Signs Of A Healthy Parish

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Seamus_L

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I’d say the Big 3 for starters.

1.Regular Eucharistic Adoration
2.Daily recitation of the Rosary
3. Frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance
 
How about a healthy and regular attendance to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Maybe I’d also add a friendly and active community life such as volunteer work and bible study and other community activities. But your three, totally agree!
 
Seamus_L said:
I’d say the Big 3 for starters.

1.Regular Eucharistic Adoration
2.Daily recitation of the Rosary
3. Frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance
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With these in place the rest should follow such as:
  1. a good CCD program for both Children and Adults.
  2. Tithing or Sacrificial giving program so the Parish has the funds it needs to do the above (1-4)
  3. Opportunities for social interactions outside of Mass (note, this is for sure something that should follow the first three and not be the most important thing!)
  4. An RCIA program that doesn’t just “drop” the people once they are Catholic, they gave up a lot to become Catholic, we need to continue to make them feel welcome! (I understand there is some kind of formal program for this)
Note, my Parish does have all of these :D. It is a very vibrant Parish, we have a Perpetual Adoration Chapel that is only closed during the Easter triduum - Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday. We pray the Rosary before every Mass except the middle Sunday Masses (no time as we need to get people moved in and out for Sunday Mass!) We are a Sacrificial Giving Parish so funds are there for everything we need including children’s CCD programs, no one pays for these and Adult programs we only purchase whatever materials we are using for them.

The only thing I am not sure of is the “after RCIA” program as I have never been involved in that directly and those I have been involved with indirectly were already friends so, that didn’t change anything there.

Brenda V.
 
Seamus_L said:
I’d say the Big 3 for starters.

1.Regular Eucharistic Adoration
2.Daily recitation of the Rosary
3. Frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance
Click to expand...
1.) Strong Mass/Divine Liturgy attendance (by far.)

1.a.) Weekly social meetings of faithful following Mass/Divine Liturgy.

2.) Reverent Masses that adhere to Church directives.

3.) Ongoing program(s) for catechesis including Bible study for all ages and levels.

4.) Continued growth.
 
Brenda_V said:
With these in place the rest should follow such as:
  1. a good CCD program for both Children and Adults.
  2. Tithing or Sacrificial giving program so the Parish has the funds it needs to do the above (1-4)
  3. Opportunities for social interactions outside of Mass (note, this is for sure something that should follow the first three and not be the most important thing!)
  4. An RCIA program that doesn’t just “drop” the people once they are Catholic, they gave up a lot to become Catholic, we need to continue to make them feel welcome! (I understand there is some kind of formal program for this)
Note, my Parish does have all of these :D. It is a very vibrant Parish, we have a Perpetual Adoration Chapel that is only closed during the Easter triduum - Holy Thursday through Holy Saturday. We pray the Rosary before every Mass except the middle Sunday Masses (no time as we need to get people moved in and out for Sunday Mass!) We are a Sacrificial Giving Parish so funds are there for everything we need including children’s CCD programs, no one pays for these and Adult programs we only purchase whatever materials we are using for them.

The only thing I am not sure of is the “after RCIA” program as I have never been involved in that directly and those I have been involved with indirectly were already friends so, that didn’t change anything there.

Brenda V.
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Yeah!! I have a healthy parish! We still have to pay for RE but we did just build a new RE building so it all evens out in the end. Everything else is really great!!
 
How many vocations have come from it?

I know of one Orthodox parish that in the fewer than 32 years of its existence has produced numerous deacons, priests, bishops, monks, and even spun off a mission parish in a nearby city.
 
My parish has had at least 3 priests and 2 or 3 women religious - I don’t know of all that have come from it as I am sure there are more that just weren’t advertised :).

We weren’t always this healthy either so in time I expect to hear of more vocations.

Brenda V.
 
Seamus_L said:
I’d say the Big 3 for starters.

1.Regular Eucharistic Adoration
2.Daily recitation of the Rosary
3. Frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance
Click to expand...
  1. Strong / reverent Mass attendance
  2. Orthodox (not the Eastern type) RCIA / CCD
  3. Traditional Latin Mass offered
  4. Regular vocations
  5. First Friday / First Saturday and other devotions (Corpus Christi procession, Stations of the Cross during Lent, Angelus, etc)
  6. Social gatherings outside of Mass
 
bpbasilphx said:
How many vocations have come from it?

