A Virtual Learning Community is a cohort of 6 pastors, each with a team of key staff and laity.  This group meets via Zoom four times over 18 months to learn, collaborate and strategically plan the future of their parishes. A Learning Community is not a program or a one-time conference, rather it is a unique process that promotes innovation and invites teams to grow with one another in making disciples.

All Virtual Learning Community meetings are via Zoom. Through the Zoom “Breakout Rooms” feature, we are able to have large group sessions, but also put leaders into virtual small groups to discuss and collaborate together. Parish leaders will also have the opportunity to be in mixed groups with leaders from the other parishes. This technology has proven to be an excellent fit for our process.

By joining a Learning Community, a parish is committing to four, two-day sessions over the course of 18 months and a check-in call between sessions. The pastor must participate in every session. We ask participants to come with an open mind and heart, ready to learn, grow and change.

Each Learning Community will meet four times over the course of 18 months, with a check-in call between those meetings.

Each team is comprised of a pastor along with team members who help fulfill the mission of the parish. These may be staff or key volunteers. The most important characteristics of participants are: a desire to learn, a willingness to embrace change and a desire to follow through in implementing their plan. A parish may have as many participants as they wish.

Over the course of two days, teams will hear from experts, thought leaders and practitioners on various aspects of parish renewal. However, the meetings are not merely informational, they also include times for evaluation, processing ideas and creation of action steps to implement change. At the conclusion of every session, teams leave with a new/revised six month strategic plan for their parish. Click here for an overview of the content of the 4 Sessions.

Pastors are either nominated or they apply themselves. After a nomination/application is received, a member of the Parish Catalyst team will interview the pastor to determine if he would be an appropriate fit for our process. The two key traits that we look for in leaders are creativity and courage. Regardless of the size of the parish, if a pastor is willing to think creatively and act courageously, they will excel in a Parish Catalyst Learning Community. Click here to apply.

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage it!  See our nomination page for more details.

The cost per parish team is $5,000, which includes unlimited staff participation in 4 meetings, check in calls between the sessions and ongoing access to all resources. If a parish pays the entire fee prior to the learning community, the cost is $4,000.

Parish Catalyst is grounded in extensive research and has proven to ignite and accelerate renewal in parishes. Parishes that have completed a Parish Catalyst Learning Community have shown measurable growth and positive change in parishioner engagement, small groups, volunteer development, young adults, evangelization and all areas relating to discipleship. To see the statistics from participating parishes, CLICK HERE for our Impact Report.