Summary of Key Issues from Old St. Pat’s Staff Interviews

Summary

Overall, there is great pride in the success of Old St. Pat’s Church. Staff describes the church as a vibrant, diverse place with excellent Liturgies, priests, programs and volunteer participation. The challenges they see for the future are often related to how to continue to build on that success. Issues such as—addressing the challenges of size, geographic spread of members and how to remain fresh and in tune with the issues of the day.

The following is a summary of responses to the questions posed in the interviews.

Old St. Pat’s Mission:

• Everyone seems clear on what it is and they all say very similar things. Most could come close to quoting the actual mission statement ("to serve the life and work of the laity in the world");
• Many spoke about “meeting people where they are.” Hospitality becomes an important element here—making people feel welcome;
• Outreach was also consistently mentioned.

Strengths:

• Can-do attitude: “We’ll work it out and make this work”;
• Willingness to try new things;
• Welcoming, hospitality, Liturgy, outreach, young adults, great programs, and great priests.

Challenges:

• Size
  • Geographic spread of members
  • Loss of intimacy
  • Disconnect and lack of collaboration/coordination among staff departments and membership group
  • Need to "systematize" some processes
  • Lack of space for Liturgies, meetings, storage, parking
• Don’t just “settle”—Remaining a creative place and going from Good to Great
• Create connections among the various groups in church—lifecycle and others
  • Particular challenge of serving both young adults and families
• Institutional church—what is the relationship going forward

Vision of the Future/Steps to Get There:

• Most consistent comment—hire more staff
• Improved Web site that is much more interactive
• Better Collaboration across departments

Experience of Working at Old St. Pat’s/Connection to Mission

• Staff—all staff interviewed described a very positive work environment; a few expressed concern about staff burnout due to lack of adequate numbers of staff
• Feel connected to mission
• Cited good overall work environment