Q. Who is this for?
A. Fishers Network is offered for the benefit of Catholic professionals who are leaders in their field as well as pastors or other pastoral staff affiliated with a parish, deanery, or diocese.
Q. How are members chosen?
A. Crew Captains (usually the person who starts a crew), decide who fits the general criteria that we set. The basic qualifications are that the individual has to be a faithful/practicing Catholic and a leader in the professional sphere. This could include business owners/entrepreneurs, investors, executives in medium-large organizations, administrators in education, pastors, bishops, professional artists, public personalities, and politicians.
Q. What Constitutes a faithful practicing Catholic?
A. A faithful Catholic is someone who submits themselves to all of the teachings of the Church and the magisterium’s authority. This includes all credal statements, dogmatic definitions, canon law, and the teachings referenced in the official catechisms. A practicing Catholic is one who satisfies the precepts of the Church at a bare minimum, but should be in the habit of receiving sacraments of Holy Communion and Confession regularly, assuming they are available.
Q. Is this for men and women?
A. One of the goals of Fishers Network is to encourage community with strong bonds of fellowship between members. This requires certain degrees of vulnerability with one another. Members of the opposite sex who are not romantically connected will be more reserved with one another, out of prudence, which will inhibit certain degrees of vulnerability and fellowship. For this reason, we encourage groups to be single sex, but we also appreciate that this isn't always ideal so we are supportive of crews that wish to be co-ed when deemed feasable and ideal. In those cases, we make certain recommendations for the added challenges that may arise.
Q. There isn’t a Crew in my area, so how do I join?
A. Being a leader means identifying needs and finding solutions. In your case, there is a need in your community that you share. As a leader, this is your opportunity to fill that need by starting a new Crew in your area. We provide the tools and know-how to help you get up and running. How to Start a Crew
Questions About Fees
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Crew captains - those who start and lead a Crew are free. Priests who serve Crews as chaplains are free. For crew members, the fees are $49/mo if paid monthly and $39/mo if paid annually. Fees are only charged once you have joined a crew and do not include sales tax.
Q. Why are there fees?
A. The greatest value we can derive from our participation in FN comes from the engagement and networking among members. If certain members are not committed or fully engaged, then everyone will be deprived of the full potential of the experience. Member fees ensure a level of commitment and investment (literally) to help promote full participation among crew members.
Furthermore, non-Catholic business networking organizations exist with considerable fees based on the premise that you will gain a return on that investment. If members go into the experience with that in mind, it will encourage the mutual economic benefit that can be derived from such networking activity.
Q. Can parishes pay fees?
A. Parishes could pay the fees, however; this could impair member commitments as described in the previous answer. Simultaneously, we want Fishers Network to be a help to parishes, not an added financial strain.
Q. Can I pay someone else’s fees?
A. Yes, but not currently through the app. There is nothing stopping you from giving a monetary gift tom someone so that they could use it to pay their membership fees.
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