Parish Dos and Don'ts from Millennials

[DarkLight]

As I said, it’s a monopoly. Anything that threatens the monopoly (even though it achieves the results they say they want) has to go.

I do actually understand this. Under canon law there are many things that are reserved to the pastor of the parish. It can cause issues if the pastor is unfamiliar with those in his care, especially if the hospital chaplain has a lot of other demands on his time that mean he can’t provide pastoral care.

 

[Peeps]

I forgot to add one essential detail to the original story: When the pastor originally announced the election for the council, he made a big point of how difficult it was to find people who wanted to run. Of course it was! He MADE it difficult!

That’s just so sad and awful for the parish and the Lord’s work.

 

[Phemie]

I was out of town last weekend and attended Mass at the local Cathedral. It’s part of a parish with 4 churches. Confession is one Saturday per month for 1 hour. That doesn’t exactly scream “Confession is important!!”

 

[Gorgias]

I could go for VBS for adults. With appropriate snacks and beverages. And I’m not a GenXer!

I tried starting one at my parish a few years back. Our DRE wasn’t enthused. We got a few folks, but it didn’t really take hold. Maybe I’ll try again in a few years…

I wish parishes would hold summer lecture series by various experts for us nerdier Catholic. Most talks I’ve seen advertised at parishes are more spiritual and less academic.

I’ve tried organizing these, too. Summer is a tough time; folks are less willing to commit to a series in the summer. Maybe it might have a chance to be more successful if the series was more like a sequence of stand-alone gatherings, rather than something that folks think that they need to attend every time. (Speaking for myself, I like summer programs, but not everyone agrees!)

My priest is sharp as a whip and gives great, intellectually meaty adult ed lectures, even over the summer. He offers them once a week, but twice on that day - a.m. for the retirees and late evening for the rest of us . . and the retirees.

Very cool! What’s attendance like? (What is your parish demographic – is it a large parish? Young families? Mostly retirees? A good mix?)

A few business courses in the seminary would not go amiss.

Have you read the USCCB’s “Program for Priestly Formation”? It would be interesting to see a proposal that manages to fit in more coursework…

From my experience bringing in guest speakers from EWTN, the turn out is stunningly small. It really takes some parishioner who is willing to sponsor these more academic speakers in.

Yep - this! And, add to it that it takes some $$$ to bring in heavy hitters, and not many parishes are positioned to do so…

The reason it resonates is Catholic parishes don’t really cater very well to anyone. Sometimes I think that’s because the parish can’t hold the pastor to any performance standards

By the same standard, the pastor can’t hold the parish to any performance standards, so they do what they want anyway.

Maybe my view is skewed because we’ve been saddled with an ineffective pastor for over a decade.

Three words for you, then: “small group ministry”.

 

[PetraG]

Summer is a tough time; folks are less willing to commit to a series in the summer. Maybe it might have a chance to be more successful if the series was more like a sequence of stand-alone gatherings, rather than something that folks think that they need to attend every time. (Speaking for myself, I like summer programs, but not everyone agrees!)

In my experience, the best time for a series is Lent (because people make the effort to make the time) and series has a theme but it is structured so it is still worthwhile those who can’t make every single session.

I was out of town last weekend and attended Mass at the local Cathedral. It’s part of a parish with 4 churches. Confession is one Saturday per month for 1 hour. That doesn’t exactly scream “Confession is important!!”

Wow. Who would go to a gym that was only open one afternoon a month?

 

[Gorgias]

Wow. Who would go to a gym that was only open one afternoon a month?

Depends. If the gym offered a product that was essential to life itself, one would think that folks would line up to get a shot at it…

 

[PetraG]

Depends. If the gym offered a product that was essential to life itself, one would think that folks would line up to get a shot at it…

If the gym is selling it as essential to life itself, why are they only offering it once a month?

 

[Canvas]

I understand there are chronic shortages of ordained Priests in some areas, but hearing Confessions is one of the most important things that they can possibly do. The Church should have at least a block set aside for confessions before any Mass. If they have a Mass, there is a Priest there already who can hear at least some confessions before the Mass.

 

[Gorgias]

If the gym is selling it as essential to life itself, why are they only offering it once a month?

Lack of interest in the product.

If they have a Mass, there is a Priest there already who can hear at least some confessions before the Mass.

Keep in mind that many folks think that the best time to come to a priest with questions / comments / problems is the time just before a Mass. Plus, the priest needs time immediately prior to a Mass in order to prepare, right? And, the further in advance prior to Mass that a priest hears confessions, the less that folks think it’s “convenient” and are willing to come.

 

[PetraG]

Keep in mind that many folks think that the best time to come to a priest with questions / comments / problems is the time just before a Mass. Plus, the priest needs time immediately prior to a Mass in order to prepare, right? And, the further in advance prior to Mass that a priest hears confessions, the less that folks think it’s “convenient” and are willing to come.

I know at least two priests who prepare to celebrate Mass in the confessional. If they spend the whole time hearing confessions, that’s their preparation. If they don’t get any penitents, at least they aren’t being pestered with trivial matters that can wait. (One of them even vests in the confessional room…he’s in there until moments before Mass starts.)

