Parish Revitalization Plans

[Cat]

So for those of you who are critical of the book’s proposals, what is your strategy for parishes that are consistently losing members in large numbers, or who are, tragically, closing due to lack of members? Concrete action plan, please. Thank you.

I’ll be honest, I think that in emergencies and crises, we need to do whatever is necessary, short of committing sin, to get things done. When people are going to hell, we can’t just sit back and wait it out. We have to get moving. If you have a different approach than the book, then what is your approach?

James 5:19-20 makes it clear that we must work to rescue those who have fallen away from the faith. And the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) makes it clear that we are to evangelize non-believers. Pope Benedict XVI pushed “the new evangelization,” and encouraged discussion about the way to actually do evangelization. And Pope Francis continues to challenge Catholics and parishes to not be afraid to work hard to help the poor and the marginalized.

As an ex-Evangelical Protestant (47 years, and then converted to Catholicism in 2004), I would say that parishes need to consult with their ex-Evangelical members about the strategies in the book. Many of us have lived through various strategies for growing big churches, and many of us have been disillusioned by some of these strategies. But other strategies have resulted in true conversions and life-long disciples. I think that some of the “needs-based” methods have some flaws, and Catholic parishes need to either fix the flaws or avoid those methods.

OTOH, I see absolutely nothing wrong with a parish improving the quality of the Mass music, or making sure that all people are welcomed at the door of the parish by a friendly person who has the ability to make others feel comfortable (spiritual gift of hospitality), or providing adequate worship aids for those who are new to the parish or new to Catholicism.

 

[Elizium23]

Oh, if I were pastor.

Implement Summorum Pontificum. I don’t mean convert to a TLM-only parish, I mean having priests who are just as comfortable in the EF as OF, have all the trappings we can afford to do as we grow (and we will, if the EF is done well, people travel long distances for it.) Allow the EF to enrich the OF as well, using some Latin in the Ordinary and giving the organ and Gregorian chant pride of place. Otherwise, say the black and do the red: Save the liturgy, save the world.

Don’t skimp on salary or qualifications for music ministers who may be paid. Great musicians inspire not just the assembly to participate, they inspire their fellow choir to excel. Planting a few excellent singers in the choir will prop it up until you can expand it with volunteers who are attracted because it sounds good.

Encourage public devotions such as: rosary, LOTH, benediction and adoration (perpetual as soon as we have enough adorers) and novenas. Fit these in before and after Masses to make them convenient for large numbers of people. Preach about the sacraments, encourage Confession and make priests available for many opportunities for penitents to come. Once word gets out, they will come from all around, because not enough parishes offer convenient Confessions.

Work to strengthen those organizations which support the parish. Knights of Columbus and a women’s counterpart. Legion of Mary, Charismatic Renewal. Hold Bible studies with orthodox materials and leaders.

Youth ministry and religious education is key. Do not skimp on salaries for these leaders, and qualifications if they are volunteers. Rebuilt has a good point: consistent message across all tiers of the community. The weekly RE and RCIA classes should tie into the homily being given, and weekly readings should be given attention and prayer so that we are keyed into the liturgical calendar. Which raises another important point: the life of the parish should ebb and flow according to that same calendar. Make sure decorations and bulletin boards are current and relevant. Put on bursts of energy during Easter and Christmas so that the lukewarm people have a good impression of the parish at its finest hours.

Be a strong leader, but know how to delegate. Surround yourself with capable people. Identify those with talents and then put them to work. People often don’t step up to volunteer until they are approached in an agreeable way, and then show your appreciation. Simple thank-yous and praise for jobs well done. Consider holding a yearly Volunteer Appreciation Dinner in which the staff does all the work. Likewise, identify those groups which can handle fund raising and lean on them for support when the collection plate is thin, or you need an extra infusion of cash. You can preach about stewardship all you want but sometimes the pastor is not the most effective point man for convincing people to open up their purses and wallets. You’ll need a crackerjack Financial Council. Don’t let incompetence or malice rule the meetings there.

Don’t forget that appearances matter. Gently encourage a dress code for parishioners attending Mass, and insist on one for liturgical ministers. Your maintenance people must ensure that the campus is always presentable and clean and in good repair. This is another area where you can’t skimp, but it can be a money pit! Choose your contractors wisely, use referrals from parishioners and, where possible, don’t be too proud to beg for donated work.

That’s volume one of my parish game plan. I have to admit that it’s heavily influenced by my own parish and pastor’s decisions in the past 8 years. We’re not a bursting-at-the-seams megachurch yet, but it’s all by the grace of God that we fill our pews on a regular basis.

