Build a homily that unites your parish & transforms parishioners.
Homily Feedback Journey
About this Journey
This journey is for pastors who desire for parishioners to engage even deeper with the homily, without distractions or barriers. This journey provides tools to help create a trusted stream of feedback, providing real tangible thoughts from the felt needs or parishioners. The goal of this journey is to unite your parish, connect with parishioner felt needs, and transform everyone.
This journey includes a short survey to help get productive and helpful feedback on your homily from those you trust.
What would this full journey require of me?
- Create a simple, 4-question form
- Send an email to a small group of people
A special thanks to Fr. Justin who created this form for his own homilies and has humbly led his parishioners using this tool for the past few years. We thank for leading in this space and offering your tools to others.
Customize for your parish
Everything in this package is ready-made for you to use as is or edit to make it more your own. We've created fully customizable templates in the free-to-use online design tool Canva. Use all the assets together or pick and choose what makes sense for your community.
Prayers
Prayers written by Fr. Justin for the Pastor as he chooses feedback groups, and for the lay people as they offer feedback.
Prayers written by Fr. Justin for the Pastor as he chooses feedback groups, and for the lay people as they offer feedback.
Begin the process by praying through who to ask for homily feedback.
Feedback group criteria
Get guidance on who to pick for homily feedback groups.
Get guidance on who to pick for homily feedback groups.
Get a few points from Fr. Justin on who to ask for feedback.
Feedback form
This form has simply questions to get a feel for the tone of your homily. You can build the form using basic templates from Google Form or Microsoft forms. This makes it easy for your feedback group to submit their answers and easily get into your inbox.
This form has simply questions to get a feel for the tone of your homily. You can build the form using basic templates from Google Form or Microsoft forms. This makes it easy for your feedback group to submit their answers and easily get into your inbox.
Send these few simple questions to your Homily Tone Feedback Group to fill out after your first Mass of the weekend.
Email Invitation
Once you have prayed through a select group of people and built the form, you can invite them to fill out the feedback form through a link.
Once you have prayed through a select group of people and built the form, you can invite them to fill out the feedback form through a link.
Invite a small group to give you homily feedback.
Dear (NAME),
I love our parish. I deeply desire for all of our parishioners to grow and experience God’s heart for them, and I know that you do too. I’d like to invite you to help me with something that I think is a small step that will exponentially benefit our parish.
Would you be interested in being part of a very small, select group of people to give me Feedback on my homilies?
Before you say no, let me tell you: I am NOT looking for someone to check it theologically or grammatically, writing or correcting homilies to make it perfect. I am simply looking to hear about your personal experience. I would like help in making sure that the homily presented speaks to the real needs and engages the heart of people in our community in a deeper way
The beautiful thing about a homily is that the Holy Spirit is at work. It is not up to you, or even me, to change hearts.
The expectations of this role would be to give feedback about how you felt, what stood out, and what didn’t settle well. Not all feedback would be used, but it would be a collection of perspectives to help me make it 10% better.
This ask is a three-month commitment. After three months, we would together discern whether this is a good fit. I absolutely don’t expect that everyone can make this happen or has capacity for this role–so please feel free to respond with honesty.
If you’re interested in trying it out, my commitment to it would be getting you a homily draft by the Wednesday of the week. Your commitment to me would be getting feedback by Friday morning of that same week before my Saturday evening/Sunday Homily.
Reviewing feedback would look like reading through the homily, once or maybe twice, and pointing out your thoughts. I will provide simple guidelines for feedback for those that want it. You can send feedback however is easiest to you–directly in an email or a word document or a few simple bullet points.
Please let me know whether you would like to try out this role by (Date).
Thank you so much. Please let me know if I can answer any questions about the process.
In peace,
Father (Name)
Dear (NAME),
I love our parish. I deeply desire for all of our parishioners to grow and experience God’s heart for them, and I know that you do too. I’d like to invite you to help me with something that I think is a small step that will exponentially benefit our parish.
Would you be interested in being part of a very small, select group of people to give me Feedback on my homilies?
