Outreach - Is it a Catholic thing?

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DiggidyDog

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An example and then my question.

My wife was involved this summer in co-ordinating a one week vacation bible school for the kids in our parish. The cost for each child was $40 and there were about 40 kids that attended. This $1600, did not cover the costs of the supplies, crafts, snacks, t-shirts, and wrap up BBQ. The volunteers ended up topping up the shortfall with their own cash and also asked for donations from the parents that had already paid for the school. When the event was being planned, the organizers had asked the parish for funds to help out, but were told ‘No’. The week long event turned out great, the kids had a blast and the people involved grew very close (the theme of the week was ‘Growing closer to Jesus through Mary’ from www.catchat.ca … my kids are still singing the songs).

Anyways, so yesterday I am flipping through our mail and I notice a flyer from a local community church for a similar vacation bible school event. But the invite says “free”!!! Speaking to my sis-in-law, who attends an anabaptist church, they do the same thing … free! They call it outreach as they are trying to bring people into their church.

At our parish I have not seen any ‘outreach’ to the community in terms of free events to bring people in and check out what Catholicism is all about. It seems our events are geared towards the people already in the church, and there always seems to be a $$ figure attached to the event. I have yet to see a free invitation to something that the parish pays for. Each event seems to need to make it on their own … ie/ user pay.

Now my question.

Is this free outreach event style limited to Protestant churches? Shouldn’t our Catholic parishes do the same? Answers, comments, suggestions welcome.

Thanks!
 
It is also possible that while the Non Catholic Church is advertising a FREE event… that Church may not be covering (all of) the costs.

The financial burden may handled by others.

But either way, WE are the Church.
First Pray, if the Priest says no, Pray some more and ask other Parishioners to help

Regardless of the eventual outcome; Thank You for evangelizing to the Kids!!!👍
 
DiggidyDog said:
An
Is this free outreach event style limited to Protestant churches? Shouldn’t our Catholic parishes do the same? Answers, comments, suggestions welcome.

Thanks!
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It applies to evangelization programs, CCD, Catholic schools, VBS, Youth Ministry etc.

When Catholics tithe to the extent their Protestant brothers and sisters do–and in the spirituality of stewardship in which they undertake this discipline–Catholics will enjoy services to the extent their neighboring Protestant congregations are able to offer them.

Please see related ongoing threads about Catholics bitching and moaning because they don’t tithe, or contribute in any systematic way, because they hate envelopes, the just toss some spare change in the basket out of their surplus, and want to whine about being charged for use of the church facilities for weddings etc.

As long as Catholics keep that attitude, we can’t compete in those arenas that cost money.
 
jhynds said:
It is also possible that while the Non Catholic Church is advertising a FREE event… that Church may not be covering (all of) the costs.

The financial burden may handled by others.
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My sense from my SIL’s example is that her church has a budget, of which a specific portion is allocated to “outreach”. One of these would be the kid’s camp.

As for the efforts of these few volunteers at our parish, they loved doing it. And we are definitely going to do it again next year. The reason this post came up is because we have begun to think about fund-raising slowly for the whole year. I just thought that perhaps it should be a little easier with some support coming from the parish.
 
puzzleannie said:
When Catholics tithe to the extent their Protestant brothers and sisters do–and in the spirituality of stewardship in which they undertake this discipline–Catholics will enjoy services to the extent their neighboring Protestant congregations are able to offer them.
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Specifically for outreach … these funds would not necessarily be for Catholics to enjoy, but for spending on the surrounding community as a tool of evangelization for bringing people to the Catholic church. Perhaps an even harder sell. hmmmm.
 
I repeat, your Protestant, especially non-denom or Evangelical neighbors, tithe as a regular practice as part of a heartfelt spirituality of stewardship, in part because they recognise that evangelization and outreach are part of their mission as a congregation. Many if not most Catholics are severely lacking in this spiritual dimension and ***** about their paltry contribution to the regular Sunday collection for upkeep and maintenance of the church, let alone being asked for anything else in the way of contributions. This is a spiritual issue primarily, rather than a financial one.

my budget for VBS was eliminated and my CCD budget reduced because the funds are not there. we have a poor diocese, and many poor people in our parish boundaries, but our particular parishioners are per capital some of the most affluent in the area, yet give at a level that would have shamed my working class parents 50 years ago.
 