 

[Cat]

Elizium23, I agree with pretty much everything on your action plan.

Our parish is actually doing most of this, and has been doing it for several years. We have many well-attended Masses on the weekends, and during the week, the daily Masses are well-attended. We are not seeing a huge number of seekers or inquirers, and fallen-away Catholics are not returning in droves.

But I think that these things will continue to be done in our parish because they are the MINIMUM that ANY parish should be doing.

I’m not so sure that the TLM/Latin/chant would accomplish much towards attracting fallen-away believers back to the Church, or attracting non-Catholics into the Church. We have a Latin parish in our city (it’s been there for many years), and it’s well-attended, but it certainly isn’t “turning the world upside down”. I think that even though some Catholics might return to their parish for more Latin, I think just as many would depart for more modern music and preaching in the Protestant megachurches, and so the head count would remain even.

Our parish isn’t working towards a TLM, BTW, although I know that at least one of the priests is willing to learn the Latin Mass and say it, perhaps on a once a month basis.

We do have regular Benedictions, and Latin is used in these. So it’s not that the parish is opposed to Latin.

My personal feeling is that growth in a parish occurs as each individual fully lives out their faith and their calling. This is the “slow but steady” way to grow a parish in numbers and quality. If each individual Christian is fully vested in their parish and commits to at least one “ministry” within the parish, and then lives out their Christian faith OUTSIDE the parish and shows Jesus to their circle of friends and acquaintances through their good lives and love for others, I think that the parish will grow slowly and steadily.

I do think that a parish should attempt to do things in the community that make the parish VISIBLE to the community. Examples would be running a good ministry to the poor (soup kitchen, shelter, etc,), having great (not just good) music and holding regular concerts that are open to the community, offering seminars and workshops about the Catholic faith for curious people, having a visible pro-life ministry, participating in community events (e.g., Festival of Lights at Christmas, charitable drives, etc.), and having a good parish school that produces academic, artistic, and athletic success stories.

Most parishes can’t do all of these things, but they can start somewhere. One of the small-town parishes in our area of the country (Northern Illinois) offers an annual Thanksgiving dinner (a week or so before Thanksgiving) that is legendary! Thousands attend, because it’s darn yummy! This event really raises the visibility of that parish, and helps people to perceive the parish as a friendly, lively place to be! Often, the dinner is featured on one of the local TV stations, or in a local newspaper–again, great visibility. It’s not a direct preaching of the Gospel, but it “paves the way” for people to be open to hearing the Gospel preached by this parish.

 

[Cricket2]

Cat,

I used to be on a choir and yes music can inspire people spiritually. That said however, none of us should be so dependent on “nice music”, or lovely surroundings, or exciting activities, in our worship that the absence of any of these chases us away from our faith or church. Sure I like all of the mentioned, and have been places that “seem” more inspiring than others, but none of this is what keeps me bound to my faith or Church.

One of the greatest problems I have detected, as possible reasons for declining numbers in our Churches is the adverse affects of politics on the altar or avoiding responsibility for immoral conduct (sex scandal), nepotism in employment practices and choosing volunteers, obvious immoral conduct by church employees, secularism, and general complacency. People seem to love the idea of preppy youth groups, dances and fun. But ask for them to weed a garden, visit the sick, volunteer at a soup kitchen and oops you have asked too much.

Now here is a personal thought I have had for years: I don’t really think we have a Priest shortage. I think that is saying that God does not provide for our needs. I do think in many areas there are too many Churches built on top of each other, not enough Parishes with schools associated with them and actually the number of Priests we need for the actual number of truly faithful.

I also think our new Pope is addressing some root problems, that if allowed to continue will resolve some of these issues. He seems to have a solid spiritual perspective on things that if followed by all our Parishes and leaders we just might see things turn around.

 

[Elizium23]

My personal feeling is that growth in a parish occurs as each individual fully lives out their faith and their calling. This is the “slow but steady” way to grow a parish in numbers and quality. If each individual Christian is fully vested in their parish and commits to at least one “ministry” within the parish, and then lives out their Christian faith OUTSIDE the parish and shows Jesus to their circle of friends and acquaintances through their good lives and love for others, I think that the parish will grow slowly and steadily.

Of course that is a component of building a strong community. Support must come from the grassroots as well as the leadership. It is when both approaches overlap and combine that miraculous and explosive growth happens, and probably that is what occurred at Nativity. I am on both sides of the fence here. As an employee of the parish and an officer in the KofC, I am close to the leadership and aware of their role and responsibilities for the growth and care of the community. And as a choir member and parishioner who socializes with many others I recognize the importance of individual investment in the community, and the huge difference that can be made when just a fraction of the congregation is actively engaged and contributing to parish life.

