Case Study

Catholic churches throughout the United States are undergoing a process known by several different names: clustering, merging, grouping, and yoking. Regardless of the name, the process presents similar challenges to parishes moving through it.

In the summer of 2017, four parishes in Wakesha, Wisconsin merged as a result of a decrease in priests. Ministry scheduler Pat Sennot overcame the challenges of merging by using Ministry Scheduler Pro to successfully bringing four separate ministry schedules together.

The Challenges

When Pat began merging the four parish schedules, she heard a concern from volunteers: the fear of losing parishioners' church identity.
Additionally, Pat faced the problem of finding a streamlined way to bring all the schedules together. She needed one system to schedule 528 volunteers from the four parishes.
Pat also wanted to find a way to connect the parishioners as their churches came together.Preserving identities while also merging schedules is central to a successful merger. For Pat, one key to successfully managing multiple schedules was the ability MSP gave her to put each parish into separate "folders," or sections. Every MSP license comes with unlimited support, so Pat reached out to support team to learn how to create the folders. "There were so many questions I had at the time. Having the support team there to show me how to do it was so helpful!"

The Solutions

Preserving identities while also merging schedules is central to a successful merger. For Pat, one key to successfully managing multiple schedules was the ability MSP gave her to put each parish into separate "folders," or sections. Every MSP license comes with unlimited support, so Pat reached out to support team to learn how to create the folders. "There were so many questions I had at the time. Having the support team there to show me how to do it was so helpful!"

By separating them into folders in the database, it was easier to keep track of who preferred serving at each parish and to customize the schedules. It also kept the schedules in one database so Pat could see and access all four schedules in one place.

MSP allowed Pat to keep the parish identities separate and to build bridges between the four churches. "I wanted people to feel like they could go to other parishes to visit and volunteer," she said. "If volunteers want to minister at other parishes, I just add the ministry after they've received the appropriate training, and then they can minister."

Summary

Despite the challenges, Pat is thrilled to have simplified four schedules in one system. "There are plenty of hurdles, but it can be done!," she said. For Pat, finding a tool that was powerful enough to address her complex scheduling needs yet simple enough for everyone to use has proven invaluable.