This week we are in Austria for a Rebuilt Conference. We love our friends and partners here and greatly enjoy working with parishes in this beautiful country. Today we took the morning to visit one of the most popular tourist attractions here, the Schonbrunn Palace, the home of the Hapsburg monarchs and their family. It […]
Category: Making Church Matter
With Memorial Day fast approaching we face the end of our Spring season here at Nativity. It has been an exceptionally busy one for us. Take a look: Pastoral Activities We celebrated 150 First Communions, 85 High School Students receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, and 25 Adults who were received into the Church at the […]
For the vast majority of Catholics in the world, the faith is lived and learned and experienced in the local parish. The parish is the heart of the Church. But our hearts aren’t always that healthy. It’s an encouraging sign that there are a growing number of parishes and organizations who are making good progress […]
OK, so the crowds aren’t exactly Easter size. But unless it was truly a horrendous experience, you can bet there will be more than a few people coming back to visit you again. It’s important to keep in mind that while, yes, there are those Catholics who “religiously” show up only on Easter and Christmas, […]
Christmas and Easter. We all know those Catholics, right? They go by many (not so nice) names and acronyms that churchpeople like to throw around this time of year. But seeing as name-calling is a reliably ineffective strategy for increased attendance, it’s time for churches to re-evaluate our attitude towards Easter guests. Easter Starts on […]
Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Jesus said: “Roll away the stone.” John 11.40 As odd as it sounds, recent statistics consistently show that many people who don’t go to church or describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, nevertheless still profess a belief in God and […]
In scripture, every significant season of activity or growth was preceded by a sustained period of prayer and fasting. Our faith picks up that tradition for Lent. But Lent isn’t just a time to pray and reflect as individuals, but as an entire church community. Depending on the authenticity of that discernment of “giving up” […]
Churches that are focused on something other than growing disciples eventually stop growing. That’s where a lot of churches are today. But if a church is healthy, there’s no real reason why it should stop growing both wider and deeper. That’s the vision we believe God has for his Church. Here are 5 of the […]
This weekend we’re hosting our annual “Winter Small Group Launch.” We’ve found this event is a great point of entry for new members to join, new groups to form, and new leaders to step up. Making the most of a launch can go a long way towards building a culture of small groups. Here are […]
This weekend, we at the Church of the Nativity are excited to celebrate a special liturgy called the Rite of Laying of the Foundation Stone (or, cornerstone). The cornerstone laying marks (we hope) the approximate halfway point of the construction of our new church. In fact, thanks to good weather, we are a little ahead […]
