D
Draper
Guest
There is no such thing as a “tlm parish.” You’re right though, many self-professed “traditionalists” at my EC parish did “escape” to it.
- Status
B
ByzCathCantor
Guest
Draper, I take it you are out on the West Coast, and thus your parish is likely in Bishop Gerald’s eparchy. If you feel this strongly, you may want to take the time to write him thoughtfully regarding your concerns.
D
Draper
Guest
Thank you for that suggestion.
B
ByzCathCantor
Guest
You are welcome! It is not something I typically recommend, but your concern for the health of your parish seems genuine. My family and I have know Bishop Gerald for a long time (he was pastor at the church in my parent’s home town for many years, in his early priesthood). He is pastorally oriented, and I do believe he would respond favorably to a thoughtful expression of concern.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Draper said that When he began at the parish Byzantine parish the conversation was dominated by negative comments about “liberalism” and attacks on the OF Mass.
I just pointed out that Byzantine Catholic parishes don’t use either the EF nor the OF Mass. We use the Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John and occasionally St. James.
I
Ignatius
Guest
No, Byzantine Catholic parishes don’t use either the EF nor the OF Mass. We use the Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John and occasionally St. James.
D
Draper
Guest
No. I’m not sure why you’re having trouble grasping what I posted – others don’t seem to?
What’s actually celebrated in the Byzantine Catholic Church (various forms of the DL) have nothing to do with what used to be gossiped about (the OF Mass) at my EC parish. Please stop trying to conflate the two.
D
Draper
Guest
Bp. Gerald certainly has my respect. I also sympathize with just how difficult his vocation must be. So many demands and so few resources…
P
Peter_J
Guest
The very first sentence of your post said “That really doesn’t make any sense.” So unless someone else used you’re account, you said that.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Here’s what I see (see quotes above).
1), you said in your Byzantine parish they were attacking OF mass.
2), I replied that it didn’t make sense because Byzantine Catholic parishes don’t use either the EF nor the OF Mass. We use the Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John and occasionally St. James.
3), You then argued that it does make sense. I said in Byzantine Churches that I am aware of they dont use either the EF nor the OF Mass.
4), Now you say
5), I say: Ah, that clarification helps a lot. Why didn’t you state it that clear way in the first place?
Based on all of this, In answer to the original question "How would you go about “growing” a small EC parish?" ** I’d suggest perhaps welcoming new parishioners rather than being so contentious with them, even if they happen to come from traditional western parishes.
**
P
Peter_J
Guest
I
Ignatius
Guest
Um, that really wasn’t a central point of the discussion. But maybe this is better?
Here’s what I see (see quotes above).
1), you said in your Byzantine parish they were attacking OF mass.
2), I replied that it didn’t make sense because Byzantine Catholic parishes don’t use either the EF nor the OF Mass. We use the Byzantine Divine Liturgy of St. John and occasionally St. James.
3), You then argued that it does make sense. I said in Byzantine Churches that I am aware of they dont use either the EF nor the OF Mass.
4), Now you say
Based on all of this, In answer to the original question “How would you go about “growing” a small EC parish?” I’d suggest perhaps welcoming new parishioners rather than being so contentious with them, even if they happen to come from traditional Western Church parishes.
BTW, have you visited this Church: holycrossmelkite.org/
https://www.holycrossmelkite.org/images/slideshow/church.jpg
I
Ignatius
Guest
More on how to** go about “growing” a small EC parish.** I found this Practical Guide to Evangelization for Byzantine Catholic Parishes which contain those approaches that are well suited for the typical Byzantine Catholic parishes which have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, and these have been taken into consideration:
eparchyofphoenix.org/evangelization_outreach1.html
B
babochka
Guest
This is excellent, though a bit dated.
I would imagine that nobody under 40 uses the yellow pages anymore. I’m over 40 and haven’t used them in years.
D
Draper
Guest
So back to my original question: “How would you go about “growing” a small EC parish?” I have been thinking about this a great deal and some things come to mind.
