Prayer

1. Prayer O Lord, Who on earth both praised and practiced the hidden life, grant that, in these days of pride and outward display, the humble ways of Your Servant, Saint John Neumann, may inspire us to imitate Your divine example. Teach us, O Divine Master, to be like Your servant, the holy bishop; intent on pleasing only You and on performing our good actions free from the desire to be seen and glorified by men. We ask the intercession and protection of St. John Neumann, patron of our parish. Hear his prayers for us that we may be a parish that seeks always your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2. Mission Statement • United in the love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves as a welcoming Catholic Community: • To worship God in Word and Sacrament; • To learn, live and share our Faith; • To serve the vulnerable and poor among us; • And to reconcile ourselves with God and one another.

3. The time is now ripe to take a serious look at the parish and to assess its future needs. We need to make some important decisions now that will have long-term effects on the parish. We have developed questions in four areas: Community, Service, Education, and Facilities These four areas all work together to help us carry out the mission of being a parish in the Church. They all need to be considered together. Parish Survey 2012

4. Preliminary Questions • Preliminary questions: • I am • Male 135 • Female 187 • My age is • 18 to 25 12 • 26 to 30 7 • 31 to 40 22 • 41 to 50 71 • 51 to 60 69 • 61 to 70 85 • 71 to 80 36 • 81 or above. 17

5. Preliminary Questions • I am • Single 38 • Married 245 • Separated 2 • Divorced 12 • Widowed 21 • I am • head of the household by myself 59 • head of the household with my spouse 226 • not head of the household 31

6. Preliminary Questions • The language spoken most in our household is: • English 294 • Spanish 4 • French 0 • Tagalog 4 • Vietnamese 1 • Korean 2 • Chinese 1 • Other Asian 0 • Other European 1 • Other African 0

7. Preliminary Question N/A 187 Native American 1 Western Europe 9 Eastern Europe 2 West Africa 8 Southern Africa 0 East Africa 1 Caribbean 2 Central America 3 South America 4 Philippines 9 Asia 10

8. Preliminary Question 7 • How long has your family resided in the parish? • Less than 1 year. 13 • 1 to 3 years. 13 • 3 to 5 years. 26 • 5 to 10 years. 47 • 10 years or more. 222

9. Preliminary Question 8 • How much longer do you anticipate living in the parish? • N/A 5 • Less than 1 year. 5 • 1 year to 3 years. 60 • 6 years to 10 years. 64 • More than 10 years. 180

10. Preliminary Question 9 • Which best describes your attendance at weekend Mass at St. John Neumann? • Every weekend (except for times I am out of town) 307 • Once or twice a month 13 • Once every six months 1 • A couple of times a year 0

11. Preliminary Question 10 • My annual income is • Less than $25,000.00. 48 • Between $25,000.00 and $50,000.00. 50 • Between $50,000.00 and $75,000.00. 55 • Between $75,000.00 and $100,000.00. 55 • Between $100,000.00 and $200,000.00. 83 • More than $200,000.00. 16

12. Community 11. Is SJN a welcoming parish? 85 percent (157 of 183) respondents said SJN is a welcoming parish. 12. Parishioners with disabilities included? Yes – 100 of 183 (55 percent) No – 9 of 183 (5 percent) Not sure/ Don’t know – 74 of 183 (40 percent) 13. Awareness of ministries 67 of 183 (37 percent) respondents were either unaware or somewhat aware of the ministries and activities in the parish.

13. Community 14. Parishioners understand their responsibility to invite others to church and to the Lord. Yes – 128 of 183 (70 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 55 of 183 (30 percent) 15. Does the parish train parishioners to reach out to others? Yes – 90 of 183 (49 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 93 of 183 (51 percent) 16. Educational classes for adults Yes – 132 of 183 (72 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 51 of 183 (27 percent)

14. Community 17. The parish identifies talents and interests of parishioners Yes – 56 of 183 (30 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 127 of 183 (63 percent) 18. Encouraged to be involved Yes – 147 of 183 (80 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 36 of 183 (20 percent) 19. Involvement of seniors, teens, young adults. Yes – 151 of 183 (82 percent) No/not sure/don’t know – 32 of 183 (17 percent)

15. Community Summary • Many of the comments noted that they were not aware of all the ministries the parish offered until they had read the survey itself. Several people suggested a ministries or activities fair so that all parish ministries could be highlighted and people could be involved.

16. Service Introduction • St. Vincent de Paul Society (offering assistance to those in need on a person-to-person basis) • Legislative Network (Lobby Night in Annapolis,etc.) • Pro-Life (promoting the March for Life, Spiritual Adoption, anti-abortion gatherings, etc.) Monday morning prayer and sidewalk counseling at Wisteria Drive • Gabriel Project (providing practical, emotional, and spiritual assistance to women and families facing crisis pregnancies) • Telephone/Internet Prayer Network. • Through the help of Goshen Enterprises we help “El Almendro Clinico” in El Salvador.

17. Service Cont’d • We routinely support the food bank at St. Martin’s • We respond to appeals for international aid to the poor and needy (often hosting visiting Priests, Missionaries, and others to speak with us directly so that we may respond to their specific needs). Our beautiful portrait of St. John Neumann, which hangs on the wall within the Church, was a wonderful gift from parishioners in Peru.

