Christ Renews His Parish - How do you get more parishioners involved?

[ahogan7309]

First of all, this isn’t a request for opinions on CRHP, whether you enjoy the process, or not. I am looking for those who have been involved with CRHP and the eventual dissolution of the program at your parish(es), or revitalization of the program.

We have had a very strong program for over 20 years. I currently chair our Continuation Committee and have noticed declines in:

1. Actual parishioners who are attending vs. folks from other parishes/ faith backgrounds.
2. Team sizes have been at a minimum for a couple of years.

That said, we encourage other faith backgrounds to enjoy this retreat. In fact, it has led to a good number joining RCIA. The issue is that it can dilute the team aspect with non-Catholic faith tradition and can be overwhelming to the process if too many Protestant folks join team vs actual parishioners. We’ve done well managing that aspect and work with our Priest(s) to keep on track. Again, not so worried about having different faith backgrounds, if this leads to a positive relationship with Catholicism and leads some home to the Church, then that is a great fruit.

Our main issue revolves around bringing our own parishioners in from the church and school to keep renewing our parish. Are there some good suggestions to gain interest from our parishioners? Currently, we use: table after Mass, new parishioner registry, new school family registry, 1st Communion parents, and Confirmation parents.

We are in a situation where we must call on previous team members to fill teams out when we don’t get enough who naturally join from the weekend to keep it going. We don’t want to let the program go, so suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[pianistclare]

The parish up the road does CHRP, has for YEARS. They are hugely successful. I’d say that their success comes from 2 areas:
The Pastor supports and promotes it
The participants of each one raves to his/her friends immediately afterward.

To this day, I’ll be introduced to someone and they’ll say “Becky Smith, CHRP 17!”
And others will pipe up and say WOW! I’m CHRP 23!
And then they have a big ol hug fest, LOL

The CHRP past participants are your tool for promotion.

 

[ahogan7309]

Good stuff, there. Definitely need the Pastor’s involvement. We have a newer Pastor and although he supports the results (parishioner involvement, RCIA enrollment), it is not top of mind for him to recommend it to the parish as a whole.

I will say, that while folks should be proud of what they have accomplished in their personal faith journey and the bond they’ve developed as a team, I discourage the CRHP “graduate” identification outside of CRHP events (Renewal Weekend support, team meetings, etc.), such as, “John Smith, Team 20”. This type of identification comes off somewhat elitist when recruiting, or speaking to those who haven’t been part of a team or weekend and can serve as a turn off to CRHP for those who do not embrace it.

Definitely need more involvement from our Pastor, though.

 

[pianistclare]

Good stuff, there. Definitely need the Pastor’s involvement. We have a newer Pastor and although he supports the results (parishioner involvement, RCIA enrollment), it is not top of mind for him to recommend it to the parish as a whole.

I will say, that while folks should be proud of what they have accomplished in their personal faith journey and the bond they’ve developed as a team, I discourage the CRHP “graduate” identification outside of CRHP events (Renewal Weekend support, team meetings, etc.), such as, “John Smith, Team 20”. This type of identification comes off somewhat elitist when recruiting, or speaking to those who haven’t been part of a team or weekend and can serve as a turn off to CRHP for those who do not embrace it.

Definitely need more involvement from our Pastor, though.

Don’t assume it’s elitist. It’s much the same as saying "hey, I found a grew investment! "
If people think spiritual endeavors foster elitism, then there’s a far worse problem peace!

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

One of the things I’ve found that works in a number of contexts is to invite people personally to do something.

It’s great that you have tables after Mass or put items in the bulletin or make announcements. But a lot of people don’t respond to those invitations because they don’t think it’s directed at them.

If you talk with someone one-on-one and invite them to lead a group or join a group or be a sponsor or help with decorating for the parish dinner or whatever it is, it puts things in a different light. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone something like “have you ever considered being a sponsor for RCIA? I see you at Mass and involved in the parish – it would be great if you would help spread your enthusiasm to someone just coming into the Church.” And the usual response is “I never thought of doing that.” Despite the fact that we mentioned it in all sorts of venues.

We were looking for more people to join our small community of faith and one of the members said “I’ll mention it the next time I go to choir practice.” I told him not to “mention it” or make a general announcement, but asked if there wasn’t one person in the choir he thought might particularly be interested. When he said yes, I suggested that he talk with that person directly. She ended up visiting our group, joining our group, and then inviting someone else.

And so it goes.

 

[pianistclare]

One of the things I’ve found that works in a number of contexts is to invite people personally to do something.

It’s great that you have tables after Mass or put items in the bulletin or make announcements. But a lot of people don’t respond to those invitations because they don’t think it’s directed at them.

If you talk with someone one-on-one and invite them to lead a group or join a group or be a sponsor or help with decorating for the parish dinner or whatever it is, it puts things in a different light. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone something like “have you ever considered being a sponsor for RCIA? I see you at Mass and involved in the parish – it would be great if you would help spread your enthusiasm to someone just coming into the Church.” And the usual response is “I never thought of doing that.” Despite the fact that we mentioned it in all sorts of venues.

We were looking for more people to join our small community of faith and one of the members said “I’ll mention it the next time I go to choir practice.” I told him not to “mention it” or make a general announcement, but asked if there wasn’t one person in the choir he thought might particularly be interested. When he said yes, I suggested that he talk with that person directly. She ended up visiting our group, joining our group, and then inviting someone else.

And so it goes.

Excellent post!