I do think that a parish should attempt to do things in the community that make the parish VISIBLE to the community. Examples would be running a good ministry to the poor (soup kitchen, shelter, etc,), having great (not just good) music and holding regular concerts that are open to the community, offering seminars and workshops about the Catholic faith for curious people, having a visible pro-life ministry, participating in community events (e.g., Festival of Lights at Christmas, charitable drives, etc.), and having a good parish school that produces academic, artistic, and athletic success stories.

That is a great idea, Cat, and that is where many, many Catholic parishes fall flat. I think Protestants and Evangelicals run rings around us in this regard. One pastor I had always warned of the dangers of being “churchy” and doing things for ourselves and staying insular and not breaking out into the rest of the city. Pope Francis encouraged us to “make a mess”, so ¡vaya lío! Let’s get out there and be a city on a hill, not a lamp under a bushel basket!

Cricket2: there are sections in Rebuilt called “Music is Water”, “Bad to Worse”, and “Disciples Sing” (chapter 6, pp93ff, if you are following along at home.) The book stresses how vital it is for a community to have good music. As a member of the choir and a musician since my high school years, I recognize the critical importance that music plays in the lives of people of faith. It cannot be discounted or pooh-poohed. We can argue about musical taste all we want, but we have to agree that there is a Divine Command from God to sing and praise him with open lips and a full heart. Being a member of the choir has brought me many great spiritual fruits. It affords me fellowship with other members of the parish that I would not normally associate with. We bond during rehearsals. We spread that love of each other to the whole assembly when we support them in the sacred liturgy. We cannot merely “phone it in” but we are ministers of the Word, with a responsibility to study and live Sacred Scripture. Especially for a cantor this is not an optional part of the ministry. This is an essential aspect of one’s identity as a liturgical minister to be engaged and involved in “fully conscious and active” worship of God. By having a top-notch director, cantor and schola or choir, by providing the best music we possibly can, we evangelize. And Cat’s idea to have concerts for the whole community, not just the parish, is a good one. I was once a member of my city’s Community Chorus. We held free concerts twice yearly to benefit the whole community and share our love for music with them. A church choir is about much more than fellowship and sharing a love for music. So we should all be doing our best to spread the Gospel to our fellow men and women at every possible chance.

 

[Angela_Tate]

Offshoot discussion from a thread in Popular Media: Rebuilt: The Story of a Catholic Parish

 

[white_sheep]

Doughnuts.

 

[Elizium23]

Doughnuts.

Well, yeah. A well-done doughnut sale can be the catalyst for fellowship and fundraising in a parish where those things are sorely needed. I will tell you that my own parish holds one every week, by the largesse of a single volunteer who is currently our Grand Knight. He does it on behalf of our KofC Council in order to raise funds for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. It’s not a big operation, but let me tell you, it does pretty well. Once we took some measures to ensure that everyone who took a donut was putting in a minimum $1 donation, and not grabbing stacks of them for free, we do fairly well for ourselves on a weekly basis. I think it is a useful service to the parish to have the social hall open and active with hungry parishioners before and after all the Sunday morning Masses. Without our GK doing this, people would have to gather in the courtyard, and let me tell you, during the long summer season in our desert climate, that is not exactly an appealing option, especially for the elderly among us.

Doughnut sales are also a time-honored tradition among Catholic parishes. Perhaps your community is more health-conscious and would do better with bagels and iced tea, but whatever you do, a vibrant and active café culture is very important for weekend fellowship at any church. Do not discount the utility of opening up a Starbucks in your social hall (Don’t really use Starbucks, they promote unnatural “marriage”.)

 

[kkollwitz]

In my parish it matters that the motivated Catholics know each other and are reinforced by each other. Our parish grows mostly through having a substantial liturgy which attracts reverts and converts; and the informal evangelizing efforts of individual Catholics.

 

[PhiloMed]

Reading through these ideas is inspiring me, but also making me wonder if what is needed will vary greatly by geographic area or even by individual parish.

Though it isn’t as common as it once was, some parishes are still primarily associated with one ethnic group or another. What might bring people back to the Polish church might be different than what brings people back to the Spanish church.

In my town, we have a great sense of community pride. Neighbors bring cakes to people moving in, everyone knows each others kids and people live for generations on the same block. Our church recently started doing Saturday night potluck dinners after vigil mass. This worked out great! It brought many more people to vigil mass because they felt a sense of actual community in prayer and feasting.

Also, our parish school requires the children to write a summary of the gospel and homily each week and the priest or deacon has to sign that they were there. You can tell which kids are from the parish school because they bring their notebooks to mass!