Parish registration and other related questions

[Jennifer132]

So I’m in RCIA right now, so everything is new. What does it mean to “register” at a parish? Is this something I need to do? The parish where we go to RCIA is very large and about 20 minutes from where we live (we live rurally). There is a tiny parish about 10 minutes from our home which has only a visiting priest who comes to say Mass on Sunday. We have never been there, as the first time we visited a Mass, we wanted to blend in, so we chose this large parish. We have been there now since February and have gotten to know people there. So in all likelihood that is where we’d prefer to stay. I read in passing about parish boundaries and being a “member” of a particular parish. I’m totally unfamiliar with all these terms. Can someone explain what it all means?

 

[Magdalen2013]

When I was received into the Church in 2014, we were invited to register with the parish AFTER the Easter Vigil. I’d check with whoever is running your parish RCIA. Once you’re registered, they send you envelopes with your name on them for your weekly offering.

 

[Phemie]

It depends on the parish and diocese. Odds are you are automatically member of the small parish by virtue of where you live. Parishes are, for the most part, geographical entities and the Pastor is responsible for any Catholic living within its boundaries. Some dioceses insist on people staying within the boundaries.

Other dioceses, where there are several parishes within a town, say, may not have a problem with you registering with one parish while you live within the boundaries of another.

Or it may simply be that the small rural parish, like the one in my hometown, is simply a “church” withing a larger parish. My hometown rural parish and 3 others have gone from being individual parishes to being “communities with church buildings” within one large parish that encompasses all of them.

 

[1ke]

So I’m in RCIA right now, so everything is new. What does it mean to “register” at a parish? Is this something I need to do?

Most parishes these days have computer systems that generate mail, offertory envelopes, IRS statements, religious education registration notices, and what have you. If your parish has online or auto-debit giving, the system also processes those offerings.

Therefore, it becomes important that you fill out a slip of paper with your essentials like name, phone, email address, etc, on it and all your family members.

In my diocese we must keep the parish roster, do offerings and enter sacramental information in the parish database. It’s tied in with the diocesan level DB also.

Registration is simply getting that info into the computer database.

You are free to attend any parish you wish, and free to attend different parish masses at any time as your schedule dictates–but you are by virtue of geography a member of the parish in whose boundaries you live and that pastor has responsibility for you. Whether you’ve “registered” or not. Registration is a convenience thing, not a canonical thing. It seems to be a U.S. thing.

The parish where we go to RCIA is very large and about 20 minutes from where we live (we live rurally). There is a tiny parish about 10 minutes from our home which has only a visiting priest who comes to say Mass on Sunday.

It may not be a parish. It may be a mission under the care of a parish. Although we tend to think of parishes and churches synonymously they aren’t.

It may even be under the care of the parish you attend. You can ask.

We have never been there, as the first time we visited a Mass, we wanted to blend in, so we chose this large parish. We have been there now since February and have gotten to know people there. So in all likelihood that is where we’d prefer to stay. I read in passing about parish boundaries and being a “member” of a particular parish. I’m totally unfamiliar with all these terms. Can someone explain what it all means?

I’d encourage you to visit the small church when you feel comfortable doing so. That flexibility of running to church close by on Sundays or holy days may come in handy. The people will be glad to see new face!

 

[thistle]

So I’m in RCIA right now, so everything is new. What does it mean to “register” at a parish? Is this something I need to do? The parish where we go to RCIA is very large and about 20 minutes from where we live (we live rurally). There is a tiny parish about 10 minutes from our home which has only a visiting priest who comes to say Mass on Sunday. We have never been there, as the first time we visited a Mass, we wanted to blend in, so we chose this large parish. We have been there now since February and have gotten to know people there. So in all likelihood that is where we’d prefer to stay. I read in passing about parish boundaries and being a “member” of a particular parish. I’m totally unfamiliar with all these terms. Can someone explain what it all means?

It is not a requirement to register at your parish. You belong to a parish based on where you live and not by being registered.
You may attend a church in any parish but you remain a member of the parish in which you live.
Also to be baptised, married or buried in another parish this cannot be done without the permission of your own parish priest.

 

[Jennifer132]

It is not a requirement to register at your parish. You belong to a parish based on where you live and not by being registered.
You may attend a church in any parish but you remain a member of the parish in which you live.
Also to be baptised, married or buried in another parish this cannot be done without the permission of your own parish priest.

How do I know which parish it is that I reside in? Is there a map somewhere with parish boundaries?

 

[Phemie]

How do I know which parish it is that I reside in? Is there a map somewhere with parish boundaries?

Call the diocesan office. Tell them exactly where you live and ask which is your proper parish. They’ll be able to tell you.