Before you say no, let me tell you: I am NOT looking for someone to check it theologically or grammatically, writing or correcting homilies to make it perfect. I am simply looking to hear about your personal experience. I would like help in making sure that the homily presented speaks to the real needs and engages the heart of people in our community in a deeper way
The beautiful thing about a homily is that the Holy Spirit is at work. It is not up to you, or even me, to change hearts.
The expectations of this role would be to give feedback about how you felt, what stood out, and what didn’t settle well. Not all feedback would be used, but it would be a collection of perspectives to help me make it 10% better.
This ask is a three-month commitment. After three months, we would together discern whether this is a good fit. I absolutely don’t expect that everyone can make this happen or has capacity for this role–so please feel free to respond with honesty.
If you’re interested in trying it out, my commitment to it would be getting you a homily draft by the Wednesday of the week. Your commitment to me would be getting feedback by Friday morning of that same week before my Saturday evening/Sunday Homily.
Reviewing feedback would look like reading through the homily, once or maybe twice, and pointing out your thoughts. I will provide simple guidelines for feedback for those that want it. You can send feedback however is easiest to you–directly in an email or a word document or a few simple bullet points.
Please let me know whether you would like to try out this role by (Date).
Thank you so much. Please let me know if I can answer any questions about the process.
In peace,
Father (Name)
Invite a small group to give you feedback specifically on the tone of your homily delivery.
Dear (NAME),
I love our parish. I deeply desire for all our parishioners to grow and experience God’s heart for them, and I know you do too. So I’d like to invite you to help me on something that I think is a small step that will exponentially benefit our parish.
Would you be interested in being part of a very small, select group of people to give me Homily Tone Feedback?
Before you say no, let me tell you: I am NOT looking for someone to check it theologically, to rewrite or correct homilies, or to make it perfect. I am simply looking for your personal experience. I would like help in making sure that the homily presented is one that speaks to the heart of God’s kindness and mercy.
The feedback would be minimal and the goal would be to help determine whether I preached with God the Father’s tone and voice of mercy, even with difficult topics, in my homily.
This ask is a three-month commitment of giving feedback each (week / month / etc.). After three months before we would together discern whether this is a good fit. I absolutely don’t expect that everyone can make this happen or has capacity for this role–so please feel free to respond with honesty!
The commitment would be filling out a 4-question form after (Mass Time / Day) every (Week / Once a month / etc.).
Please let me know whether you would like to try out this role by (Date).
Thank you so much. Please reach out if you need me to answer any questions about the process.
In peace,
Father (Name)
Dear (NAME),
I love our parish. I deeply desire for all our parishioners to grow and experience God’s heart for them, and I know you do too. So I’d like to invite you to help me on something that I think is a small step that will exponentially benefit our parish.
Would you be interested in being part of a very small, select group of people to give me Homily Tone Feedback?
Before you say no, let me tell you: I am NOT looking for someone to check it theologically, to rewrite or correct homilies, or to make it perfect. I am simply looking for your personal experience. I would like help in making sure that the homily presented is one that speaks to the heart of God’s kindness and mercy.
The feedback would be minimal and the goal would be to help determine whether I preached with God the Father’s tone and voice of mercy, even with difficult topics, in my homily.
This ask is a three-month commitment of giving feedback each (week / month / etc.). After three months before we would together discern whether this is a good fit. I absolutely don’t expect that everyone can make this happen or has capacity for this role–so please feel free to respond with honesty!
The commitment would be filling out a 4-question form after (Mass Time / Day) every (Week / Once a month / etc.).
Please let me know whether you would like to try out this role by (Date).
Thank you so much. Please reach out if you need me to answer any questions about the process.
In peace,
Father (Name)
This is the first email to your group for homily feedback, including a prayer, guidelines and your homily.
Hi (Name),
Thank you so much for being willing to be a part of the Homily Feedback group and giving your time to this! I know that this small step will make a substantial difference for our parishioners.
Before you begin, know that this is all done in prayer. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us and guides us. Some friends have written a prayer that I would love to pass along to you as a way to prepare you for feedback.
