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 […]
Category: Evangelization
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 […]
There was no way we could have known the impact COVID-19 would have on our parishes. But in hindsight, we can see clearly the path the virus took through our normal operating procedures, dismantling with ease the methods and processes we had relied on. Looking back, we can see the steps we might have taken months or […]
In a recent homily, Pope Francis offered a caution for parishes turning to digital means of communication to do ministry. He said clearly that a church which exclusively operates online, without physical presence and celebration of the sacraments, would be at risk of becoming individualistic, insular, and detached from a living faith. This caution comes […]
Whether you are aware of it or not, if you’re online, the unchurched are watching you. The people you have labored to reach for years are finally tuning in to your messages. Amidst all your reluctance, God is moving through your willingness to go where the unchurched are.
