How to accommodate changing parish demographics?

[Linlou67]

I’d love to get some (name removed by moderator)ut or ideas from some other folks. I’ve been newly appointed to our parish council. Our last discussion touched on the fact that our parish is increasingly becoming more African American and Hispanic, yet our current liturgy apparently doesn’t seem inviting or inclusive to them. I would say that our current weekly attendance is 90% white with the other 10% being a mix between black and hispanic. There’s a Spanish mass once a month at 2:00 in the afternoon. I’ve heard that the hispanics don’t feel included in our church community. Someone on the council suggested that we make some changes to the liturgy to make it more inviting to more of the actual parish demographics. I’m just afraid of alienating the current mass attendees, which are mostly older, set in their ways type folks. Has anyone had any experience with this? (Good or bad?)

 

[rcn]

Our parish has a large Hispanic component, perhaps as high as 50%.

Some Sunday masses are in English, some in Spanish. Ditto during the week. (We are lucky to have visiting priests from Latin America to better serve the Hispanic populaton.) From time to time they try a bi-lingual service, which seems to please no one.

From my point of view, some parish organizations appear “open to all” while others are clearly “Hispanic”. These are apparently all long-standing groups and no one seems to have a problem with the arrangement. No one tries to force any artificial sense of “community” where none is desired.

I would strongly oppose any innovations to try to make your masses more “inviting” or “inclusive”. The Mass is the Mass - don’t mess with it. Leave the handling of liturgical issues to the priest - this is his job, not that of any “parish council”.

 

[maendem]

Linlou67:

I’d love to get some (name removed by moderator)ut or ideas from some other folks. I’ve been newly appointed to our parish council. Our last discussion touched on the fact that our parish is increasingly becoming more African American and Hispanic, yet our current liturgy apparently doesn’t seem inviting or inclusive to them. I would say that our current weekly attendance is 90% white with the other 10% being a mix between black and hispanic. There’s a Spanish mass once a month at 2:00 in the afternoon. I’ve heard that the hispanics don’t feel included in our church community. Someone on the council suggested that we make some changes to the liturgy to make it more inviting to more of the actual parish demographics. I’m just afraid of alienating the current mass attendees, which are mostly older, set in their ways type folks. Has anyone had any experience with this? (Good or bad?)

I’m confused about what sort of liturgical changes are under consideration. Do you mean introducing Spanish hyms or such to make Hispanics feels more accomodated? It doesn’t seem to me that a whole lot of changes to the liturgy can be licitly made, and superficial changes tend to be…superficial. If there is an undercurrent of resentment or xenophobia/ethnocentricity in the parish, no amount of liturgical changes will make people feel welcome; it may alienate them from the parishioners even more.

It can be difficult for a "set-in-its-ways parish to experience an influx of new blood, especially if the newcomers have a different worship style, culture, etc. Houston, which has long experienced a growing Hispanic population in its Catholic community, has had to address the issue of welcoming Mexican immigrants into old traditionally Anglo-Saxon parishes for a long time now. Our bishop recently spoke on a document by the U.S. Conference of Bishops: "Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity"which is very helpful on this subject.You may want to reference it; I found it insightful, well-written, and sympathetic.

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[Linlou67]

Thanks for the replies so far…I agree with the above poster that changing things could be illicit. I didn’t speak up at the meeting because I’m new and the discussion was getting heated. Some of the other members had been to a retreat with the theme being welcoming the stranger among us. But I am also of the thinking that making superficial changes would seem superficial. I think what’s being suggested is maybe the 2nd reading be read in Spanish or maybe some changes in some of the hymns. I’m sort of afraid that some of the parishoners will resist the changes and feel like their tradition is under attack, and quite honestly, I don’t think our choir would be able to pull off a different style of music. I just wanted to be able to add something constructive to the conversation when this is re-addressed at the next meeting. I’m torn between my feelings that we should assimilate to a degree but I don’t want to eradicate my tradition which I love. And to what degree should we assimilate???

And thanks for the name of the article - I’m going to read it.

 

[rcn]

Linlou67:

I think what’s being suggested is maybe the 2nd reading be read in Spanish or maybe some changes in some of the hymns.

Sorry, but in my experience changes like these will simply alienate everyone. And to do so for a mere 10% minority would upset everyone unnecessarily, and they’d be justified in being so.

 

[maendem]

Linlou67:

Thanks for the replies so far…I agree with the above poster that changing things could be illicit. I didn’t speak up at the meeting because I’m new and the discussion was getting heated. Some of the other members had been to a retreat with the theme being welcoming the stranger among us. But I am also of the thinking that making superficial changes would seem superficial. I think what’s being suggested is maybe the 2nd reading be read in Spanish or maybe some changes in some of the hymns. I’m sort of afraid that some of the parishoners will resist the changes and feel like their tradition is under attack, and quite honestly, I don’t think our choir would be able to pull off a different style of music. I just wanted to be able to add something constructive to the conversation when this is re-addressed at the next meeting. I’m torn between my feelings that we should assimilate to a degree but I don’t want to eradicate my tradition which I love. And to what degree should we assimilate???

And thanks for the name of the article - I’m going to read it.

I agree that just doing a second reading or so in Spanish will probably irritate just about everybody; I know my husband and his family, who are from Mexico City, are always puzzled when they attend a bilingual liturgy here in Houston; the Spanish is mangled and the whole thing is a bit schizophrenic.

