That Man Is You! starts Thursday

Last year, over seventy men would gather 26 Thursday morning before sunrise for That Man Is You! Although there is a weekly video presentation, the heart of the event is the table discussions as men discuss their faith in their life.

Out of curiosity, we decided to measure how the Spiritual Commitment changed among the men who attended. Using the questions identified by Gallup Faith, we had all the men answer some quick questions at the first session, the 13th session and at the end of the 26th session. We didn't explain what we were measuring or give out any preliminary results because we didn't want to influence the results.

The initial surprise was how low the men were in Spiritual Commitment in the first session. In 2010, St. Columbkille Parish measured a little higher than the national average, but the men (on average) were well below that. Typically this measurement tool is used for a parish. If we stack that against other parishes, they would have been in the bottom 25%. Part of our interpretation is that TMIY! appealed to men who hadn't been exercising their spiritual life.

Then we were really surprised by the improvement. Again if the results are compared to parishes, the final numbers would put these same men in the top 25% of the country. Steve Bollman from Paradisus Dei said that they frequently get letters or cards from men (or their wives) who have had their lives changed by the program. But he was very excited to see these results. He will be using this data as he talks to Bishops around the country.

Deacon David said, "When we started this, it was just for us to look at internally to see if this was a good use of our energy and resources. I was startled by the results. I told Steve that I probably wouldn't have shared the results with him if it hadn't been so good."

The second year of TMIY! starts next Thursday (the 22nd). Although all men are invited, the main focus is on family life. The program is designed so that someone who did not go through the first year can still jump into the second year. If you have questions you can look for the TMIY! table at the Festival Sunday. They will be between the stage and the beer garden .