Recently I was reading one of my favorite “church” blogs, Pastor Tony Morgan (The Unstuck Church Group) and came across this striking aphorism: “My church is for me, but it’s not about me.” I am often asked what was the single most important thing we did, decision we made, or turn we took, that had […]
Category: Evangelization
In my last post I argued the ongoing importance of our online presence, including live streaming weekend Masses. It will be more important post-COVID than it was before. At the same time, this in no way suggests that attendance, physical presence, and, of course, the reception of Holy Communion at church are unimportant. They’re critical. […]
This past week we celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. The gospel read at Mass takes us back to Holy Thursday, to the Last Supper and we hear again the words we hear every time we come to Mass: He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, saying,“This is my body.”Then […]
The season of summer can be a quieter time at many parishes. Unless you’re in a resort community, attendance inevitably drops as faith formation programs end and parishioners go on vacation (or just sleep in). While summer should be a time of rest and refreshment for pastors and parish staff, it is also an important […]
The COVID ordeal of the last year has impacted us all in many ways and raised many concerns. One of the most widely shared concerns is the negative impact it’s having on our children and young people. School closures, sports cancelations, social distancing; everything else they’ve experienced, everything else that’s been taken away from them […]
Influence is force. It is compelling force, effecting actions and behaviors, opinions and thinking of others and, eventually, the outcomes they experience. Regardless of anyone’s religious beliefs, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant influence on the history of Western Culture for almost twenty centuries. In some ways, our biggest challenge actually comes in appreciating […]
Recently a friend forwarded to me an “OSV Talk” (think Catholic “Ted Talk”) given by Dan Cellucci, with Catholic Leadership Institute. The piece, titled “What If They Don’t Come Back?”, is a candid look at the reality of the ever-shrinking population of church-going Americans and the effect the pandemic will have on this well-established trend. […]
Back in October, when it still seemed like an open question, we made the difficult decision to not host our usual Christmas Eve celebration at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. It was a decision we didn’t take lightly. Christmas Eve at the Fairgrounds has become a defining part of who we are as a parish. But […]
If there is a single, principal fear that pastors and church workers share in this season of COVID-19, it is the fear that people simply won’t come back to church. Declining attendance was already an established pattern pre-COVID, which has now simply accelerated. Church leaders know that with disaffiliated parishioners comes the loss of funding […]
For most people in our community and across the culture generally, life revolves around the school year. Most parishes have recognized this, which is why student programs and faith formation classes follow the school schedule. Consequently, while not a liturgical season, the start of the school year marks a new season of life in our […]
