What's Working on the Journey

In February, KPC Consultant Molly Judd wrote about her experiences working with Annunciation and Our Lady of Providence, two parishes sharing one pastor. This month, we heard from another KPC expert, Liz Henning, who works as the Engagement Director serving two parishes, Epiphany of Our Lord and St. James the Greater in St. Louis, MO. 

Fr. Thomas Pastorius and I first worked together through KPC, building a communications plan and engagement director role for St. Joseph Parish in Manchester, MO. He had a vision for how the parish could grow stronger through the challenges of COVID-19, and led his team with creativity and courage. 

When Fr. Tom was assigned to lead Epiphany and St. James, I applied for the part-time role of Engagement Director, while remaining on the KPC team.  I was eager to help research and develop what a shared communications plan could look like. 

We began praying for the people at both Epiphany of Our Lord Parish and St. James the Greater. As we asked for guidance and wisdom, we found a spiritual connection. In the story of the Feast of Epiphany we hear of the Magi searching for a newborn king. The Magi were looking for Christ, and were transformed by the encounter. St. James was transformed by his relationship with Jesus, and went forth to share the Gospel.

In a spiritual sense, St. James the Greater and Epiphany of Our Lord, are companions on this journey. As we work together, we create something filled with a power to do good and the potential to change the lives of everyone for the better.

We found five key things that are making a difference in building strong communication systems that serve both parishes:

• Find a good, well-documented leadership system. We use Amazing Parish, but there are many great resources available, including Divine Renovation, Management as Mission, and the Catholic Leadership Institute.

  
  

• Start on Friday. We joke that “Friday” is actually our “Monday.” We have a flex team of 17 - 20 people, ranging from priests from St. Louis University who assist with Masses, to permanent deacons with full-time day jobs, staffers, music ministers and volunteers covering both campuses. We all work together to make the “Weekend Experience” - Masses on Saturday night and Sunday morning - a meaningful touchstone of a person’s week. 

• Stay in Touch. To keep everyone on the same page, we publish three weekly documents that keep everyone aligned: 

  1. The “Leadership Compass” for this core team of 20 people. This one-pager summarizes all the key events for the weekend.  

  2. The Flocknote to all parishioners and community members. This eNews previews the weekend, as well as the events for the next ten days. 

  3. The Sunday bulletin, available in print and online, highlights events 2-4 weeks out for both parishes. 

• Work Together: These two parishes share one website, flocknote, and printed bulletin. In the messaging, we work to keep the focus on events and activities that will help us grow together. 

• Celebrate the Unique: Find the 1-2 signature events that make the parish distinctive, and often draw in people from beyond the parish boundaries. Use this as a moment of invitation to engage new visitors and future families. 

Finally, we remind ourselves as a team that faith is a gift from God. No marketing strategy, however inspirational, can instill faith in another person. Our responsibility as communicators is to use our skills, gifts and talents to shape the path that others will travel. In the case of communication, we must use good messages, resonant images, elegant graphics and clear processes to help lead people to a moment of encounter. What a gift to walk this journey together!

Join us at 10 AM on Friday, April 4 for a webinar “get-together” designed to help you think about creating personalized, clear, effective communication strategies that serve each parish well.

Register Today!