I know of one Orthodox parish that in the fewer than 32 years of its existence has produced numerous deacons, priests, bishops, monks, and even spun off a mission parish in a nearby city.
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I think a healthy rate of vocations is an important factor. And a good attendance at daily as well as weekend Masses.

More so than some of the more minor devotions such as the Rosary.
 
LilyM said:
I think a healthy rate of vocations is an important factor. And a good attendance at daily as well as weekend Masses.

More so than some of the more minor devotions such as the Rosary.
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Good call on daily Mass attendance. And I would certainly not call the Rosary a “minor devotion.”
 
franklinf said:
Code: 
  			Originally Posted by **Brenda V.**
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Sacrificial giving is where once a year each family is asked to prayerfully consider how much they will give on a weekly or monthly basis and commit to that amount assuming no changes in income for them. This gives the Parish a way to judge how much is in the budget for certain things above and beyond the budgeted regular expenses. Since our Parish has done this we have had no need to charge for regular CCD for our children through teens and all adult programs just need to pay for their materials if there are any (like books).

Now, I do have to say that when I just assumed we were all talking about a Parish that had good Mass attendance, both Sunday and weekdays but one should never assume - this is an important part of a vibrant and healthy Parish as well as reverent worship.

Everything that has been written here is good!

Brenda V.
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Brenda_V said:
Sacrificial giving is where once a year each family is asked to prayerfully consider how much they will give on a weekly or monthly basis and commit to that amount assuming no changes in income for them. This gives the Parish a way to judge how much is in the budget for certain things above and beyond the budgeted regular expenses. Since our Parish has done this we have had no need to charge for regular CCD for our children through teens and all adult programs just need to pay for their materials if there are any (like books).

Everything that has been written here is good!

Brenda V.
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Hm, I’ve never heard of it before but its an interesting method that seems like it would be effective. Collecting the money before its collected in a sense.

Agreed on the last part!
 
I’d like to add two things on top of all the ideas listed above.

Firstly a strong group of volunteers; from Altar servers and an enthusiastic choir through to people doing odd jobs, even the occasional pluming job or lick of paint in their free time depending on what they can offer skill wise.

Secondly daily, or if not daily at least on Sunday, morning and evening prayer (Matins or Lauds + Vespers). Preferably sung with a good attendance from people on their way too or from work who can’t usually make daily Mass. I’ve only ever seen this in one parish and it made such a difference to the community.
 
A regular TLM is the surest sign a parish is orthodox. I’ve never known a liberal parish which had fond words for the Old Rite.
 
I wonder, how could a simple layperson could help heal a sick parish? I bounce between two parishes because of location differences, but one of them is definitely in worse shape than the other.
 
franklinf said:
Good call on daily Mass attendance. And I would certainly not call the Rosary a “minor devotion.”
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Compared to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass it is 🤷
jonnyws said:
Secondly daily, or if not daily at least on Sunday, morning and evening prayer (Matins or Lauds + Vespers).
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The two churches I know that have this are, sadly, among the most liberal I’ve ever known. Strong maybe (depending on your definition) but hardly orthodox.
 
Seamus_L said:
I’d say the Big 3 for starters.

1.Regular Eucharistic Adoration
2.Daily recitation of the Rosary
3. Frequent use of the Sacrament of Penance
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for posting this thread. I would also add people of strong faith being involved in their church, not all who are involved in the church happenings are strong in faith. It has been my experience as of late that conservative catholics in a church tend to shy away from getting too much attention, this is a humble way to be. But guess what, God is calling the religious conservative meek Catholic to quit being so humble (humility is good in moderation). Our country may be headed in a bad direction, but that does not mean that we Catholics are. So if you are reading this and have strong convictions for Mother Church, please pray for truth to increase and get involved. 👍 👍 👍
 
I belonged to a good one, when suddenly the pastor disappeared and was replaced by an old, retired bishop, who gave some of the worst and longest sermons I’ve ever endured. He brought a small stack of books with him to Mass to read from during his sermons, and completely ignored the Mass schedule. Before each part of Mass, he’d stop everything and explain its historical origins. He turned Mass into an agonizing, two-hour tutorial. I *left *the parish. Now I’m ‘hopping’ around.
 
Mass attendance alone doesn’t make a parish spiritually healthy. A few miles from my house is a large modern Catholic Church that draws over 2000 people on Sunday. They have Teen Groups, Singles Groups, Seniors Groups etc. Unfortunately, they do not offer Eucharistic Adoration, there is no group that regularly recites the Rosary, and probably less than 15 people go to confession a week, because it’s just offered for a short time on Saturday.
 
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