Last year for the first time, we invited congregations to share their stories of mission and transformation along with their parochial reports, in a new format we called the Parochial Report "Page 5." Our hope was to find out what "God is up to" in the lives of our congregations, in a way that raw data just can't convey.
Thirty-five congregations responded. Their stories were shared with the Presiding Bishop, who wrote back,
"What a delightful collection of mission reports! Thank you for encouraging this, and for sharing the first round of naratives with me and others."
This year we are again asking congregations, as they are preparing their 2012 Parochial Reports to also fill out a Page 5 with new stories of mission and transformation. To make this easier, we are introducing a simple online form with a downloadable template. Both the official Parochial Reports and the Page 5s are due March 1, 2013.
If you have questions, please contact Paul Shackford at 973-430-9983 or pshackford@dioceseofnewark.org.