I’ve attached a draft of my first homily for Sunday, (Date). (Link)
Here are a few questions to help guide your feedback if you need it. (Link)
Just a reminder to get feedback to me by (Date). Thank you so much!
In Christ,
Father (Name)
Hi (Name),
Thank you so much for being willing to be a part of the Homily Feedback group and giving your time to this! I know that this small step will make a substantial difference for our parishioners.
Before you begin, know that this is all done in prayer. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us and guides us. Some friends have written a prayer that I would love to pass along to you as a way to prepare you for feedback.
I’ve attached a draft of my first homily for Sunday, (Date). (Link)
Here are a few questions to help guide your feedback if you need it. (Link)
Just a reminder to get feedback to me by (Date). Thank you so much!
In Christ,
Father (Name)
This is the first email to your group for homily tone feedback, including the form to fill out.
Hi (Name),
Thank you so much for being willing to be a part of the Homily Tone Feedback group and giving your time to this! I know that this small step will make a substantial difference for our parishioners.
Here is the form (Link to form) for this upcoming Homily. Please send feedback after Mass on (Date) at (Time).
In Christ,
Father (Name)
Hi (Name),
Thank you so much for being willing to be a part of the Homily Tone Feedback group and giving your time to this! I know that this small step will make a substantial difference for our parishioners.
Here is the form (Link to form) for this upcoming Homily. Please send feedback after Mass on (Date) at (Time).
In Christ,
Father (Name)
Send this email to anyone on your feedback group after they give you input on the homily.
Dear (Name),
Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s so helpful and I’m excited to go through it.
Your insight, time, and wisdom is so appreciated.
Blessing,
Father (Name)
Dear (Name),
Thank you so much for your feedback! It’s so helpful and I’m excited to go through it.
Your insight, time, and wisdom is so appreciated.
Blessing,
Father (Name)
Welcome to the Homily Feedback Journey
We're excited to see how this can impact your parish. Below is a recommended rollout plan for you to follow in order to help make the series as impactful as possible.
When should I roll this out?
This journey can be started at any time!
Part 1 - Prayer about who to ask
Asking someone to help you sharpen your homilies is a big ask for both parties. Ask God for surrender as you open yourself up to bringing others in as you teach. Ask God for the right people, who will be wise sounding boards.
Asking someone to help you sharpen your homilies is a big ask for both parties. Ask God for surrender as you open yourself up to bringing others in as you teach. Ask God for the right people, who will be wise sounding boards.
Part 2 - Ask your feedback group
We recommend sending an email but it might be good to also do an in-person touchpoint. The two emails below are for the two different feedback groups. Each email includes the ask and expectations of each group.
Some things to consider when customizing the emails: When do you need feedback before giving your homily? How much time will you give people to read through?
We recommend sending an email but it might be good to also do an in-person touchpoint. The two emails below are for the two different feedback groups. Each email includes the ask and expectations of each group.
Some things to consider when customizing the emails: When do you need feedback before giving your homily? How much time will you give people to read through?
Part 3 - Create the form
You can build the form using basic templates from Google Form or Microsoft forms. This makes it easy for your feedback group to submit their answers and easily get into your inbox.
You can build the form using basic templates from Google Form or Microsoft forms. This makes it easy for your feedback group to submit their answers and easily get into your inbox.
Part 4 - Send the form
Once the form is built, copy a sharable link to email to those you've selected for feedback.
Once the form is built, copy a sharable link to email to those you've selected for feedback.
Part 5 - Use feedback & repeat as needed
How to interpret feedback? This document from Fr. Justin will help guide you through things to look for and how to apply it.
You can continue to ask for feedback every month, every few months, or every Sunday. It’s up to you and how much capacity you have to integrate feedback into homilies! There are no assets needed for this step as you can continue to send the same survey to your small group of confidants.
How to interpret feedback? This document from Fr. Justin will help guide you through things to look for and how to apply it.
You can continue to ask for feedback every month, every few months, or every Sunday. It’s up to you and how much capacity you have to integrate feedback into homilies! There are no assets needed for this step as you can continue to send the same survey to your small group of confidants.
