Transforming the Parish: Models for the Future

Transforming the Parish: Models for the Future is the result of twenty years of work with parishes across the United States through the Parish Evaluation Project. It offers models for the future in the areas of spirituality, small faith communities, liturgy, faith development, volunteers and freeing structures. It provides ideas and suggestions about what parish life could be while at the same time paying close attention to what is. Transforming the Parish is a practical guide for pastors, staffs, parish leaders, pastoral ministers, diocesan personnel and those studying the future of parish life and operation. Parish Evaluation Project is a resource to Catholic parishes, dioceses, religious communities, and pastoral ministries throughout the United States. In March of 1993 it celebrated twenty years of service. It is based in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and is listed in the Official Catholic Directory as an organization affiliated with the United States Catholic Conference.

Thomas P. Sweetser, SJ, is the founder (1973) and co-director of the Parish Evaluation Project. His most recent books include The Parish As Covenant and Keeping the Covenant. Sweetser's articles have appeared in a number of periodicals, including America, The National Catholic Reporter, and Commonweal. Patricia M. Forster, OSF was the co-director of the Parish Evaluation Project (1990-1993) and author of Spiritual Companioning. She now serves as part of a pastoral team for a parish community in rural Mexico.