A Confession About the DMI

On Ash Wednesday, Catholic Leadership Institute’s Disciple Maker Index (DMI) survey officially opened for another round of Catholics around the country to share their voices.

If your parish is participating, make sure to take the 15-minute Disciple Maker Index survey and join with fellow Catholics as part of the largest research project in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis is asking to hear from us as part of the synod, and the DMI is one way to share our feedback to benefit both our faith and our parishes. Your voice is important, informative, and appreciated; we would be blessed by your participation!

(If your parish is not taking the DMI, but you would like to learn how they can, click here to email Kyle Hatfield, Manager, Ministry Development, for more information!)

Meet Fr. Scott

Fr. Scott Jablonski, Pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish and Director of Continuing Formation of Priests in the Diocese of Madison, is a wonderful example of a priest who aspires to always be growing and learning in his own pastoral leadership. The Disciple Maker Index has been a valuable tool for Fr. Scott.

Reaching 2,109 parishes across 51 dioceses, this innovative tool has been a gift to shedding light upon parish strengths and opportunities and illuminating the path forward. The largest survey of its kind in the Church today, this unprecedented databank is driving transformation, clarity of vision, and deep awareness of parishioners’ spiritual journeys. It has been encouraging and inspiring to see the change and the possibility that leaders of all kinds have discovered through the Disciple Maker Index.

Challenged & Confirmed

When Fr. Scott’s parish took the Disciple Maker Index, he experienced both affirmation and surprise. He shares:

“It’s been really interesting in the sense that it’s confirmed things that I thought I knew. It also has challenged some other things that I thought I knew.”

Fr. Scott was surprised by how many of his flock believed in the Real Presence of the Eucharist, how fully his people relied on the Church for their relationship with God, and the level of support and trust his parishioners had in him, even as a new pastor who began his assignment during Covid.

In talking about how the DMI is relevant to his ministry during this unique time for our Church, Fr. Scott observes:

“It’s just been helpful to paint a little bit clearer picture of where we're really at in this particular moment in history, especially following Covid.”

Areas Fr. Scott is working to improve upon include better equipping his people to share their witness and evangelize, creating retreat experiences to help deepen his flock’s spiritual journeys, and overcoming reservations about participating in the Sacrament of Confession.

On the particular topic of the Sacrament of Confession, the Disciple Maker Index inspired him to dig further. He discovered that privacy and confessional location were contributing to this lack of participation. Right now, he is building a new confessional at his parish and working on new ways to invite others to Confession, which the DMI continuously affirms is pivotal in furthering faith journeys.

Building the Future

Priests like Fr. Scott are building the future of our Church in a multitude of ways. Catholic Leadership Institute is humbled to be able to offer Fr. Scott and priests like him tools to help him in building a strong future.

Shamrocks & Spiritual Journeys

In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day today, Catholic Leadership Institute will keep all of the many Disciple Maker Index respondents both past and present in our prayers – may your survey responses be shamrocks that teach you about your parishes!

𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 [Irish!] 𝒷𝓁ℯ𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ𝓈,
𝒞𝒽𝒶𝒹