St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church Madison CT | Archdiochese of Hartford's Shoreline Church

*A copy of the original Parish Survey questions is available by clicking here.

Vatican, USCCB and Chancery
• Parishioners find that the Vatican’s shifts in administration, doctrine spur confusion. The Amazon Synod survey also pointed to Francis indulging in religious ceremonies outside acceptable Catholic norms. Our survey recognized concerns about the Pope’s dealings with some global leaders.
• On a more positive note, the St. Margaret survey clearly and strongly supported the Latin Mass.
• Further to the Vatican’s very mixed findings, the survey raised serious concerns regarding the role of the USCCB among parishioners. Those concerns included the need for strong positions on Catholic teaching and evangelization, even louder calls for a focus on vocations, and an equally loud call for the Bishops to take strong, solid positions on abortion and euthanasia,
• It was reinforcing to see St. Margaret’s parishioners enthusiastically recognize our Archdiocesan Chancery on several fronts. In sharp contrast to the survey responses regarding the USCCB, St. Margaret’s parishioners recognize the Chancery for Catholic teaching and evangelization, and for taking prominent positions on abortion and euthanasia. Likewise, the Chancery promotes the doctrine of marriage.

St. Margaret’s Parish & Father Phil
• Consistent with the Chancery findings, Fr Phil emphasizes strong Catholic teaching and evangelization. Respondents confirmed that the Parish and Fr Phil promote the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and Sacraments
• Also consistent with the Chancery, survey results show the Parish and Fr Phil promote the true Catholic meaning of marriage, nuclear family, and sanctity of Life. This likewise aligns with our theme of “The Catholic Family.”
• The survey findings resonated with the notion that priestly vocations are promoted here well, and that the parish and Fr Phil seek to bring in those seeking enhanced spiritual growth and further comprehension of our Catholic doctrine.
• St. Margaret can boast a vibrant lineup of ministries, with more yet to come. It’s encouraging to see from the survey responses that our parish and Fr Phil continue to upgrade and develop new ministries in our parish

Lay Ministries
• The measured lay ministries results, practically across-the-board, are not just in favor of the ministries, but exhibit a strong desire for expansion as well,
• It’s probably not surprising that Family Life leads among the requests for expansion here at “The Catholic Family” parish. On a related front, respondents also upheld the Sunday family mass
• Interest in ministry expansion also includes community outreach, contemporary Catholic studies, Spiritual Direction, and Catholic doctrine studies,
• The majority of our respondents supported the Connecticut March for Life. They expressed a desire for different levels of seminars and more Catholic related events, as well as trips to Marian shrines, both near and far.

General Insights
• Survey participants affirmed that a strong prayer life is an important indicator of a desire to enter God’s eternal plan, and that powerful prayer can change anything. Nearly all who responded said prayer is essential to the growth of their faith.
• Again, on the role of prayer, respondents largely found their prayer lives were strongest when they prayed at mass, first, and at home, second. The vast majority agreed with the survey’s statement that “God indeed knocks at our door and that we are free to accept the invitation.”
• The notion of a resurgence of Christianity in America drew mixed results, with one segment of participants agreeing that such a resurgence occurs when solid conservative Christian doctrine is promoted, Yet, a different segment is seen doubting such a resurgence is taking place.
• The majority of respondents said that our Catholic faith becomes “watered down” when adapting to the ways of the world, although fewer than half felt that damage to Catholic doctrinal truths occurs when adaptation takes place in different cultures and time periods
• Underscoring the vital connection between faith and family, a foundational point of St. Margaret’s parish as “The Catholic Family,” the majority of survey participants emphatically responded that their Catholic faith and spirituality are a major focus in their family life.
• On a related family topic, the majority of respondents said it may take a long time to repair damage to society by those who scorned the traditional family. Related to a very current issue, their responses endorsed the fact that the Church lives by Christ’s teachings when government tries to usurp the role of the parents.
• The survey, however, also mirrored some disappointments. Among them, more than three-quarters of respondents felt too many American Catholics find the Church to be a place to consume religion on their own terms, and in their own time. In addition, more than half see our Catholic colleges willing to dilute their religious identity in pursuit of government subsidies.
• Among other candid, real-world views, some respondents see the Catholic Church leaning toward the secular world and say that traditional distinctions of the Church are being lost. More positively, a majority feel that there are still true shepherds of the flock who seek to repeat the Master’s unchangeable teaching.
• Upholding the sanctity of the Eucharist and the engagement with our Lord in the Mass, the majority of survey participants believe Communion should not be given to public figures and politicians who sanction abortion. A smaller handful of respondents felt it should be given to all who want it.
• A blend of survey questions centered on confronting the perils of the 21st Century. While their responses were split about whether we’re in apocalyptic times, nearly a two-thirds majority did say that Western society is at verge of social collapse — and that traditional Catholicism could have prevented it.
• Further assessing the world around us, more than three-quarters of participants see this as a time when people “seek to be dazzled rather than enlightened, amused rather than inspired, and entertained rather than challenged.” Nearly half of respondents find the denominations that surrender to the spirit of the age are vanishing. Fortunately, the majority of respondents agree the Catholic Church rises above the chaos and confusion, and it knows and helps the faithful understand the temptations of all stages of life.

