Christine+Butler+Capstone+Project

Your proposal should contain the following elements:

 * 1) Your Name and place of work (diocese, school, parish...)
 * 2) Title of Project
 * 3) Project description
 * 4) Project goals
 * 5) Technology to be used
 * 6) Audience description
 * 7) Projected timeline (break-down of the two month implementation
 * 8) Administrative Approval

== Please post your proposal below. Your Proposal Due Date is September 29, 2016. ==  ** DDBC Capstone Project **


 * Project Coordinator** Christine Butler


 * Project Title** Hospitality Ministry Formation at St. John Vianney


 * Project Description**

The parish of St. John Vianney Catholic Church was founded in 1968. We have grown considerably since then, and we are a very culturally diverse congregation. We are blessed to be a “rainbow” church; by that I mean a parish of many skin colors. Yet, with great blessings come great challenges.

I have been the Communication Coordinator at St. John Vianney (SJV) since 2014. It is a challenge to meet the communication needs of all cultures that make up our parish family, but we are coming together more and more each day. However, many parishioners and parish leadership feel we are lacking in our hospitality efforts.

Issues that we see:
 * 1) A first-time visitor comes to our parish. He/She will have a door opened by an usher and will be greeted with a good morning/evening; that ends the interaction. There are parish registration forms on a wall holder. There is no one available to return them to, and there is no instruction on what to do with the form.
 * 2) There is a contact form on our website. If a person/family completes that contact form, they receive an email with the parish registration form attached. The email does welcome them and instructs them to complete the registration form and email it back or submit to the office. There is no further follow up or check to see if they followed either instruction.
 * 3) Previously parishioners submitted a registration form to the office, they received a welcome packet that consisted of a list of ministries they could volunteer in and information about Religious Education. We stopped giving these items out because they were so outdated. Now, if they turn in a registration form to the office, we say “Welcome.”

Hospitality is a huge topic on the Internet and one I think many Protestant churches have perfected. For this project I have embraced two Bible messages that will be the rule of thumb for this ministry:

//Genesis 18: 1-10// Abraham stops what he is doing and greets the three visitors. He prepares a meal for them and in doing so he welcomed God. //Luke 6:32// “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.”

There are many items that we need to address in our Hospitality Ministry, and I have divided this into two phases. Phase one will be this capstone project and phase two will be beyond this project.


 * __Phase One__**

Phase one will consist of:

This will require a signup form on our parish website, bulletin announcements, public announcements at Mass, and personal invitations.
 * **The formation of the Hospitality Team**

This will consist of creating wikispaces for volunteers to access links to hospitality articles and resources. Contact databases will be established so volunteers can be reached and communication avenues established.
 * **Orientation and Training of Volunteers for This Ministry**

This will consist of creating a web page that will allow volunteers to download current welcome literature and edit/revise accordingly. They will then be able to upload the documents and I and the Pastoral Council will evaluate their changes and determine if they will make the final copy.
 * **The Formation of Hospitality Material**

This will also include the creation of a welcome packet. The welcome packet will include a DVD with the ability to view our parish history, information about various ministries, where the parish office is and what services can be obtained from the office, as well as whom to turn to for questions. The welcome packet will also include booklets detailing the various ministries at SJV and opportunities to become more involved in our parish.

This phase will require publicity to recruit a Videography Team. The recruitment process will be similar to the creation of the Hospitality Ministry and will involve a signup form on our parish website, bulletin announcements, public announcements at Mass, and personal invitations.

Once a Videography Team is created, we will start production of a DVD to be included in each of the welcome packets. This DVD will tell the history of our parish. It will give a tour of the church and where things are. It will detail whom to talk to for information and various ministries. If possible, it will include stories from parishioners about how God has worked in their lives.
 * **Creation of a Welcome DVD**


 * __Phase Two__**

Phase two will consist of implementing this Hospitality Ministry by coordinating an online signup form for calling on the recently registered.

We have a parishioner who has created a beautiful hospitality desk for us. We will create teams to serve at this desk and be a face to welcome visitors and new parishioners. We will conduct training in person and online for the volunteer position at this desk.

We will work with ushers and create a team of greeters to welcome those who come in and to recognize those who are new.

//We will re-evaluate and determine how we can better open our church and our hearts to those who cross our threshold.//


 * Project Goals**

To create a Hospitality Ministry that:


 * Is a team of people who are comprised of many different cultures, and
 * Are willing to ensure that our literature is communicating the right message to the different cultures in our church
 * Can create a DVD that demonstrates the gift our parish has to offer to all the cultures of our parish.


 * Audience Description**

Existing parishioners who are open and have a willingness to smile at a new face. Also, parishioners who may not be so willing to smile, but have the technology skills needed for the project.

The ultimate audience is a person who comes to us looking for a home to bring them closer to God.


 * Projected Timeline**


 * Creation of web page for downloading and uploading documentation around welcome packet and ministry information will be completed by October 21, 2016.
 * Coordination of bulletin announcements, email newsletter, and personal invitation for joining Hospitality Ministry will be completed by October 24, 2016.
 * Coordination of bulletin announcements, email newsletter, and personal invitation for joining Videography Team will be completed by October 24, 2016.
 * Videography Team will meet by October 30 and assign the different parts of the Welcome DVD.
 * Announcements will be made to parishioners for voluntary submission of their story and how God has worked through them. This will take place from the beginning and throughout this process with the final request taking place on November 6 weekend.
 * Orientation meeting and training for members in the Hospitality Ministry will be completed by November 7, 2016.
 * Hospitality Ministry will meet during the week of November 14, 2016. Literature will be reviewed and agreed upon for what to submit to the pastor and Pastoral Council.
 * Videography Team will meet weekly and complete the welcome video by November 18, 2016.
 * Final essay and article will be submitted to DDBC mentor for review by November 29, 2016.
 * Final essay and article posted on Wiki by December 13, 2016.


 * Technology to be Utilized**


 * Publisher for bulletin announcements
 * Constant Contact for email announcements
 * Cognito Forms for website forms
 * WeVideo for Videography
 * Dreamweaver for website
 * Digital Camera and Digital Video (Varied) this will be based on what volunteers have available to them
 * Computer equipment (Varied) this will be based on what volunteers have available to them

It is important to note that equipment will not be purchased for this endeavor, rather we will utilize what is available to us.
 * Projected Budget**


 * Welcome DVDs will cost about $.20 each to produce
 * Printed material costs $.03 for black and white prints, $.10 for color prints
 * The parish budget has money allocated for this purpose


 * Do you need Administrator approval?**

Yes. Our pastor has been informed and approved of this project.