If the priest, the physician of the soul, treats something as important to health, the souls under his care have this way of picking up on that. If he’s a man of prayer, they see prayer as important. If he’s constantly encouraging confession, more come.

 

[Gorgias]

Maybe we’re all equally sensitive, @frumacat. The tension between generations isn’t anything new. Just wait till you experience it from the other side…

 

[Gorgias]

I know at least two priests who prepare to celebrate Mass in the confessional.

And so, their preference should be imposed on all priests? Hmm…

If the priest, the physician of the soul, treats something as important to health, the souls under his care have this way of picking up on that. If he’s a man of prayer, they see prayer as important. If he’s constantly encouraging confession, more come.

Good point. Yet, those who aren’t disposed to the sacraments need more than simple ‘encouragement’, it seems…

 

[VanitasVanitatum]

An evening Mass could work right?

 

[PetraG]

And so, their preference should be imposed on all priests? Hmm…

When did I say that? I said I knew priests who had that preference.

If I implied anything, it was that right before Mass is not a good time to bother a priest preparing to celebrate Mass with “questions/comments/problems.” Find a better time.

Yes, there may be priests who find that hearing confessions interferes with getting prepared to celebrate the Mass. Find me one who finds celebrating confession to be less pressing than the hundred other trivial things they’re confronted with prior to Mass, and we’ll talk. The ones I know would much rather be the welcoming committee at the House of Mercy.

Good point. Yet, those who aren’t disposed to the sacraments need more than simple ‘encouragement’, it seems…

I can only go by the ones I know, but the reports are that regular encouragement actually brings people to confession. There is a widespread impressiong that “nobody goes to confession any more,” and mentioning the benefits of regular confession seems to help reassure people that the priest really does want to welcome them to that source of grace soon and often thereafter.

 

[PeterT]

I understand there are chronic shortages of ordained Priests in some areas, but hearing Confessions is one of the most important things that they can possibly do. The Church should have at least a block set aside for confessions before any Mass. If they have a Mass, there is a Priest there already who can hear at least some confessions before the Mass.

Setting aside a bigger block of time to hear confessions wouldn’t be necessary if more Catholics understood it’s the duty of priests to hear a confession ANYTIME one asks him. At my church, many parishioner know this and will ask the priest to hear their confession AFTER a Mass. Of course they could ask the priest to hear their confession before a Mass but they don’t because they understand that could delay the start of the Mass. The point is that one doesn’t need to wait for the scheduled confession time to have a priest hear one’s confession.

 

[poche]

If enough people let them know that they felt it was important then maybe they will change.

 

[Phemie]

If enough people let them know that they felt it was important then maybe they will change.

I think you’ve got that backwards. If priests regularly mentioned the importance of confession there would be a need for more time for the sacrament.

For four years we had a pastor who constantly preached that God forgives us no matter what we do without once mentioning the need for repentance and confession. Three months after his arrival he cancelled the Saturday afternoon Confession because no one came. Really? You’ve pretty much preached that it’s not necessary.

There was no scheduled time for Confession in our parish for almost 10 years and we were left with the Lent and Advent Reconciliation Services and the tap on the shoulder “Could you please hear my confession, Father?” before and after Mass or whenever we happened to be around him. We were thankful when the pastor we were assigned 6 years ago reinstated it.

 

[DarkLight]

I have been told it helps if the priest has good assistance in the sacristy, so he does not have to oversee the preparation for Mass (other than vesting for himself) personally.

 

[PetraG]

I have been told it helps if the priest has good assistance in the sacristy, so he does not have to oversee the preparation for Mass (other than vesting for himself) personally.

Yes, a well-trained sacristan is a great help. I think most parishes try to have someone who can take care of preparing the church for Mass. I have even seen places where the priest’s vestments are laid out prior to Mass.

https://fatherjerabek.com/2014/06/06/vesting-for-mass/

Back to the topic–I don’t think this is just “millenials,” but rather I think there is an increasing appreciating of doing important things well. The care that is taken reflects how important the thing being done is to the person doing it. There is an increasing awareness that time-wasting is a problem, such that “if it isn’t worth doing well, why were you doing it at all, again?” is raised more often.

Certainly this has to apply to worship! If there is a message for older people, I guess it is that it is a mistake to dismiss younger people as being tolerant of doing things in a sloppy way. That’s sometimes true, but more and more it that attitude is being questioned, but especially by those who want to be spiritually aware. When young people want to be religious, they tend to want to be pointedly dedicated to doing it well. If you aren’t interested in doing it well, they’re going to question whether you really believe or if you’re just doing something out of habit or out of an unexamined sense of duty that doesn’t mean a lot to you.

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

redbetta:

I wish parishes would hold summer lecture series by various experts for us nerdier Catholic. Most talks I’ve seen advertised at parishes are more spiritual and less academic.

Having regular talks by people of the calibar of CA apologists would be amazing.

That’s what Catholic radio is for, right? What parish can afford to pay / fly these folks around?