- First, after they were carefully instructed how to comport themselves, I would hold a very serious and formal parish-wide brainstorming session. People NEED to feel as if their voice is heard and the very best ideas often come from the least likely sources. The ideas generated from that meeting would fuel further planning. This is a terribly important step.
- Second, I would raise the visibility of my parish in the local community. The number one ways would simply be parish signage and taking advantage of free local publicity. Then I would use social media and I would pay a modest amount for social media promotion.
- Third, I would forge ties with other local Catholic parishes (there are only two in my case) and groups like the KofC and the local Newman Center. I would invite them all for welcoming DL’s.
- Fourth, I would begin an annual parish fundraising event. Something like “A Weekend in Byzantium.” It would have to start small but it would become a cherished annual event in time.
- Fifth, I would invite every Latin Rite confirmation class in the local Latin Rite Deanery to a weeknight Divine Liturgy. In time my little EC parish would no longer be “the best kept secret in town” from this effort alone.
- Sixth, I would create a Sunday evening (around 8:00pm) Divine Liturgy for college students that I would advertise in their respective campus newspapers.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Very true. Perhaps all parishes would want to make sure their webpages are referenced in MassTimes.org and can be located using the most common search engines.
D
Draper
Guest
At least someone is trying… This could definitely be used as a framework for evangelizing. The Yellow Pages section could be fortified with mention of Facebook, Twitter and parish websites…
It would be an interesting study to see why so many Catholic parishes can’t seem to get started evangelizing…
B
babochka
Guest
I think this list is very good, with one caveat.
You’ve got to get your house in order. Once you get people through the door, it has to be a place where they want to stay. They have to find Christ in the parish. They aren’t coming for the programs! They might come and be attracted to the liturgy, but if your parish is currently a rather toxic place to be, as you have stated, any visitors that you could bring in are going to be temporary, even if they stay for a while. A person needs to be extraordinaril committed to stay through such a phase. I’ve seen it happen in my own parish and it is painful to watch.
I’ll pray for your parish. Our parishes out west are a precious resource, so few and far between. Hopefully, it will give you some consolation that Bishop Gerald has stated his committment to not closing parishes.
One note on this, about your parish in particular. I don’t know if this has changed, but the first time I visited there, I had a particularly hard time finding it. The sign was visible coming from town, but coming from the opposite direction, I passed it more than once, and I was looking for it. This has been several years, so hopefully the signage has improved. I wasn’t really paying attention the last few times I was there, as I knew to just look for the Greek Orthodox Church.
D
Draper
Guest
I’m just commenting in general now. The parish I attend does need to fix some very specific things first. If it tried to attack that list or something similar today, it would fail.
The bishop’s comments on not closing parishes needs to be CLEARLY COMMUNICATED. That is HUGE NEWS to most at the parish. I’m going to watch very closely to see how that information is disseminated.
The signage is terrible both from the streets and once you’re “on campus.” It took 18 months just to get updated vinyl banners with current information to replace the old ones.
There were “big plans” to install a new sign. About $10K. There was resistance to spending that much (which was good) but there didn’t seem to be the ability to settle on something less expensive – like the GOC next door. The struggle by individuals to control things at the parish is sickening. Actually it’s amusing at this point. Instead, money went to things like fancy new vestments and an expensive custom closet in which to store them.
The result 18 months later were updated $50.00 vinyl banners.
B
babochka
Guest
I would not necessarily expect the information to be formally or publicly disseminated. They represent a personal commitment, not necessarily a policy. It was mentioned to me in a conversation I had with my pastor last week, which was inspired by this thread. We were discussing the general state of the parish, and how he perceived other parishes were doing, based on his experience at the clergy conference. It was not the first time I’d heard it, however. I’ve heard it from the bishop himself and from those who work closely with him, and the experience of many parishes in the eparchy rather confirms it. We have a good number of parishes with fewer than 25 families. Technically, you need that many families to even reach “mission” status, yet we are all still here. We have received a great deal of help from the eparchy in a number of ways, just to stay afloat. Thanks to donations from outside the parish, these days we are managing to pay our bills, but it has not always been the case.
- Status