Menu
Menu
Menu
We gave participants a list of nine values that are important to a parish community and asked them to rank the values in order of what is most important to them. In Cincinnati…
Parishioners primarily selected the pastor as the biggest driver in whether they feel the parish is helping them grow as Catholics. Essentially, this means that they are more…
Identifying opportunity and best practices. As you consider setting goals and planning programs, the data can help you identify where to start. For example, you can determine where…
Financial perceptions. The survey asks parishioners how it’s going financially in their parish. They have a number of choices, but the largest population—almost 40%—said they don’t…
The survey includes a question in which participants are asked whether they are likely to recommend a parish, on a scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. As you look at…
Beacons effect. The survey was administered about six months after a lot of the pastoral changes were made and announced, and new pastors were coming in. So when looking at the…
A parishioner in the Archdiocese of Cincy is 11x more likely to recommend their parish if they are likely to recommend their pastor. This is the primary driver in whether a…
When you log in to the CLI portal, you will see reports relating to: Parish distribution, Belief factors, Best practices, Leadership, Spiritual practices, Key drivers. You can compare…
The survey asked a series of questions surrounding attitudes and beliefs of parishioners. Core beliefs. These questions aim to assess what parishioners believe regarding core…
To date, the DMI (Disciple Maker Index) survey is the largest study on parish life in the world, with over 600,000 responses from over 50 dioceses and more than 2,500 parishes in…
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati—and in other places that are in the midst of pastoral planning—we find consistent below-average responses, specifically with regards to key drivers…
Get in touch with Rob Brock, who will get you set up with access to the DMI data. Once you access the data, be mindful about how you share the information. Out of context, it’s ripe for misinterpretation.
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the DMI survey was administered to 35 out of 57 parish families. This equates to: 116 parishes within those families 18,000 people (which is…
Yes. The DMI survey does ask several questions relating to Catholic education and the parish school, including: How parishioners perceive the relationship between the parish…
In the data for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, we see evidence of a challenging period of time. There is also evidence we are moving in the right direction. A question was…
The participants in the DMI survey in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are mostly adults over 18 years old. There were some responses from high school students under 18 years old, but that demographic is underrepresented…
Millennials don’t have a connection to parish traditions. That’s just a generational reality proved by statistics and trends. They have a different way of looking at church and…
When we look at the value ranking system in the survey results, we see that the age distribution is highly skewed toward those who are over 55. It’s important to be aware of the…
With statistics, it is almost impossible to prove causality. The CLI works with parishes for three years. They help parishes develop a plan and set goals based on the initial…
I am convinced that Beacons of Light, born of great hope, will enable us to form stronger parishes, centered on the Eucharist, that radiate the love of Christ and joy of the Gospel… God has abundantly blessed our first two centuries and will certainly bless the next.
We gave participants a list of nine values that are important to a parish community and asked them to rank the values in order of what is most important to them. In Cincinnati as well as around the country, the most important is that they have access to the Sacraments.
Sharing the faith with others did not rank in the top five for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, indicating that evangelization should be an elevated priority moving forward. We need to help people understand that sharing the faith is all of our jobs, and is vital for the future of the church.
Parishioners primarily selected the pastor as the biggest driver in whether they feel the parish is helping them grow as Catholics. Essentially, this means that they are more likely to say the parish is helping them grow spiritually as a Catholic if they like their pastor.
This is unhealthy and is unfair to our priests. When we are looking at a multi-parish pastoral situation, we need to help people grow in their faith and make sure it’s grounded in the real Savior rather than the pastor
Identifying opportunity and best practices. As you consider setting goals and planning programs, the data can help you identify where to start. For example, you can determine where the biggest need is for a specific program you are piloting.
The data also allows you to highlight best practices. For example, maybe you’re looking for parishes with the highest percentage of tithing. You can look at the data to determine which parish has the highest tithing rate, and find out what you can learn from them.
Testing assumptions. It’s easy to have assumptions such as “Everybody believes this” or “All the people in the parish think this.” With this data you have a way to test some of those assumptions. If you want to test out any assumptions, get in touch with Rob Brock, who is your point person for navigating the DMI survey.
