Recently in our parish we have been having conversations about the spark that seems to be missing from our community. [Some] People come to Mass and go home, but when we have special events, they’re nowhere. Example: We had a rousing prayer service a few Sunday nights ago, contemporary music, lay preaching, and it was a deanery-wide event. We had about 150 people – from the entire deanery. Last weekend we had a tri-parish Eucharistic procession – about 190 people – from 3 parishes. Yesterday was the life chain and I hear there were 3 people from St. Helen’s. We have just 6 adults in our conversion process- the RCIA. On Sunday mornings we average about 10 people in our adult ed discussion group. Our parish is one of about 1500 families. Where are we going wrong? How do we feed peoples’ hungers? Honestly, we’re knocking ourselves out with work, but the results are modest. We don’t know where we should be going or what we should be offering. I have eliminated the comments section from my blog, because it was used so seldom, but I will reinstate it for this column only. If you have ideas to share with me and our staff, you are also welcome to email me directly. What can a/our faith community do for you that would be helpful?
THE THOUGHTS OFFERED ON THIS BLOG ARE MINE ALONE AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYER.
You have posed the $64,000 question. There are times that I think there are too many choices. Perhaps if you had fewer offerings, more people would attend. Or perhaps you should count total numbers that attend at least some event, and you would feel more of an impact.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many demands on people's time, and we generally put our faith life last.
Is it human nature to think, I'm fine, I don't need to attend that?
This seems to be the case at many church's activities, not just St. Helen, and not just faith. I see it also in low attendance at forums for people to learn about better health practices or other learning activities. I also think that there are fewer and fewer people who are intellectually curious.
I noticed that mine seemed to be the only comments.
ReplyDeleteI love the classes I've taken, and I would love to do the coffees between masses, but other commitments crowd these things out.
What about recognizing people who participate in these activities? We got those cool t-shirts for our parish retreat (and we wear ours with pride). It might be a way to advertise that more things are happening in the parish than just mass. Attend 20 classes and get a walking staff (like Moses...to part traffic leaving mass on Sunday!) There are cool medallions you could earn that you could put on the staff. Or pins, like the ones you get at Disney or the Olympics?
Or Theology on Tap for the rest of us...not just the 20-30 crowd...
St. Helen people have always been hard working and many are doing good things in the community. Perhaps some St. Helen people have already achieved a personal faith level that we think they need but they don't. Social Action efforts struggle too. Perhaps it's because many parishioners volunteer in the community doing other things on their own instead of in the name of the parish. Maybe there should be an inventory done of all the volunteer work and organizations people are affiliated with and that information could be shared so that it sparks an interest in things going on in the larger community.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is to make St. Helen central to people's lives. More dinner/game nights, perhaps some kind of fitness class, do things to shape the whole person and not just religion oriented. Stop parading around the streets and at abortion protests like the pharisees and scribes and instead do real charitable work without putting on aires. Have community dinners for the public. I'm not sure how it would get paid for but maybe it could be pay what you can. And a can could be a real can of something for the food pantry. Meet people's needs. Be Christ to Christ. And not just in empty quasi liturgical rituals that only serve people who need to display their piety.
No wonder the deanery wide event disappointed- the "contemporary music" and "lay-preaching" kept everyone away.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the tri-parish Eucharistic procession outdraws the deanery-wide event by 40 people. Hmmm....
I'd go adore the Eucharist any day over hearing lay-preaching and contemporary music. I can find that at any old Protestant church; and they do that drivel a whole lot better than Catholics ever could. Catholics, deep down inside, want the sacred, they want smells and bells... stick to the traditional and you'll get better responses. Don't expect standing room only, but you'll get a better turn out then any attempt of your attempts at being "relevant" or "contemporary"...
Interesting comments so far. To me it doesn't matter whether music is contemporary or traditional, scripture sharing by lay or ordained, protestant or Catholic (okay, maybe the Catholic part matters!). Actually I think the lay preaching is powerful. We need more people to witness to the power of God in their lives. However, a stronger witness is acting as Christ would...where the rubber hits the road - serving others. We can't just be about ourselves, the smells and the bells. If we do too much navel gazing about our own personal relationship with God we miss the point of finding our salvation in the context of community. We can be that salvation for each other and for the larger community, particularly for those in need. I too like our rituals, the Eucharist, the smells/bells. But I also realize different forms of prayer connect people to God in meaningful ways whether it's for me or not. We just need to make sure we practice what we preach and we need ways for the church to connect to daily living and not just Sundays. Some Protestant and non-denominational churches have something going on every day/night of the week. But, wait, so do we. Those somethings aren't for everyone but if we added up all the people who participate in different things we probably have more people attending things than we realize. Do we have too much happening or not enough to draw larger crowds? I don't know the answer to that. But where two or three are gathered God is there.
ReplyDeleteThe previous comment alluded to personal relationships with God. Maybe that's what's missing. And then people simply go through the motions on the weekends out of obligation and not because they "want" to. How do we get people to "want" more religion in their lives? The Faith Talks and small communities are a great start but I would have liked to see the parish retreat go deeper on a spiritual and personal level more than being about buzzwords for the parish. Perhaps there should really be a significant retreat experience that includes witnesses and peer ministry just like the high schools. Sometimes the kids get exposed to great opportunities that adults miss out on. There could be witness time and presentations, small group sharing, one-one sharing, and personal time for journaling or just being in God's presence. We need for people to slow down, to stop and smell the roses, to realize that others might be feeling the same way they are, to want more but not want to look foolish. Some people can talk about God and Jesus easily. Others can't or don't know how. We need vocabulary and opportunities. Possible retreats could be "God in Everyday Life" or "How do you experience God?" or "God in the Ordinary" or "When have you felt connected to or abandoned by God"
ReplyDeleteMaybe there could/should also be a family retreat so that parents can learn how to talk about God and Christian living with their children.
Living in the south we have come to appreciate our Catholic faith. In order to get to Mass we must travel anywhere from 25-45 minutes. The ironic thing is these parishes are growing. How are they doing this? Our parish has an outreach at the local college and each Sunday you see many students participating in Mass. Many of these students are seeking conversion into the Catholic Church. The local converts are coming from a Protestant faith into a more structured and ritualized faith in the Catholic church, so it IS important to celebrate our sacraments and their meanings with our parish and community. The second thing we have noticed is the difference in educating the youth. The Catholic Church has always done a good job of educating our youth in our faith. In the North this is primarily done through Catholic education at the school level. Here, it is handled very similar to the Protestant churches. The youth exist as a group and have functions that require them to meet together outside of Sunday mornings. For example, service projects, retreats, and fundraisers that brings them together along with their parents to form a strong parish. Opportunities surrounding youth events could be one way to encourage involvement by parents/parishioners. Another example we have seen is a Protestant church that provides free meals to their church members attending the Wednesday night bible study. This is not only bible study at the adult level but also the children and teens. Having dinner alleviates the issue of not having time to get home, feed everyone and get to church on time. This teaching is handled by one of the assistant pastors, or in our case, could be by a Deacon. The teaching is informal, but could follow any format, to help bring all our parishioners into the same mindset of growing together as a parish community. One comment in response to a previous post; St Helen’s is contemporary. Just come to the south!! Do not take for granted the wonderful parish that you have.
ReplyDelete