Strengths and Weaknesses

Our Lady of the Assumption Parish

Claremont, California

Strengths and Weaknesses

PARISH COMMUNITY SPIRITUALITY

Not enough communication between parish and groups.
Need more spiritual direction and retreats at parish.
All Christian life organizations should be invited to the Adoration.
Needs coordination.
Strength — Diverse opportunities. Weakness — Not a lot of opportunities, don’t seem to “grab” many; participation not great in numbers.
Variety of “Christian Life Organizations” and types of Sunday liturgies is good.
Strength — many diverse groups. Weakness — need an overall coordinator.
I think Fr. Tom delivers thought provoking sermons soliciting action.
Helps all to share in liturgy.
Director of volunteers and organizations supported by an executive committee of officers.
Great variety of opportunities, but little grasp of how each fits into total community.
Need events to bring various groups together like the Better World Retreat.
The diversity of the organizations may be a weakness. There is no overall plan or direction.
The variety of groups is a strength, while the large size of the parish makes intimacy difficult. The constant tension of sharing limited, inadequate facilities is a weakness.

UNITY AND DIVERSITY/ETHNIC COMMUNITIES

Strong presence but for the large number not enough percent of participation.
We do have many wonderful ethnic communities, but it is rather segregated.
The parish proudly acknowledges our ethnic diversity. But also there is too much separation.
Hour program, to make the Adoration hour grow.
is there integration?
Principal strength is increasing interconnectedness; both Hispanic and Vietnamese communities well organized, perhaps better than the parish as a whole.
Need more interaction among communities. Need better facilities.
Very well supported but not “together.”
The general problem is illustrated by the dual terms: “unity and diversity.” The individual unity of Hispanic and Vietnamese groups is a strength, but we are weak on inter-group relations, especially with Anglos. What about African-American members?
Blessed with ethnic diversity.
Naturally, a homogenous group can be more cohesive and have same goals.
I think there should be more Hispanic involvement. I think it’s ok for groups to be autonomous.
Have multi-cultural people who don’t interact much.
Diversity marks the real church (and society) of the 21~ century. We have a long way to go on blending with mutuality.
We are striving to be more inclusive such as joint activities — services among ethnic groups — need more.
Translation equipment would enable Anglo, Hispanic and Vietnamese to communicate and enrich each other and lessen sense of fragmentation of parish.
The unity would be strengthened if all committees would have ethnic representatives.
The Spanish speaking community is struggling to develop a model of organization based on lay leadership. They have shown great progress under Ms. Mendez. The Vietnamese community has the advantage of a strong leader in Fr. John.
There is difficulty recruiting lay leaders with the time needed to provide liaison with the larger parish and with parish staff. The Vietnamese community must continue to interact with the larger Anglo community and vice versa.

YOUTH

Need stronger and clearly defined programs.
High school ministry getting stronger. Fr. Anthony’s efforts are wonderful! Need Jr. High group.
There is no organized program.
Our youth today will be our congregation in the future.
Our future — need full time youth minister.
Strength — Fr. Anthony. Weakness — need continuity and support level — full time youth minister with incentives for his/her longevity.
Youth ministry is important and recognized and growing.
Need consistency in leadership.
Good volunteers, but.., need a youth minister.
Youth program is in chaos.
Will grow, given full-time leader and space.
Yes, a youth minister, with 3 programs, Jr. High, 1-ugh School and 20-30 year olds.
Much enthusiasm and hope right now, along with uncertainty.
Looking for fi.ill-time youth minister — need soon!
Great potential to develop a multi-cultural youth group.
The potential is there, given the right leadership.
There is a determined group of dedicated parents. There is strong support among the adult lay leadership (both paid and volunteer) for a strong youth ministry.
There is no experienced youth ministry coordinator in place. There appears to be alack of qualified experienced candidates. There is no adequate facility for youth. The vast majority of youth in the parish remain untouched by youth ministry. There is strong danger of adult advisory burnout.

THE POOR, MARGINALIZED AND ALIENATED

Needs a centralized ministry with an office.
Many people are isolated and have unmet needs.
We need to work with secular groups who do the same work.
Success of Together in Mission.
While OLA’s “legendary” hospitality touches some, I fear that too many remain untouched in our community. I think by Jesus’ criteria we fall far short.
Little immediate help available for disenfranchised.
It is just the same people stretched too thinly.
We offer many programs.
The needs can be met if basic tools are provided.
Need a director of volunteers and organizations.
This concern is not a mindset of the larger community. Charity and justice are not the same.
A gathering of these ministers would serve to connect parishioners along interest lines.
The director of volunteers could coordinate the efforts.
Parishioners contribute but do not get engaged in justice issues.
The dedicated St. Vincent de Paul Society is a strength. The group is too small for a parish this large. There is a lack of coordinated effort involving enough people to sustain a ministry like this. The consumeristic tendencies of many parishioners work against people seeing the need to make time for these activities.