Financial perceptions. The survey asks parishioners how it’s going financially in their parish. They have a number of choices, but the largest population—almost 40%—said they don’t know enough to answer that question. This highlights an opportunity to make sure parishioners are informed about what is going on in their parish, which is especially important during the Beacons process.
Evangelization perceptions. The survey asked parishioners their preferred way to bring other people closer to Christ. Most of the respondents in Cincinnati—66%—say they prefer to lead by example.
This is more of a passive approach to evangelization, which highlights the opportunity to build up parishioners’ confidence in sharing the faith and welcoming people to their parish in one-to-one conversations.
Perceptions on what needs to change. Parishioners were also asked how much they think things need to change in their parish. Encouragingly, 45% of respondents said they believe the parish is on the right track and needs a few tweaks. This suggests that even though there are a lot of changes happening with Beacons, parishioners are seeing that things are headed in a positive direction.
The survey includes a question in which participants are asked whether they are likely to recommend a parish, on a scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. As you look at the results for various parishes, it’s important to keep in mind that it doesn’t really matter which parish has the highest percentage of “Strongly Agree” answers. What matters is understanding what the story is and using this in a way to focus your questions and exploration.
The statistics on parish recommendations are not meant to be a conclusive decision of what is good and what is bad. The survey results just help us focus our questions and our next steps.
Beacons effect. The survey was administered about six months after a lot of the pastoral changes were made and announced, and new pastors were coming in. So when looking at the Archdiocese of Cincinnati data versus the rest of the country, we do see a Beacons effect, especially in some of the areas where responses are lower. Most of the negative or challenging effects are amongst older, longstanding members of the communities.
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, there does seem to be a need to help people grow in understanding of their parish’s financial situation. To illustrate this point: Almost 40% of participants could not answer the question of what type of shape their parish was in financially. There is an opportunity for better communication and to get people more involved in ownership and buy-in.
Cincinnati vs. National Survey Data
Here are some additional statistics:
The statistics for Cincinnati are consistently five to ten points below the nationwide averages. This is emblematic of where we are in the Beacons process. Three to four years from now, there will likely be a positive difference.
When you create a new entity, it’s more than just a tax ID. You have contracts that need to be reworked, for example. If you change the name of a parish that has a school, you’ll need to figure out what needs to be done at the level of the Ohio Department of Education.
A parishioner in the Archdiocese of Cincy is 11x more likely to recommend their parish if they are likely to recommend their pastor. This is the primary driver in whether a parishioner is likely to recommend their parish.
Nothing else compares. The experience of Sunday Mass comes next at a 2x factor.
Other important factors:
When you create a new entity, it’s more than just a tax ID. You have contracts that need to be reworked, for example. If you change the name of a parish that has a school, you’ll need to figure out what needs to be done at the level of the Ohio Department of Education.
When you log in to the CLI portal, you will see reports relating to:
You can compare two responses to gain insights by using the Cross Tabulation report. For example, you can look at those who send their children to Catholic schools vs those who believe in the True Presence.
You can also look at responses by demographics and other filters.
When you create a new entity, it’s more than just a tax ID. You have contracts that need to be reworked, for example. If you change the name of a parish that has a school, you’ll need to figure out what needs to be done at the level of the Ohio Department of Education.
The survey asked a series of questions surrounding attitudes and beliefs of parishioners.
Core beliefs. These questions aim to assess what parishioners believe regarding core teachings of the Church, such as:
Relationship with the parish. The survey also asks some pointed questions regarding parishioners’ attitudes toward the Church and toward their parish, including:
These are important questions to get an indication of where people are in their relationship with the parish.
Faith life. The survey asks questions about the faith life of parishioners. These include:
Demographics and other information. The survey also asks demographic questions about ethnicity, language, age, etc, as well as how parishioners choose to educate their children and how they approach giving.
Interpreting Results
Many questions are answered on a likert scale. As you’re looking at results, you’ll notice that the dark blue section highlights the percentage of those who selected “Strongly Agree.” The light blue is those who agree, the gray is neutral, and so on.
The dark blue section of “Strongly Agree” answers is significant because that is what motivates people to change their behavior. For example, those who strongly agree that their pastor is an amazing homilist are more likely to convince someone to come to Mass and hear a homily, than someone who kind of likes the homilies or is indifferent.