One reaction I have is that people value something if they have to pay for it–even only a small amount. When something is totally free, people often sign up for it but not follow through and attend. If they have paid a nominal charge, they are more likely to be more committed. Our local parish conducts VBS with other local Christian denominations–with very heavy involvement of the Catholic DRE to ensure that the Catholic kids are not exposed to doctrines that contradict our Catholic faith. The VBS charges $15 for 5 days of 4 hour sessions.

My other reaction is to religious “outreach”. As Catholics we are called to evangelize, but Catholics, unlike Protestants, are not big on evangelizing. Heck, most of us don’t know our faith well enough to evangelize. On the other hand, I find too many Protestants say “outreach” or “evangelizing” but are really “proselytizing” or trying to convert, often with pretty strong pressure. When I feel pressured or proselytized by evangelical Christians, I don’t like it. And I am very adamant that children and teens should not be the object of proselytizing without the explicit knowledge and permission of their parents–especially this parent! So I personally am uncomfortable with religious “outreach” directed at kids through seemingly innocuous activities such as Vacation Bible School or “non-denominational” youth groups.
 
puzzleannie said:
I repeat, your Protestant, especially non-denom or Evangelical neighbors, tithe as a regular practice as part of a heartfelt spirituality of stewardship, in part because they recognise that evangelization and outreach are part of their mission as a congregation. Many if not most Catholics are severely lacking in this spiritual dimension and ***** about their paltry contribution to the regular Sunday collection for upkeep and maintenance of the church, let alone being asked for anything else in the way of contributions. This is a spiritual issue primarily, rather than a financial one.

my budget for VBS was eliminated and my CCD budget reduced because the funds are not there. we have a poor diocese, and many poor people in our parish boundaries, but our particular parishioners are per capital some of the most affluent in the area, yet give at a level that would have shamed my working class parents 50 years ago.
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👍 you hit it on the nail…

The part of your statement I highlighted in bold print, is so true in my parish. Each week we have a report in bulletin of need to cover cost of upkeep and maintence for the previous week and contributions which came in from that week’s collection, Sometimes collections are over need and sometimes it doesn’t even come close to the need. At our parish we do set a fee for such activities, but we never refuse a child if funds are a problem and the parish carries the difference. Outreach and evanglezation is something we Catholics need to put a higher priority on, but in many parishes it seems we need to reconvert(convert) the “faithful” before they are able to see the call and need to evangelize.

But I see hope each time I see this brought up in these forums, becuase many of us are talking about it around the nation and hopfully the discussion is going on in the parishes too.
 
DiggidyDog said:
Now my question.

Is this free outreach event style limited to Protestant churches?
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Yes.
Shouldn’t our Catholic parishes do the same? Answers, comments, suggestions welcome.
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Yes.

My wife is an evangelical & the difference between her church & the Catholic church is striking. We moved a couple years ago and they send somebody to pick her up every Sunday. I, otoh, have to walk a mile (or take the bus in bad weather. And she’s not the only one, they give rides to a lot of their members & where we lived before vans from different evangelical churches used to pass me as I walked to church.

They had a free vacation Bible school, and they take up special collections to help the families of members who are in hospital. I can only conclude that these folks fork over a much larger %age of their income than Catholics do.

When somebody wanders into their church they’re on them like a predator on fresh meat. Not at my parish. I registered and the only result was that I started getting the diocesan newspaper. The only mail I ever got was a census form to fill out. I lost it & now the paper stopped coming so I assume I’ve been stricken from the rolls.
 
Sure outreach is a Catholic thing! All Catholics should engage in outreach in some form or another if you ask me. 👍
 
In the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

Preach always, when necessary use words.
 
A timely question!

I am a volunteer DRE for my parish. We just finished VBS last week. We charged $10 per child or $15 for a family which added up to about 1/3 of our costs for VBS. Some of the rest was donated by parishioners who volunteered at VBS, the rest was picked up by the parish as part of our mission to educate our parish kids.

Almost every protestant church I have been to offers VBS for free as an evangelization tool. (The exception being the Lutheran church down the street from me whose VBS program has gotten so big and unwieldy that they now charge $25 per child and have stopped advertising it as a way of stabilizing the numbers.) The children are invited/encouraged/exhorted to bring their unchurched friends and neighbors to VBS. It’s meant to be a non-threatening way of introducing the unsaved to church, so little emphasis is placed on teaching doctrine. Some churches go door to door and solicit attendees.

On the other hand, Catholic parishes generally offer VBS as a supplementary religious education program for their own parish children. Some neighbors and visiting friends attend, but it isn’t the emphasis. (One neighbor friend actually went home and asked her mother to be baptized!)

