approach to this problem was peaked after Larry Bossidy, a devout Catholic and former C.E.O. of Allied Signal and the Honeywell Corporation, addressed a meeting of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management and “pointed out that if businesses were losing customers at the rate the Catholic Church in the United States is losing members, someone would surely be conducting exit interviews. His observation was prompted by data on declining church attendance released by the Pew Research Center.” Those statistics, said Zech, indicated that one-third of baptized Catholics have left the Church, and 10 percent of the U.S. population are former Catholics.
The purpose of an exit interview, Father Byron writes in his article, is to “elicit honest answers to open-ended questions aimed at identifying specific Catholic doctrines or practices that may have been factors in the break,” adding, “In the absence of good data, Church leaders might be accused of sleepwalking into the future or walking with eyes and ears closed to those they want to serve.”
To encourage participation in the exit interview, Zech stressed that while the study is being done in cooperation with the diocese, all responses will be sent directly to the Villanova Center to be analyzed so a final report can be returned to the bishop which will allow him to develop strategies to deal with the trend. Information will also be reported to the parishes so they may serve their people more effectively.
Those interested in participating in this interview project may contact the Center for the Study of Church Management, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova, PA 19085 (610-519-4371) or at [email protected] in order to receive a copy of the questionnaire.
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By Mary Morrell | Acting Managing Editor
In a bold initiative designed to shed meaningful light on the pastoral challenge of lapsed Catholics in the Diocese of Trenton, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will launch a new diagnostic tool this month in cooperation with the Villanova University Center for the Study of Church Management.
The Villanova Exit Interview Study was the idea of Jesuit Father William J. Byron, university professor of business and society in St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, and developed in conjunction with Charles Zech, director, Villanova Center for the Study of Church Management.
The survey can also be completed online by going to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TrentonSurvey
The Diocese of Trenton will be the first diocese to implement the exit interview questionnaire, providing what Father Byron has referred to as an opportunity to “discover ways of welcoming back those who have left, even as it helps leaders find ways to strengthen the current worshipping community. This interview could also help identify what else might need to be taught to those called to positions of parish leadership.”
Consisting of a series of open ended questions, the questionnaire will “give the people a chance to speak and be heard in a confidential setting,” explained Father Byron, who serves on the advisory board of the Villanova Center. The anonymous responses will be sent back to Villanova, not the diocese, where they will be analyzed and a report of the findings provided to the bishop.
Unlike other studies on Catholics who have left the Church, which look only at numbers without looking at reasons, said Zech, the Villanova study will “provide an understanding of the reasons and tools for developing strategies to address those reasons.”
Zech noted that Father Byron, former president of The Catholic University of America, the University of Scranton, and Loyola University New Orleans, had written an article for the January issue of America Magazine on the subject, entitled “On Their Way Out: What exit interviews could teach us about lapsed Catholics.”
“He received a tremendous response from readers,” added Zech.
One of those readers was former CUA president Bishop O’Connell, said Father Byron. “He called and expressed an interest in applying the exit interview strategy in the Diocese of Trenton.
“The priests of the diocese offered good suggestions to improve the exit interview,” said Zech. “A final draft was approved in September,” with bulletin announcements and advertising in the secular press in the four counties of the diocese beginning this month, announcing the availability of the questionnaire and encouraging participation, he added.
The process will “rely on practicing Catholics to get the news out to friends and family” who do not have a regular presence at church, Zech relayed.
Father Byron recalled that his interest in the business approach to this problem was peaked after Larry Bossidy, a devout Catholic and former C.E.O. of Allied Signal and the Honeywell Corporation, addressed a meeting of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management and “pointed out that if businesses were losing customers at the rate the Catholic Church in the United States is losing members, someone would surely be conducting exit interviews. His observation was prompted by data on declining church attendance released by the Pew Research Center.” Those statistics, said Zech, indicated that one-third of baptized Catholics have left the Church, and 10 percent of the U.S. population are former Catholics.
The purpose of an exit interview, Father Byron writes in his article, is to “elicit honest answers to open-ended questions aimed at identifying specific Catholic doctrines or practices that may have been factors in the break,” adding, “In the absence of good data, Church leaders might be accused of sleepwalking into the future or walking with eyes and ears closed to those they want to serve.”
To encourage participation in the exit interview, Zech stressed that while the study is being done in cooperation with the diocese, all responses will be sent directly to the Villanova Center to be analyzed so a final report can be returned to the bishop which will allow him to develop strategies to deal with the trend. Information will also be reported to the parishes so they may serve their people more effectively.
Those interested in participating in this interview project may contact the Center for the Study of Church Management, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova, PA 19085 (610-519-4371) or at [email protected] in order to receive a copy of the questionnaire.
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