18. Service K of C • Our Knights of Columbus, (Our Lady of Guadalupe Council No. 12127) is open to practicing Catholic men 18 years and older. The Knights serve by supporting religious vocations, parish pro-life activities, raising money for the mentally handicapped through their Tootsie Roll drive, organizing a spring Yard Sale, Christmas Party for children, and performing work in and around the parish.

19. Services (Spiritual) • The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion distribute the Eucharist at Liturgies and take the Eucharist to the sick. They go to one of two nearby facilities for the sick, frail, and elderly or visit people in their homes as needed. • The Arimatheans help with funerals, post-funeral repasts, consolation to the grieving, and with our annual Mass of Remembrance on All Souls Day. • St. John Neumann’s Evangelization Committee seeks to bring the Word and the Church to our community. This committee sponsors our door-to-door evangelization in nearby neighborhoods and the annual Parish Mission.

20. Cont’d • The Perpetual Adoration Chapel provides a place of prayer and Adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have a committee to run the chapel, to schedule adorers and to have periodic retreats and other events to support this devotion.

21. Service (Vocations) • Through our John Paul the Great Vocations Society, we support vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life through prayer and practical action. Some actions have included the Vocations Chalice project, organizing a basketball game between parishioners and seminarians (Neumann Nets) and posting within our Church bulletin the Seminarian of the Week. We have been very fortunate to have several members of our Parish become Deacons and Priests.

22. Service (Parish Social) • We have many other social programs within our Parish, including the 50+ Club, Sunday Socials, Men’s Fellowship Club, Reading Club, Hispanic Community Socials, Legion of Mary in Spanish, and Thursday morning social. Each of these provide for parishioners to grow in their Faith, meet members of the Church, and to help others.

23. Service (Educational) • Finally, we have our educational programs (including our Rite of Christian Initiation classes for adults and children, and religious education for our students and adults) as well as our Priests and Deacons who deliver our homilies in meaningful ways that we can further and deepen our understanding of the Church’s teachings. We also sponsor and host Hearts Aflame in classes for Religious Education Catechists, a semi-annual Pre-Cana program for engaged couples (in English and Spanish), and a marriage enrichment program for married couples.

24. Service 20. Serving others Within the parish – Mostly 4s and 5s in this category Within the local community – Mostly 3s and 4s in this category Beyond the local community – More 1s than in other categories, but mostly 3s and 4s. 21. St. Vincent DePaul Very mixed answers, but mostly 4s and 3s. 22. Have you volunteered? Yes – 118 of 183 (64 percent) No – 65 of 183 (36 percent)

25. Service 23. Appreciate multiculturalism of parish? 5 or 4 – 103 of 183 (56 percent) 3,2,1, or n/a – 80 of 183 (44 percent) 24. Homilies – Most parishioners were happy with the homilies. 25. Most people rated the church bulletin as a 4 or 5.

26. Service 26 Should the church have additional ministries? Yes – 80 of 183 (45 percent) No/not sure – 103 of 183 (56 percent) • Suggestions for additional ministries: Adult catechism Disabilities Children with special needs Eucharist to the homebound Transportation to Mass for the homebound ESL classes Classes for married couples Singles ministries (young adults and adults) NFP classes

27. Education/Religious Ed. Catechesis in the faith for children and youth, including the Children’s Religious Education program that provides classroom instruction for children in grades K through 8 RCIC program that prepares children and teens to receive the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Holy Communion, and Confirmation); Youth Ministry Program for both middle school age children and for teens.

28. Parish School Our own parish school, Mary of Nazareth, which provides Catholic School education for children in grades K through 8. This is a regional school supported by seven parishes. Each parish contributes 5% of its annual offertory collection to the support of this school. The students at this school are eligible to receive tuition assistance through the Archdiocese of Washington.

29. Home Schooling The Home-school community which supports parents who choose to educate their children at home. ARCH and TORCH

30. Mother of God School Mother of God School, an independent school owned and operated by the Mother of God Community provides Catholic School education for children in grades pre-K through 8. St. John Neumann parish does not provide any financial assistance to the school or its students. But, the clergy does have pastoral care for the school. The students at this school are eligible to receive tuition assistance through the Archdiocese of Washington

31. Parish Support MON • Spiritual: Priests offer Mass, hear Confessions, teach religion, other devotions, e.g. Eucharist Day • Administrative: the Pastor serves ex officio on the Board of Directors • Financial: Parish gives 5% of offertory (approximately $55,000.00 a year)

32. Parish Support MOG • Spiritual: Priests offer Mass, hear Confessions, teach, devotions, e.g. May crowning • Administrative: Pastor is on the Board of Directors • Financial: None • Other: Source of students; use of Church; support fundraising activities

33. Parish Support Homeschool • Spiritual: Daily Mass and Confessions, devotions, First Friday • Administrative: General advise • Financial: None • Other: use of facilities, esp. Neumann House

34. Enrollment from Parish 2011-12 • Mary of Nazareth: 36 • Mother of God: 63 • Homeschool: 15 + • Other: • 2 @ St. Martin’s • 1 @ St. Raphael’s • 1 @ St. Patrick’s Total in Catholic Elementary School: 103

35. Mother of God School Request • November 2, 2010 Mother of God School formally requested that St. John Neumann Parish become a sponsor • I agreed to consider this

36. Issues • We have a Parish School already: • Mary of Nazareth: • We have had a relationship since the school’s founding • We are obligated by agreement to maintain our affiliation with 18 months notice • Mary of Nazareth is Blue Ribbon School