Case Studies
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Deacon Joe Kest
St. Patrick of Heatherdowns "MSP facilitates ministers getting involved. Being able to keep families together and avoiding scheduling people twice in a weekend is conducive to people getting involved in ministry." |
| Roman Catholic |
| Toledo, OH |
| 426 |
| Eucharistic ministers, Lectors, Altar Servers, Greeters, Organists, Song Leaders, Children's Liturgy of the Word Leaders |
| www.toledostpats.org |
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Text highlighted in yellow only appears in this longer version of the case study.
| Max: |
Why did you originally seek out a ministry scheduling program?
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| Deacon Kest: |
I was looking for something to schedule the altar servers because I was doing the scheduling by hand. The liturgy director was struggling with scheduling also, and after looking at MSP, I got to thinking that we could use it to schedule all the liturgical ministries.
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| Max: |
What do you use MSP for most often?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Allowing ministers to find subs online. It just amazes me that it happens so smoothly, without me having to get involved, and the lightening speed of the whole thing. It used to be such a chore. I had to get a [sub request] email then send it back out to everyone and wait for a response back for the minister. But now it’s all automatic and it makes my job much, much easier.
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| Max: |
What are the greatest benefits MSP brings to your parish?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Well, first of all, the scheduler portion is so easy to use. You input everything into MSP and you hit that Schedule button. You wonder how it's going to do it with all the preferences and availabilities, but sure enough the schedule comes out. With over 400 ministers, if I did it manually I'd be at it for a week or more.
Another big benefit is how MSP facilitates ministers getting involved. Being able to keep families together and avoiding scheduling people twice in a weekend is conducive to people getting involved in ministry. By respecting their availability and keeping families together, it has made the whole aspect of ministry so much easier for people. Some folks say, "If I could just do one particular Mass, I would [minister]. But if you're going to start putting me at any Mass, I can't do it." MSP makes that so much easier to do.
The ability for ministers to find subs online without any intervention on my behalf saves me hours of work and has made it easier for ministers to commit to serving. All of MSP's tools, not only to generate, but to maintain the schedules are a big benefit.
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| Max: |
How do you use MSP's Emailer and what do you use it for most often?
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| Deacon Kest: |
I mostly use it for reminders. Every week, usually Wednesday, I send out reminders for the coming weekend. I also use it to tell ministers to login to the Web Terminal to update their availability for the next scheduling period. And I use it to contact ministers based on their attendance record. We use MSP’s sign-in sheets. Every Monday I go through that and if they didn’t show up, I send them an email letting them know we missed them and remind them that they are responsible for finding a replacement if they can't make one of their scheduld times.
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| Max: |
What has been your volunteers' reaction to the email reminders?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Reminders are wonderful. I've heard more comments saying, "Gee, that's the greatest thing, that email reminder." Or "Thanks for sending me that reminder because I forgot I was supposed to be scheduled this weekend." And it's funny because as soon as you send out those reminders, you see a couple sub request come flying in. The reminders have been very well received. As we train new people, we make sure that they fill out a form and provide their email.
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| Max: |
How did you get your ministers accustomed to going online to view and update their schedule?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Basically, I just sent out an email describing MSP and how we would be using it from now on to update service preferences and look for subs. I ran it together for awhile with the website we were using before. Then I sent out an email and said "After this date, we will only be using the MSP Web Terminal." People adjusted with no problem at all.
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| Max: |
When you say the website you were using before, did you have an area where they could request subs?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Yeah it was just a form they could fill out on the St. Pat's website saying "I need a sub for such and such a date." An email would come to me and I would have to set up an email to go out to all the ministers. Basically, it's the same thing that the Web Terminal is doing automatically now.
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| Max: |
How has the Web Terminal affected the way you handle scheduling?
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| Deacon Kest: |
The major thing is the ministers can go online and input when they're not available themselves. This really saves me time. We used to get all these emails that would say “I won't be available at such and such time” and I'd have to enter all that manually. But now they can do it themselves through the Web Terminal. Our last schedule was the first one using the Web Terminal. I had nothing to do! Normally it would have taken 2 or 3 days for me to have to put all of that information in. Another big difference is the ability to allow ministers to request subs without manual intervention. We have "automatic processing" on so swap requests get processed automatically. The Web Terminal works beautifully in that area.
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| Max: |
Do your ministers access the Web Terminal via your parish’s website?
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| Deacon Kest: |
There is a link on the website, although whenever I send out any email, I always include in the email a link to the Web Terminal and their login information. I think most people just click on the email link. I also sent them an email showing them how to create an icon for that link and put it on the desktop, so some of them have probably used that facility too, I'm sure.
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| Max: |
What feedback have you received from the ministers regarding the Web Terminal?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Oh, they love it. I've gotten nothing but positive feedback. Everyone who uses it thinks it's great – that it's easy to use. A few people didn't understand how to click on tabs but it was easy to explain. It was all simple stuff that we could get resolved quickly.
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| Max: |
What do you see as the biggest obstacle stopping people from participating in ministry?
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| Deacon Kest: |
Some people have to work weekends or are unavailable. Maybe fear of being up in front of people makes some people uncomfortable. Certainly I can't say it's the way we do scheduling. MSP has facilitated participating in ministry. It has been very positive in that respect. When I'm training new ministers I'm always pushing that it's very easy to get subs and replacements with this new system we have.
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| Max: |
What are the benefits of participating in the liturgical ministries?
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| Deacon Kest: |
The biggest benefit is the way people grow in their faith – the closeness to God, and Jesus, and to the community. It gives them a sense of ownership in the parish when they're participating and serving. A lot of times you'll see a big increase in their spiritual life when someone is actively involved rather than just sitting in the pew. It gives them a chance to use their gifts and talents they have in service. So it's a real spiritual growth for a lot of people.
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| Max: |
What is the best way to get people involved in the liturgical ministries?
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| Deacon Kest: |
I guess I found, Max, that the best way of getting people more involved is to personally ask them — not just to put an announcement in the bulletin, not just to send an email, but to actually go out and say, "Why aren't you distributing the Eucharist?" or "Why aren't you Lectoring? You've got a voice to proclaim." You're going to get some people that just don't want to participate. They just want to come to give a few hours on Sunday afternoon and just go home and not participate. Those kind of people – I don't know how you could ever stir them up. But there are a lot of people out there that would like to do things and are just waiting to be asked. A lot of people do a lot of good things. They are involved with sports, coaching, teaching and working with our children. So it's not only liturgical ministries. Everyone has gifts from God. You see the gifts and you affirm those gifts and invite them come forward and use those gifts in service of the community. Many people thank me for asking. They say, "Ministering is such a great joy, I'm so thankful that you asked me to do this."
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| Max: |
Well thanks for participating in this case study Joe. You've been using MSP for years and I can't tell you how valuable all your feedback has been to us in improving the program.
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| Deacon Kest: |
Well I can tell you, Max, I am a great MSP supporter out here in Ohio. It's just so great right now. I can't say enough about it. It's got everything you really need for scheduling and for maintaining the schedule afterwards. I wish I could get it to every parish out here. The more people who use it, the better off they'll be. They stand to benefit greatly once they see it and start using it.
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