Why no Sunday School

[Nicea325]

Wow, I thought we were big! My parish (in Orange County, CA) has about 5,700 families. We have 7 masses every Saturday/Sunday in 3 languages (Vietnamese, Spanish and English) and they are all packed to the rafters (many parishioners end up in the foyer or outside where there are loudspeakers - it is best to arrive early). Our new church is only 10 years old and we have already outgrown it. It’s a good problem to have, but it is a problem nonetheless. BTW, we had 47 new convert baptisms/confirmations from RCIA this Easter vigil. That’s normal for this parish. I understand this is about average for all of the 56 parishes in the Diocese of Orange, CA. That’s 2,632 converts to Catholicism this year in this Diocese alone. Paul

Congratualtions! I am not suprised if one resides at Orange County, Los Angeles or San Diego where large congregations exist. Riverside and San Bernardino are smaller counties but the number of faithful are growing. We also have 7 masses on the weekend. We used to have 9 masses,but two were cancelled due to shortage of priets. At one time we had 6 priets and now are down to 2 priests. The other have all passed on to the next life.

 

[robwar]

This is a big part of what I was asking. It seems that unless you know someone before coming to Mass, you never get to know anyone.

I might advice you that the biggest way to get to know others in the parish is to volunteer for one of the many ministries that happen at mass while you attend. you can usher, be a Eucharistic minister, lector etc. Since you are going to mass anyway, this won’t take extra time before or after or being there another day. you will met more people that serve along with you as well as a number of those that organize these ministries. We had switched parishes a couple of years ago and I stepped forward to become a lector and what i found out was that i got to met and feel apart of the parish so much faster than i ever thought. Also, some parishes do offer Lenten fish fries, pancake breakfastes, coffee and donuts and if you can attend these things or even volunteer to help you will met others.
i reading these post, i think people were off subject or confused by the term “sunday school”. I think that I am understanding you correctly and hope that I have helped you take the steps to feel more at home in Catholic parishes.