Section I. The Vatican
• App. 65% of the respondents acknowledged substantial differences in the Papal administrations and doctrinal statutes relating to Pope Benedict XVI and Francis.
• App. 75% of the respondents were not aware of the points inherent in the recent Synod of the Amazon. Of the remainder, app. twice the amount found what had transpired problematic in relation to traditional Catholic doctrine.
• 40 % of the respondents find Pope Francis’ dealings with global business leaders who are openly against principles relating to the traditional Catholic faith of concern. 45% are not familiar with these matters.
• 70% of the respondents do not want the extraordinary form of the Mass phased out.
In general, respondents have clearly voiced their concerns over perceived changes and transitions evident in the Vatican at this time.

Section II. USCCB
• 50% of the respondents feel that better Catholic teaching and Evangelization is needed directly from the USCCB. 17% feel they are doing an OK job.
• 63% of respondents feel that the USCCB should take a stronger stand upholding our Catholic principles. 13% agree somewhat, and 21% feel modern interpretation of marriage and family are OK.
• 90% of respondents feel that the USCCB should focus on an increase in vocations including late vocation men and foreign recruits. At least half feel that more layperson roles intertwined where appropriate would help fill in function gaps that they could take on within Catholic doctrine.
• 68% of the respondents would like stronger stances from the USCCB on abortion and euthanasia, with 39% of the respondent pool stating that the USCCB should promote the denial of Communion to any public figure or politician who promotes such.
In general, the respondents are seeking stronger stances from the USCCB regarding traditional Catholic doctrine and truths handed down from Tradition and Scripture.

Section III. Our Archdiocesan Chancery
• 60% of respondents say that our chancery promotes solid Catholic teaching and evangelization, and what it means to be genuinely Catholic.
• 73% of respondents say that our chancery takes a solid, strong position on sanctity of life issues including abortion and euthanasia. 21% stated that they did not know enough about the subject to comment.
• 70% of respondents feel that our Chancery strongly promotes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and Sacraments. 21% stated that they did not know enough about the subject to comment.
• 68% of the respondents feel that our chancery promotes and preaches the Catholic doctrine of Marriage and the Nuclear family well. 22% stated that they did not know enough about the subject to comment.
• 55% of the respondents feel that our chancery promotes and attracts priestly vocations well. 38% stated that they did not know enough to comment.
Our chancery scores quite well in the categories that EWTN surveyed Catholics are most concerned about, and where they believe that Catholic Church leadership teams should focus their attention on. This contrasts sharply to USCCB findings, where our parishioners feel that far more can be done to promote and uphold our Catholic doctrine and truths.

Section IV. St. Margaret’s Parish/Fr Phil
• 82% of respondents feel that our parish and Fr Phil stresses and strives for strong Catholic teaching and evangelization. 18% said Fr Phil could even dial it down a notch. Rest divided between not knowing enough to comment or disagreeing.
• 80% of respondents feel that the parish and Fr Phil promotes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and Sacraments. Rest divided by those who didn’t know enough to comment or who disagreed.
• 67% of respondents feel that parish and Fr Phil promote well the true Catholic meaning of marriage, nuclear family and sanctity of Life. Rest are evenly split between not knowing enough to comment, or disagreeing or stating that they have beliefs that differ from the Catholic Church on those subjects.
• 50% of respondents concur that priestly vocations are promoted here well, with others evenly split between not knowing enough about the subject to comment, or feeling differently.
• 45% feel that our parish and Fr Phil seeks to bring in those seeking enhanced spiritual growth and further comprehension of our Catholic doctrine that are new to Madison, as well as those that have left their faith years ago. 30% felt more could be done, and remainder did not know enough about subject to comment or who felt that parish should be more about bringing people together socially and less about our Catholic faith.
• 85% of respondents feel that our parish and Fr Phil maintain and upgrade our Church buildings and gardens well and seek to achieve the best spiritual settings within our budget. Rest evenly divided between not knowing enough to comment, disagreeing, or not caring about our physical environment.
• 55% of our respondents feel that our parish and Fr Phil strives to upgrade and develop new ministries in our parish as we hopefully move along from our long Covid restrictive period. Some parishioners stated that they were not interested in parish ministries, and only attend weekend masses here, with others divided between those not knowing enough to comment, or disagreeing.
• 53% of respondents say that parish and Fr Phil seeks to update a user friendly library that encourages parishioners to read more about our Catholic faith and current developments. 35% did not know enough about the subject to comment while 12% said they would never use our library.
St. Margaret’s staff and Fr Phil look forward to leaving the restrictive covid period behind and moving ahead with our plans to rejuvenate and expand in the areas mentioned. Much follow-through on such has started already, and a great group of Trustees, Parish Council and Finance Council members are in place to brainstorm and implement further in all areas targeted for growth and development.

