oh please.
I’m a DRE. I know what I need. I need more people. I can train people. That’s what I do. I need people to serve as an extra set of hands and an extra set of eyes in the Sunday school classes. St. Vincent DePaul needs people to count the collection money. We need women to launder the linens.
These things do take more than 45 minutes. And the require very little skillsets.
When people only want to do the fun stuff and the things that happen in the forefront?
**The ministries that serve the parish and community at large suffer. **
It takes effort to see where there’s a need though. You have to really care. A person who can distribute communion is fairly capable.
With respect, perhaps the problem is that the people in the pews don’t realize that they need no skills to work with youth, prisoners, or the poor. Maybe they should be told that all they will have to do is be “hands and eyes.”
I certainly didn’t realize that. I assumed that the workers would actually be doing something.
I stand by what I said for youth. I have personally seen people who got into trouble working with youth, not because they did anything “perverted,” but because someone accused them of it. It is too easy to get into trouble when working with teenagers. I think that anyone who is attempting to recruit youth sponsors and workers needs to address this straight out and explain how the ADULTS will be protected and will not have to worry about losing their reputation, their livelihood (they will be fired if they are accused of sexual improprieties), their money (to pay for lawyers), and possibly their freedom (if jailed).
I’ve seen it happen. It’s happening to one of my dear friends at this very moment, and it’s breaking my heart and shortening my life. I can’t see how my friend is bearing it. There was a suicide attempt, which my husband and I thwarted by dashing to our friend’s house in the middle of the night.
Anyway, pianistclare, when adults hear about situations like this, they lose all interest in working with youth. Can you blame them? It’s terrifying.
But seriously, make sure that the people know that they don’t have to do anything to work with the prisoners or with the poor. That will help them to not be afraid to volunteer.
Oh, one more thing–many people want NOTHING to do with working with money. I am one of those people. I won’t go NEAR any kind of organizational treasury! I wouldn’t even want to be an usher (my husband is an usher) because they have to take up the offering. I do not want my hands on ANY church money. Big alarm bells.
And I’m guessing that others probably feel exactly the same way–nothing to do with money. It’s not laziness or complacency–it’s caution!
And just one more thing–if you are looking for volunteers, it would be good to not use the phrase, “Oh Please!” That’s rather confrontational. Volunteers have to be wooed with kindness. Many of them are scared to death to step out of their comfort zone, and if the person in charge of volunteers uses a catty phrase, that might cause people to say, “No thanks, I don’t need more conflict in my life.”
Many of us are already overcommitted in our secular lives (outside of the Church), and to say “Yes” to a church commitment needs to be something that will enrich our life, not introduce more conflict.
Personally, I don’t know why anyone would ever want to be an EMHC. What a thankless job! It seems that so many Catholics bear them such ill-will simply for doing what the priest has asked them to do. I would never want to put myself in a position to face such scorn from fellow Christians. It’s hard enough playing the piano/organ. Every week, I just know that someone out there is looking daggers at me and wondering why I don’t leave and let a good schola come in and do Gregorian chant. What I do is cling to the authority of the priest–if he says I’m OK, then I’m OK.
In fact, that’s my reaction to this entire thread. It’s the priest’s call, not ours. If someone is sitting out in the pews stewing about the use of EMHCs, the Holy Spirit will be “quenched” in His work. We need to submit to the authority of the priest, not question and undermine his decisions.
For 10 minutes it was worth it. And it looks and feels better. I know that some parishes seem to be in love with hour Masses, and scheduling them tightly on Sundays. perhaps we need to think that we may not be more special needs than the entire history of the Church and realize that people have died and indeed today are dying just to try to get to a Mass, any Mass.
No special skill required!