Dream:
Fr. Michael Smith has been the pastor of the Church of the Holy Family in Hebron, CT for seven and half years. Motivated by the vibrant faith community he was shepherding, he had a vision of helping them better realize their potential. He saw a community of people that could do great things for their church, their community and their world. But how could he inspire such a movement? Better yet, how would he organize, manage and maintain a project of this magnitude?
Fr. Michael’s vision began to take shape when he started Catholic Leadership Institute’s Good Leaders, Good Shepherds (GLGS) program in September of 2006. As part of the training’s curriculum, priests are asked to conceptualize and develop Key Responsibility Area statements (KRA’s). This exercise describes an individual’s ongoing functions for their ministry-related role.
Inspired by a dreaming exercise he had learned from another parish, Fr. Michael began to formulate a very specific KRA that emulated and expanded on this exercise. He called it the Dream Program and constructed it to allow each of his parishioners to submit the dreams they had for the world and for their church and ways to make those dreams possible. "I came to understand through GLGS how important it is to listen, that when you allow a community to express themselves, they feel valued," said Fr. Michael.
Action:
Armed with his KRA’s Fr. Michael went home to his parish and put his words into action. Using Jesus as his ultimate model of leadership, he called upon his own 12 disciples to help fulfill his vision. He called them the Stewardship T.E.A.M, believing "Together Everyone Accomplishes More." On the first Sunday of Advent in 2006, Fr. Michael asked his parishioners something he had never asked them before: "What do you dream about?"
With more than a few puzzled faces in the pews, he asked them to write down their dreams and explained that they would work together as a parish to achieve them. He asked them to believe in his vision and have faith that it would be fulfilled. By the end of the mass they had collected over 2,000 dreams.
The dreams were organized into 16 categories, ranging from spiritual growth to social justice, and healthy living. Once these categories were defined, they were presented back to the parish for prioritization. "We focused on the need to communicate...and determined ways to help make the dreams happen. We recruited members, defined sub-teams, created new ministries as needed, and continued to share as much information with the parish as possible," said Stewardship Team member Dottie Moon. The team dubbed the first Sunday of each month "Spirit Sunday," as a means to update the parish on the progress of making their dreams come true.
Reality:
"It is hard to explain, but you can almost physically feel the movement," describes Tom Griffin, a parishioner of the Church of the Holy Family. As a direct result of the program, two new ministries within the parish were formed. When it comes to volunteers for long-or short-term projects "we rarely have a shortage...and the best part of that is many of the volunteers are new faces, even if they’ve been a parishioner for years," said Griffin.
On December 9, the parishioners of the Church of the Holy Family celebrated the one year anniversary of the Dream Program. During that celebration Fr. Michael reminded them of the quote that appears inside their church: "What we dream alone remains a dream, what we dream with others becomes a reality."
From one effective leader and one good shepherd, from one vision, one dream, came 2,000 dreams and a people of Christ wholly committed to building up the Kingdom of God.
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