What is the DMI survey?
To date, the DMI (Disciple Maker Index) survey is the largest study on parish life in the world, with over 600,000 responses from over 50 dioceses and more than 2,500 parishes in 22 different languages.
The DMI gives parishioners the opportunity to reflect on two aspects of their faith journey:
When was the DMI developed?
The DMI was developed in 2014.
Who developed the DMI?
The Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) developed the DMI in conjunction with pastoral leaders, parish and diocesan ministry leaders, and thought leaders in the field of evangelization.
Why was the DMI developed?
The survey was developed in response to the requests of pastors throughout the United States who were participating in leadership training with CLI. The pastors wanted a clear way to determine where to focus their efforts within their parishes when it came to outreaches, programs, etc.
When is the DMI typically administered to parishioners?
CLI typically administers the DMI survey during Lent for three main reasons:
Who are the survey participants?
The survey primarily seeks to gauge the faith lives of practicing Catholics in a given parish. The goal is to get a snapshot of a worshiping community—get a sense of where they are and how to build them up and send them forth.
While the DMI does not attempt to understand why people leave the Church, occasionally respondents will answer that they consider themselves Catholic in name only but are no longer practicing the faith. The percentage of these participants is typically low; in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, for example, there were only 5% of respondents who identified themselves as no longer practicing.
When you create a new entity, it’s more than just a tax ID. You have contracts that need to be reworked, for example. If you change the name of a parish that has a school, you’ll need to figure out what needs to be done at the level of the Ohio Department of Education.
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati—and in other places that are in the midst of pastoral planning—we find consistent below-average responses, specifically with regards to key drivers. This is likely a Beacons effect, and it is temporary. As parishioners begin to feel they have more clarity about the future, they will feel more supported in their faith journey and more comfortable in their parish in general.
Donors are those who give money to support the parish. Influencers, on the other hand, may not give a lot of money, but can mobilize volunteers and get things done.
Whether you’re new to the parish or not, it’s important to be aware of your significant donors and influencers. This will help you plan for the future.
If you’re new, talk to other people in the parish to find out who they are. You can also look through the Sunday collections, receipts logs, and contribution letters.
And once you have that list of people, ask yourself: Do I know their name? Do I know how old they are? Do I know something about their family? Do I have a relationship with them? If I don’t, what can I do to start building a relationship with them?
Influencers, specifically, can be helpful in carrying out your business plan.
In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the DMI survey was administered to 35 out of 57 parish families. This equates to:
It is important to note that the pastors of all 57 parish families were offered the opportunity to participate in the survey; those who participated elected to do so.
Yes.
The DMI survey does ask several questions relating to Catholic education and the parish school, including:
CLI has other studies in the works, but not yet fully developed, to gauge the faith life of parents and their children who are attending Catholic school.
In the data for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, we see evidence of a challenging period of time. There is also evidence we are moving in the right direction.
A question was recently asked, “How do we hold on to what is good about our parish?” Dan recommends changing the paradigm. We should instead be asking, “How do we share what is good about our parish?”
Making a shift from a “scarcity mindset” to the mindset of asking “what can we bring to the table?” will keep things moving in a positive direction.
The participants in the DMI survey in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are mostly adults over 18 years old. There were some responses from high school students under 18 years old, but that demographic is underrepresented.
Millennials don’t have a connection to parish traditions. That’s just a generational reality proved by statistics and trends. They have a different way of looking at church and community, whereas older generations are more attached to traditions.
When we look at the value ranking system in the survey results, we see that the age distribution is highly skewed toward those who are over 55. It’s important to be aware of the generational differences. It is also worthwhile to try to figure out the motivations of younger generations and try to engage them in a specific way to get them more involved and welcomed in the parish.
With statistics, it is almost impossible to prove causality.
The CLI works with parishes for three years. They help parishes develop a plan and set goals based on the initial survey responses.
For example, at Dan’s parish in Philadelphia, they set a goal to work on hospitality. They made a tremendous effort toward hospitality over three years. If the next DMI survey reveals a 10% improvement in people’s perception of parish hospitality, it is reasonable to say there is a correlation between the efforts made and the new survey result.
In this way, you can identify and argue some correlation, if not causality.
