Next Generation Parish

---

Nativity BVM is participating in an initiative called the “Next Generation Parish” led by the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI). This process will help our parish prepare for the future, growing in vitality and service to one another.  Our parish was selected as one of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to take part in this multi-year process, made possible to us at no cost due to the generosity of donors. 

A year ago, many of our parishioners began this journey by participating in a Disciple Maker Index (DMI) survey which generated over 230 responses.   You can read a summary of those results here.

​The Next Generation Parish initiative is taking place over two phases. In the first phase, an Envision Team was formed of parishioners that represent a broad cross-section of our community to work with CLI and the parish to help develop a set of parish priorities and goals for the next 3 years. We are now in the next phase, implementing the parish priorities. A newly formed Implementation Team will take on this phase, which will take another two years.

Meet the Implementation Team

From left to right: Back row - Timothy Broadhurst, Fred Pondo, Robbie Bonanto, Fr. Edward Bell, Matthew Haas, Matt Decaro; Front row - Amy Grace, Corinne Wolfe, Deacon Bill Kussmaul

​The Implementation Team will meet during the next two years to bring our parish priorities to life. These priorities are:

• Spiritual Growth
• Parish Engagement
• Communication

Please pray for our Implementation Team that they may move our parish of Nativity BVM into a continued thriving, spirit-filled community.

---

Meet the Envision Team

(years at the parish listed by each name) - ​Front row from left to right: Steve Hefferan (21), Jane McNerney (60), Steve St Martin (17), Gino Benedetti (28). Back row from left to right: Robbie Bonanto (43), Malela M. Werner (16), Charlie O'Donnell (35), Kevin Reilly (19), Fr Ed Bell (18), Andrea Hannigan (10), John Drake (11), Rosanne Gatta (27), Dr. Gary Rainey (47), Matthew A. Haas (23).

​The Envision Team analyzed your survey responses as well as additional data from our geographic area, trends in Catholicism within the US, and comparison information of our parish relative to other parishes in the Archdiocese. As they worked toward developing a set of parish priorities, there were several intermediate steps. One of these steps was to identify three pertinent learnings from this analysis and to identify three potential opportunities. These are those initial findings:

---

Learnings

• Parishioners like Nativity BVM overall: we believe our parish is welcoming and recommend the parish to others.
• Parishioners are faithful: we attend Mass, pray often, and most of us are actively pursuing to deepen our faith (or want to), and are interested in spiritual direction, retreats, and opportunities for spiritual growth.
• Most of those who participated in the DMI survey and those who are involved Nativity’s many ministries are aged 55+ and are more women than men. While there is participation by those under age 50, there is much smaller engagement with this group.

---

Opportunities

• We can create more opportunities for parishioners to connect with one another through ministries and events, especially for families and single people under 50, so we can grow a stronger parish community outside of Mass. 
• We can improve parish communication through multiple media channels with news, ministry offerings, and events with a welcoming invitation to parishioners to build up a faith-filled community. 
• Because many parishioners desired to learn their faith more deeply, we can offer more opportunities through catechesis, spiritual direction, retreats, apologetics, and more.

---

Feedback​
We invite parishioners to provide input, feedback, and reflections to our Envision Team throughout this process. You are invited to reach us by email at [email protected], through the form below, or by mail to the rectory ATTN: Envision Team.  The Envision Team prays regularly for our parish and for guidance from the Holy Spirit. We ask that you include them in your prayers as they continue on this journey.

---