What does your parish do to build a sense of community?

[LWOTF]

Many of you have probably read the linked articles here on
the decline of marriage and baptism among Catholics/ and
and permissiveness among Mass-attending Catholics./
These trends point to a deep illness in our Church, where a sad majority of the faithful really do not accept the Church teachings. I hear so much about how priests need to address these things from the pulpit, but how much good can a 15 to 30 minute talk once per week do in a culture as hedonistic as ours? As I describe in
this post, I believe that creating a more vibrant parish community is critical. We need to be surrounded, on a daily basis, by Catholic attitudes, teachings, and morals.

So the point of this post: what works? What do you do at your parish to build community? What little things does your parish do to make people feel a part of the family?

The best things we do are Saturday night dinners that benefit our parish school. But how to bring in the one-hour-a-week Catholics?

I am on our parish council, and I am looking for the subtle things - special greeters for newcomers, announcement boards - that can be done to make a difference.

Thanks,

 

[FCEGM]

Many of you have probably read the linked articles here on
the decline of marriage and baptism among Catholics/ and
and permissiveness among Mass-attending Catholics./
These trends point to a deep illness in our Church, where a sad majority of the faithful really do not accept the Church teachings. I hear so much about how priests need to address these things from the pulpit, but how much good can a 15 to 30 minute talk once per week do in a culture as hedonistic as ours? As I describe in
this post, I believe that creating a more vibrant parish community is critical. We need to be surrounded, on a daily basis, by Catholic attitudes, teachings, and morals.

So the point of this post: what works? What do you do at your parish to build community? What little things does your parish do to make people feel a part of the family?

The best things we do are Saturday night dinners that benefit our parish school. But how to bring in the one-hour-a-week Catholics?

I am on our parish council, and I am looking for the subtle things - special greeters for newcomers, announcement boards - that can be done to make a difference.

Thanks,

Gary, with our parish it’s a matter of what doesn’t it do?! Ours is a very large parish that offers many opportunities(including those you’ve listed) for involvement in parish life; the link will take you to the parish web site for more ideas:

stmatthewcatholic.org/

All these activities, however, don’t always equate to the best catechesis and the most reverential liturgies. And with so much “doing” there is the danger that the focus for the individual and the parish becomes that of “look how much I/we do”.

 

[LWOTF]

Thanks so much for the reply! I completely agree with the issue of catechesis. The challenge I see is getting more people involved enough in the parish that catechesis can even be performed. The vast majority of church-going Catholics these days get to Mass late, leave early, and don’t come back until next Sunday. It is those people who should be the first targets of the New Evangelization!
God bless you,

 

[FCEGM]

Thanks so much for the reply! I completely agree with the issue of catechesis. The challenge I see is getting more people involved enough in the parish that catechesis can even be performed. The vast majority of church-going Catholics these days get to Mass late, leave early, and don’t come back until next Sunday. It is those people who should be the first targets of the New Evangelization!
God bless you,

Gary, the October 2010 issue of “Homiletic & Pastoral Review” has an excellent article by Fr. Francis J. Pefflet, “Sanctifying, evangelizing and catechizing a parish.” You might want to get a copy of this issue - perhaps your pastor subscribes? Or else you can request a copy at 1-800-651-1531; the charge is $4.00 for a single issue.

 

[ASD]

Like many EF parishes, we have a lunch every Sunday after Mass in the Church basement.

 

[dconklin]

Our parish has regular gatherings of the newcomers to go over all of our offerings and to give a tour of the facilities. We also have a program called After the Boxes are Unpacked. Most of our new families have kids. I am the Asst DRE and we do our best to be very welcoming. We do not have a long list of must haves and gotta-dos. We try to accommodated their needs as best as possible. We do not cut-off registration for new families. As long as it is not a sacrament year, we just put the kids in a class. If it is a sacrament year, we work with the family to get the child caught-up. All within reason.