The Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana’s mission statement is “We are the people of God uniting in the heart of Jesus Christ. We join the whole Church in proclaiming the Gospel in Word, Sacrament, and Charity for the salvation of all people.” The diocese was partitioned off the Fort Wayne Diocese in November 1944. The area designated for the new diocese covers 9,832 square miles and comprises 24 counties in Northcentral Indiana from the Illinois to Ohio state lines.
Katie Herzing is a Pastorate Consultant for the Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana. Her primary responsibility is to serve as a bridge and liaison between the pastorates (parish groupings) and the diocese. She has the opportunity to get to know the pastors and administration of each pastorate and can advocate for them and join them in ministry. They currently have 61 parishes in 28 pastorates, with 1 to 6 parishes in their groupings.
To assist her in her role, she uses MinistryPlatform. MinistryPlatform helps her know what is going on in ministry as a diocese and a pastorate. She can see who is in their parish and how their parishioners are contributing to those ministries with their time, talent, and treasures. Knowing that information, she is able to understand how best to communicate with and serve them.
Katie spends a lot of time using the combined contacts tool in MinistryPlatform. The diocese has many wonderful families that have donated or participated in multiple parishes over the years. As a result, it frequently has duplicate records—sometimes as many as six, seven, or eight duplicates for one family across the diocese.
“The combine contacts tool is one of the tools that I think has been most efficient for me to be able to really work with more and understand the most.” Katie Herzing, Pastoral Consultant
With the tool, she can see two entries at a time to compare the records side by side, know they are duplicates, and see if there is updated information for that record. She says she spends time in that tool almost every day. It also provides quite a bit of satisfaction because she can see how many records she has combined and the progress that she is making in data cleanup.
“Data cleanup can be a giant mountain that’s hard to climb and can even feel like it’s Everest and we’re barely a hundred feet up, but being able to see that in the combine contacts tool, and kind of understand how things work in the platform has allowed me to count it as a win and have the momentum to keep going.” Katie Herzing, Pastorate Consultant
The other major bonus to MinistryPlatform is the team behind it. The relationships she builds with the coaches, support team, and even other MinistryPlatform users are invaluable. She has people she can contact to talk about pain points or share her successes. Community building is a significant strength for her; she loves having that experience.
Katie is excited to see what comes next with MinistryPlatform and loves the ease she finds with her data cleanup. Having the tools she needs right in front of her makes her job more manageable, and she can focus more on helping her contacts and pastorates in their missions.
To learn more about MinistryPlatform, Click Here
To learn more about the Diocese of Lafayette-In-Indiana, click Here
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