COMMUNITY

As our pastor, Fr. Tom has done a good job with this in particular.
We have strong community. But again, there is a distance between communities.
English speaking, 1-lispanic and Vietnamese should be invited to visit each other’s Masses — to learn each others cultures.
The pastor’s comments seem to overlook the great involvement of many Catholics in their community directly rather than through OLA.
Strength — obviously large and active. Weakness — 4,000+ households can’t be a community! Still too many cliques and “private enclaves.”
Need more interaction among communities.
Well supported but too separated — no “togetherness.”
Parish leadership in ecumenical activity is good, but have parishioners been educated about it?
Fr. Tom is very visible in the community. 1-le is very willing to participate in community committees.
Fr. Tom has worked hard to have a presence in community. Need for PR and media coverage.
Getting better.
Active community council, leading discussions and community involvement.
Good background. Need a way to maintain and coordinate community awareness.
Fr. Tom and parishioners are to be commended for their involvement in dialogue groups in Claremont.
Education needs to be done to help the congregation with social justice.
The pastor’s involvement in civic community is a strength. The conscious effort by the pastor and staff to nurture and be sensitive to the needs of our neighborhood is a strength.
There is a lack of coordinated effort in this area, although the pastor’s attempt to raise consciousness about Christians’ responsibility in the public arena is commendable.

LEADERSHIP, DIRECTION AND DECISION MAKING

Changes are in process.
OLA has enough people for effective leadership rolls, however with a strong pastor and administrator it is going to be difficult to involve them.
Parish council is needed.
Need broader parish input to decision making.
Empowerment is essential but its limits aren’t clearly communicated and/or consistent.
Strength — there are many good leaders, including priests, who generally work well together. Weakness — no consistent decision-making processes; no pastoral council.
Need to raise expectations of parishioners.
Development of a parish council should be done (with care.)
Both Pastor and Principal tend to want high control.
Has become stronger in the last two years.
With help of finance council the basic needs are met.
More lay leadership — suggest “term limits” parish council/cabinet.
Must have empowered lay leadership and we just started down that path.
Council needs to reflect diversity in parish — strategic planning group is largely white.
A strong pastoral council would enhance shared governance.
No parish council. Lack of collaborative decision making.
Strength is that we have a pastor who is sincerely committed to and wants to learn about and explore shared leadership.
Weakness is that there is no method of accountability for priests. The pastor’s span of control is too large so that it is difficult for quality management of key staff. The institutional Church is unwilling to encourage true power-sharing between pastors and congregational leadership. There is no positive model for this type of pasturing and no apparent support for it by the archdiocese.

CHRISTIAN SERVICES AND OUTREACH

Fr. Tom needs to be informed when eucharistic ministry to sick has been cancelled due to hospitalization.
Again, there are many people who are isolated.
The existence of the OLA visitors group needs to be promoted.
Strength — active cores. Weakness — could do more — burnout possibilities.
We’re pretty strong and diverse in this area. Pastoral counselor and St. Vincent de Paul Society big strength, also collaboration with other agencies.
Same people who do everything.
Wide variety of well-established programs.
Good program — but not very well known.
Great support for community.
Continual attempts to involve more members. Set term limits to promote new ideas and energy.
Wide variety of programs and opportunities, but carried out by the same few people.
A coordinator to facilitate gatherings and spiritual development of members would be a boon.
Education on death and dying could be a benefit to all parishioners.
Number of people involved needs to be increased.
Strength is that this area is made up of committed ministers. The weakness is that there are too few people to sustain these ministries at the level needed.

PARISH ADMINISTRATION

Strength — Many dedicated people. Weakness — empowerment not used enough.
Strength — dynamic, innovative and collaborative team. Weakness — functioning borders on being too bureaucratic, sometimes things take too much administrative time and effort to get done.
Needs to give more direction to parishioners as to what is expected of them.
Too many bodies.
Both the report and personal experience indicate good administration.
Excellent administrative direction.
Has gotten much stronger in last 5 years.
Yearly evaluation and update of business practices.
Well organized and professional. Very helpful to parishioners and ministries.
Was there only information received how parishioners experience offertory giving programs? Who made up sample?
Coordinator of volunteers could help in this area also.
Much improved office staff and administration.
Strength is in the area staffing. There has been stability and continuity of staffing at the managerial level for the last five years as well as strength in the commitment of the Finance Council members. The staff appears to be committed to providing quality service to parishioners. Standard business practice has been implemented where needed in many areas and continues to be an ongoing objective. The philosophy is one of policy and procedure for service, not for bureaucracy for its own sake. There is also awareness and ongoing effort to create a just workplace for employees.
Weakness is in the area of balancing service with the staff available. There needs to be a review of what is expected of paid staff and balance that with what can reasonably be expected of volunteers. This should be an ongoing evaluation. In the area of finance, the pastor has authorized deficit budgeting every year that he’s been at OLA. This seems imprudent and should not continue. The recommendation for training for appropriate staff and the Finance Council is welcome.

BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS

The assessment narrative covers this pretty well.
Can rectory be used for storage? Library was a former carport!
Buildings need repair. Wheelchair access is poor.
Old, poorly planned, inadequate.
Good staffing, but facilities are poor and parishioners show little pride of ownership.
Need more individual space for groups. Disrepair, poor quality workmanship even on small everyday repairs.
Doing the best with what we have, but improvement/investment is needed.
Needs more upkeep and more meeting space.
Serious long term problems.
A need for repairs and maintenance. A hodge podge of additions.
Rent outside storage and meeting rooms. Use parishioner homes/businesses more.
Our facilities are simply inadequate to meet our needs. Staff is great though.
Need plant/building renovations and updating.
How is the “old rectory” being utilized? Plant is fragmented, like a patchwork quilt.
Inadequate meeting and storage space.
This glaring weakness at OLA has been thoroughly explored. Building a larger church seems to be an insufficient solution given the projected magnitude of the future priest shortage. Will we eventually need to build stadiums because of the priest shortage?

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Needs more multi-ethnic approach.
Inadequate for overgrown community.
Strength — well organized program, committed community. Weakness — training and development, not very dynamic.
Number of attendees but needs to be altered approach to grades 4-9.
The staff report makes the program sound strong, but “final report” causes concern.
Needs consistently good adult education opportunities.
Yearly evaluation of teachers, programs, and more effective practices.
Vibrant program. Needs more volunteers and training.
Need more space for larger program.
Appears to be a shortage of stimulating adult education experiences. How many are served?
Although Sr. Claire is dedicated, the program seems stagnant. The space for staff and faculty is inadequate.

PARISH SCHOOL

Could use more parental involvement.
Overwhelmed with numbers and shortage of capable/available volunteers.
We do need to track how our students perform through high school and college. I think we would be pleasantly surprised.
We need to pay OLA teachers the same as public school.
Parish school seems to be isolated from those not having students in school.
Strength — good leadership, committed community. Weakness — coming out of hard times, many new/young faculty.
Good thing overall, but leadership and morale is weak.
The school is a great asset to the parish, but it tends to keep itself aloof from the parish.
Strength — appears to have good education. Weakness — needs stronger leadership.
School board should be privy to Burke’s full school analysis.
Need of high tech rooms.
School board stronger and with clearer duties.
Problems with teacher quality. Heavy demand on space and facilities for just 522 students.
Need better technology.
New principal has had a positive impact on school.
Ms. Lujan has done a fine job of reigning in what was previously out-of-control spending. The future of Catholic elementary in the U.S. is uncertain given the financial constraints. Teachers’ recruitment and retention is an ongoing problem.

EVANGELIZATION AND INITIATION

Strength — dedicated people, growing program. Weakness — does not meet all seekers’ needs; no parish evangelization program at all; needs full or major time staff leader.
Needs meeting and storage space.
Use of lay ministers, directed participation.
Vibrant program. Needs volunteers and training.
Need better facilities to welcome new members.
RCIA Director on staff. Program lacks a welcoming space.
A strong sponsor base needs to be developed.
Having a part-time RCIA director is a great improvement. Helping Catholics to see their role in evangelization is a big challenge.

WORSHIP/LITURGY

Would like to see missalettes back in the pew.
Masses are too long. With 1 hr. 20 minute Masses “bumping up” next to each other, it creates chaos in the parking lot.
Strength — celebrations are diverse and generally excellent. Weakness — inadequate worship space, Mass schedule too tight; coordination with presiders and among ministers not well organized or consistent; needs full or major time staff leader.
Need a bigger church.
Doing a good job, but conflict between committee and consultants on need for a full time director.
Lots of capable people making a strong liturgy program.
Services often extend beyond scheduled time. This causes serious problems and dangerous conditions in the parking lot and street for pedestrians, adult and children and vehicles are coming and going. Services should start on time and not go over time. Changes must be made. It’s only a matter of time before someone, probably a child, will be seriously injured or killed.
Much variety. Need a larger and more appropriate worship space.
Need larger church to accommodate confirmation, Easter vigil services etc.
Who made up sample? Whose voices were recorded? Was quality and relevance of preaching assessed by voices? I observe this key area was absent in this area.
A paid liturgy coordinator is needed with more involvement by music ministry.
Need a liturgy coordinator on staff to give more time and attention to this area.
OLA is known for its lively liturgies and vibrant atmosphere. The current Liturgy committee as headed by a volunteer, Cathi Popko has done remarkably well. They are a dedicated group. The problem with the music director not being able to attend the liturgy meetings must be resolved. Despite the suggestion that a volunteer coordinator be hired, there is still a need for staff level support in the area of Liturgy.