CPPCD Board member Bob Miller of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and CPPCD member Charles Zech of Villanova University have co-authored a new book called Listening to the People of God: Closing, Rebuilding, and Revitalizing Parishes. Published by Paulist Press, the book is available from the publisher and from online outlets like Amazon.com.

Bob wrote the book with Chuck (Professor of Economics at Villanova University) because, in his experience, no one had ever surveyed the parishioners involved in parish restructuring to learn what would be helpful for parishioners experiencing future restructuring. Recommendations in the book are based on surveys of 660 parishioners in 104 different parishes, from 42 dioceses. Those surveyed report on their experiences of parish mergers, suppression of parishes, and various parish staffing arrangements including clustering of parishes and parishes with pastoral administrators.

The book identifies what parishioners identify as necessary during the planning, preparation and implementation stages (Bob considers the latter to be typically undersupported). Bob and Chuck’s insights on the research on blended families and how it relates to parish restructuring are particularly intriguing and convincing.