Question about Mass Times?

[TraderTif]

Ok, this is a really minor thing, but my dad has been complaining about this for years.

Why do so many churches have masses that start at 15 minutes before or after the hour? (5:15, 4:45, etc.) And, why do so many churches alter the mass times for holy days, or the change in seasons, by small amounts? (Like, moving the 4:45 mass to 5:15, etc.)

A lot of churches around here seem to do that, and it drives my dad nuts! He used to be Protestant, and he starts going on and on about how his old churches never did such things, Sunday services were always 9 and 11,…blah, blah, blah…

Any ideas??

 

[Jennifer_G]

Don’t know. Even my old Lutheran church did that.

 

[Just_1_hr_a_wk]

Ok, this is a really minor thing, but my dad has been complaining about this for years.

Why do so many churches have masses that start at 15 minutes before or after the hour? (5:15, 4:45, etc.) And, why do so many churches alter the mass times for holy days, or the change in seasons, by small amounts? (Like, moving the 4:45 mass to 5:15, etc.)

A lot of churches around here seem to do that, and it drives my dad nuts! He used to be Protestant, and he starts going on and on about how his old churches never did such things, Sunday services were always 9 and 11,…blah, blah, blah…

Any ideas??

He is better off asking the parishes involved.

 

[puzzleannie]

usually the schedule is set so the earliest Mass is at a reasonable hour and succeeding Masses allow the earlier group to get out and clear the parking lot, but start soon enough to pack in as many Masses before noon as the parish needs. sometimes that means “odd” timing.

 

[1ke]

The odd times are likely due to allowing enough time for the switch-out in the parking lot between masses.

The time change during the seasons is likely due to the daylight hours. Where I am, the Masses move to an earlier time in the winter b/c it gets dark around 5 or even earlier. The roads can be dangerous when the sun goes down and the temp drops… ice, snow, etc. And, the elderly do not drive well at night, so when it starts getting dark at 5 or before, Mass moves up to an earlier time. Then, in the spring it moves back.

 

[PhilipCal]

Seems like the answer might be: "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please them all of the time. Believe it’s a convenience issue, pure and simple. Obviously won’t please everyone though.

 

[NewUlm1976_2000]

Some of it is coordination with surrounding parishes (or parishes within an Area Faith Community (e.g. priest has to get to more than one mass in the evening/day). Some of the leeway is for the latecomers, even if it says 4:45pm or so, the start is often 4:50pm so there is still a 5min buffer for those who cannot make it until the last second (for whatever reason).

 

[wanner47]

Our parish is a campus Newman center, and daily mass is at 5:15 to accommodate the students who have class up until 5pm.

I know there’s a Catholic Church in town that has a 12:45pm mass on Sunday. I"m not quite sure why. Other that that, I think most mass times around here are on the hour or half hour (with the exception of daily masses – most of those are at 5:15 to accommodate people who get off of work at 5pm).

 

[puzzleannie]

some downtown parishes have a 12:15 daily Mass, which immediately follows the Angelus at noon.

 

[Karl_M]

We have a few churches around here that move the 5pm Saturday Mass to 4pm in the winter.

I asked the pastor at one of these churches why that was and he said that it had to do with having a substantial middle-upper aged and elderly congregation.

Many had expressed concern about driving (after 6pm) in the winter because it gets dark sooner. The parish voted on it, and the Mass was moved.

I don’t know if that’s the case in every situation, but it is in this one.

Also, one of our inner-city parishes holds weekday Mass at odd times (12:05pm, for example). I asked the sister there and she said it started back when there was a major manufacturing plant across the street, and workers would go to daily Mass on their lunch-the 12:05 gave them enough time to get to the church.