Section V. St. Margaret Parish lay ministries
• 85% of our respondents felt that our parish has a strong comprehensive group of ministries serving our community well and commensurate with the size of our parish. Rest either did not know enough about the subject to comment or disagreed.
• Requests for expansion of ministries were strongest in the following areas; 42% of respondents would like to see expansion in Family Life, 30% in community outreach, 29% in contemporary Catholic studies, 29% in Spiritual Direction, 26% in Catholic doctrine studies, 26% in Bible study, 22% in senior ministry, 20% in Youth ministry, 17% in music, and 16% in Young adult ministry
• 85% of respondents commented favorably regarding the 9:30 AM Sunday Family Mass.
• 53% of our respondents belong to one of our faith related organizations.
• 70% of our respondents are in favor of the Connecticut March for Life. 22% are either pro-choice or find it of no interest to them.
• 65% of respondents would attend a monthly ‘redemptive film’ discussion group at least occasionally.
• 72% of respondents would like more Catholic related events such as the St. Margaret’s weekend.
• 80% of respondents would like more seminars at St. Margaret’s including 42% of respondents seeking ones that are more theologically advanced than Matthew Kelly ones.
• 65% of respondents would like day trip retreats and/or to international Marian Shrines.
Fr. Phil and St. Margaret’s Parish are pleased with the ministry commentary. A Family Life Ministry is being established that will now continue the link from First Communion ministry, Confirmation ministry, and Youth ministry. More Catholic events are in the works, as well as more seminars relating to both introductory and advanced Catholic studies, and we will form the monthly film group. With Covid now coming to a close, we will also look at Parish sojourn and retreat options.

Section VI. General Insights Reflections
• Parishioner respondents found their prayer lives strongest when…. At Mass 84%; alone at home 66%; when praying the rosary 42%; alone at a Sacred place 31%
• 90% of respondents feel that God indeed knocks at our door and that we are free to accept the invitation.
• As to the resurgence of Christianity in America, 37% say yes when solid conservative Christian doctrine is promoted; 33% say not happening; 13% say when liberal interpretations are promoted.
• 45% of respondents feel that damage to Catholic doctrinal truths occurs when adaptation occurs to different cultures and time periods. 37% disagree.
• 67% of respondents feel that our Catholic faith becomes watered down when adapting to the ways of the world. 18% disagree.
• 69% of respondents feel that their Catholic faith and spirituality are a major focus in their family life; 26% say that it is somewhat; 5% not really at all.
• 72% of respondents feel that too many American Catholics find the Church to be a place to consume religion on their own terms, and in their own time. 23% disagree.
• 65% of respondents feel our Catholic colleges are more interested in government subsidies and dilute their religious identity for such.
• 35% of respondents feel that traditional distinctions of the Catholic Church are being lost and it’s being made to look more and more like the secular world; 17% disagree, while 40% disagree but understand why some may feel that way
• 76% of respondents find that Catholic doctrine truths are being increasingly watered down
• 58% of respondents feel that there are still true shepherds of the flock that know that their task is to repeat the Master’s unchangeable teaching. 10% feel though that some are more interested in winning a popularity contest.
• Apocalyptic times now? 35% yes; 38% say every time period has its rough spots; 14% say no.
• 63% say that western society is at verge of social collapse and that traditional Catholicism could have prevented it. 24% disagree
• 80% say it may take a long time to repair damage to society by those who scorned the traditional family, but the Church lives by Christ teachings when government tries to usurp the role of the parents.
• 57% feel that Communion should only be given to public figures and politicians not promoting abortion. 16% say it should be given to all who want it.
• 85% say we live in a time period where people seek to be dazzled rather than enlightened, amused rather than inspired, and entertained rather than challenged.
• Denominations that surrender to the spirit of the age are vanishing. 44% agree. 20% disagree. 37% have not thought enough about it to comment
• 61% agree the Church knows and helps those understand the temptations of all stages of life; 25% disagree
• 91% of respondents feel that prayer indicates a desire to enter God’s eternal plan
• 91% of respondents feel that powerful prayer from all of us can change anything and potential occurrences
• 98% of respondents feel that strong prayer life is essential to growth of our faith