We used a fantastic program from K4J called “Surfin’ with the Holy Spirit” that taught the seven Sacraments, all the major symbols of the Holy Spirit, and had skits featuring St. Therese, St. Francis Xavier, Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, St. John the Baptist and the Blessed Mother.

We ask for a donation partly to cover costs and partly to give families some investment in attending. You’re more likely to show up for some event if you’ve paid a fee for it. We’re also a small parish (under 300 families) so our budget for RE is miniscule and everything here operates on a shoestring.

There is definitely a difference in Catholic thought though about evangelization–you just don’t see Catholics going door to door and preaching with the urgency that protestants do. There is probably a long and complex theological reason behind this–we believe salvation is a journey, not a mere moment, for instance–and there’s nothing precisely wrong with asking complete strangers to come attend your church. (Although our parish buildings are so small we are not sending our fall advertising postcard because we almost don’t have enough room to seat everyone at our six Masses.) But that kind of evangelization is a charism few Catholics seem to be given. Make of that what you will.
 
You must remember that Protestants typically are recruiting new members. The bus program is also another methodod used in proselytizing…almost a bribe…to plant Protestant theology in children of young age. It happened to me… Dad was Catholic, mom could careless that I was baptized Catholic. Didn’t matter to her…eventually bible only theology was planted and I was one mixed up Catholic boy growing up… Turns out that the plant came from the same faith of the woman I ended up dating.

So NO… we should seek out positive ways to reach out. But not proselytize…force feed our theology. It really messes up a kid. Their parents don’t realize just how confusing it makes kids. Evangelization works best when parents lead the way for their own children…not pulling the rug out from under someone elses children’s parents…whether they mean to or not.

This kind of thing if approached incorrectly can reall cause severe hardship in people’s lives. Mom didn’t know I’d end up in a faith that taught that everyone except them were going to hell. Whe she finally found out she reacted quite strongly… only by that time I was a fully grown man and married to a strong fundamentalist woman… Fortunately, God led us home in our time.

Be careful. And pay for it yourself if you really want it free. The parish shouldn’t have to dish out money for everything like that. Fund raising and donations ought to be your main source. If you do not have a strong youth program you will not have a catechized youth. Use this to catechise existing Catholics…not Protestants where it will go in one ear and out the other or just really confuse them at this age. My falible opinion. But I see your concerns.
 
Hi DiggidyDog

It’s funny that you bring this topic up. I was just visiting a protestant relative in another city this past weekend who was also involved in the program “vacation bible school” with her protestant church. She also called it an outreach program, but she said most of the kids that attend it are from different faiths and that they already have set beliefs. She told me her program had different groups, prayer and a really cool science fair with lab coats. At the end of the program they threw a picnic for the parents and the kids. All the money came from the pockets of their parishioners except for the entrance fee. By the end of our conversation, I got the feeling from her that she thought of it as a waste of time and money.
 
Excellent points. I have a very different experience (cradle Catholic married to a cradle Catholic) but completely agree!
panoikei said:
  1. You must remember that Protestants typically are recruiting new members. The bus program is also another methodod used in proselytizing…almost a bribe…to plant Protestant theology in children of young age.
  2. So NO… we should seek out positive ways to reach out. But not proselytize…force feed our theology.
  3. If you do not have a strong youth program you will not have a catechized youth. Use this to catechise existing Catholics…not Protestants.
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My parish recently finished a week long Vacation Bible School for the first time. We charged nothing. We are a one Catholic Church town. We had 40 children. It was a wonderful experience for the children and all of the volunteers. We had a limited budget, donated by the Knights of Columbus. I helped with the crafts. Some of the CCD teachers donated their time to teach. It’s definitely something that we will continue to do.
 
Outreach? Here’s what it is at my Parish. Outreach attends the needs of the homeless, the hungry, the bereaved, the handicapped, the sick & dying, along with welcoming new members to the Parish, hostessing Parish activities & receptions, to providing coffee & doughnuts after all the Sunday Masses. The different committees are: Hospitality & Welcoming, Special Needs, Senior Merry Makers, Respect Life, Visitation & Sunshine, Bereavement, Rosary Group, Operation Blessing(Toys & Turkeys), & Direct Assistance (Food & Money). They also adopt a school to help children who have needs, by providing clothes, socks, winter coats, etc. I don’t know about VBS as I don’t have any little ones, but Outreach is a very Catholic thing, imo.
 
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