If your parish is really seeking to welcome newcomers, maybe the changes shouldn’t take place in the liturgy at all. Perhaps you could organize a coffee and donuts “meet and greet” for new members after Mass or a potluck dinner if your parish is small.

 

[Linlou67]

I agree with you both. It has helped me to read your opinions. The person on the council who is pushing for change believes that our “minority” numbers could be more than 10% - and that it’s our “unwillingness” to “welcome” these people by incorporating their culture that is causing the small numbers. But the deacon mentioned that he has visited with many of these people and they are very reluctant to register in any way with the parish and basically only show up for baptisms and 1st communions. There are black and hispanic alter servers (they’re students at the elementary school), but their parents just drop them off and don’t stay for the Mass. I’m not sure what the solution is, but you’ve helped re-inforce my opinion that is should not involve changes in the liturgy. It’s a relatively small parish - so potluck is a pretty good idea…we have those often. Thanks, again.

 

[msproule]

Linlou67:

…the deacon mentioned that he has visited with many of these people and they are very reluctant to register in any way with the parish and basically only show up for baptisms and 1st communions…their parents just drop them off and don’t stay for the Mass.

I have a sneaking suspicion the problem is not in the language used for celebrating the Mass. Unfortunately, those “alienated” almost-parishoners appear to be lukewarm, cafeteria Catholics. I know a lot of them.

Do you know if they attend Mass elsewhere? I hate to make assumptions, but my guess is they do not.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

The face of our nation is changing, now would be a good time to bring back Latin.

 

[msproule]

Catholic Dude:

…now would be a good time to bring back Latin.

I was going to say that, but I did not want to stir the pot quite yet.

In the short run, that would probably alienate even more people. But in the long run, it is proven to bring them back in droves.

Those at the parish in question who are “set in their ways” could not justify a complaint about a return to Latin (for the Church is set in Her ways, as well) and the Spanish-speakers could appreciate it due to the direct link between Latin and Spanish. Those petty things aside, it is still the recommended language for the Mass.

 

[Vox_Borealis]

I live in Montreal, Quebec, where one can find not only (mostly) French and English, but also a significant number of Italian masses–as well as masses in other languages but in a smaller number of communities. Two parishes that I usually attend are “bilingual”-- one is Italian and English, the other is Italian and French.

In my experience as one of the minority (English speaking), attending mass in the dominant language can be very frustrating and alienating. So in this case, I am sympathetic with the Latino minority. There must be ways to include the Latino population more in the liturgy without alienating the 90% majority.

Perhaps the parish can distribute the readings in English and Spanish on a flyer–this would not cost that much. Then, the readings could be done in alternating languages with everyone able to follow along (and hey, Spanish sounds kinda like Latin ). The occasional Spanish hymn, especially at points in the mass when the laity is not expected to sing, would not hurt. References to Latin American saints during the homily, occasionally, might also make the Latino population feel more included.

If the Latino population grows large enough, your parish may want to considering offering one of the masses in Spanish, the rest in English. But of course, this would require a fluent Spanish-speaking priest, and that may not be a practical reality.

On a side note, we should really embrace Latino catholics. Much of the growth of the Catholic church in the USA (in numbers if not percentage of the population) is due to immigrant populations, especially Latinos. But these traditionally Catholics are leaving the church in droves to various evangelical churches. I think the future of the church is in the third world, and we need to work with these fellow Catholics rather than alienate them–without violating liturgical norms, of course!

 

[kmktexas]

Our parish is about 50% hispanic and we have a Spanish Mass every Sunday. It doesn’t sound like you are quite at that level yet. Some things that really have made a difference in our parish:

1. the former pastor spoke no Spanish but our current one does. Having Confessions available in Spanish was a really big deal. Even if you have to just borrow a priest once a month, this will be really appreciated. We also have a Spanish speaking couple do a once a month Baptism preparation class. Since many of our Hispanics are new immigrants, quite a few of our newly born parishioners are in Spanish speaking homes.
2. make sure that you have someone on parish staff that speaks Spanish and make sure everyone knows this. A lot of the newer immigrants are hesitant to even register because of language barriers.
3. if you have a core group of Hispanic parishioners who can be called upon to be active, see if there are cultural aspects they might want to add. In our parish, there is a group that sponsors an annual Lady of Guadalupe festival complete with Spanish Mass, dancers and traditional foods. A lot of the non-hispanich parishioners really enjoy this - especially the kids. At that time of year, the chuch decorations also reflect this feast and its hispanic connection.
4. If you can afford it, get the missalettes that have the readings in Spanish. Even if you don’t have the readers give the readings in Spanish, they can follow along in their own tongue.

One of the earlier posters pointed out that too much might alienate the other 90%. That’s true but there are things you can do that might go down easier. Watch out, though. If you build it, they will come. We have the reputation as being the best parish for the Hispanics in our area. Many drive nearly an hour to attned Mass here. Our parish has probably increased in size by 40-50% since our current pastor came, most of the new families are Spanish speaking. At the First Communion parents meeting two years ago, all but three parents were Hispanic and Father had to do the whole talk in Spanish. This is a little scary for many of the long time parishioners but has been very good for the overall health of the parish.

Good luck.