How to tell if someone is a visitor or newcomer to Mass

A tip from a Parish Staff member!

 

 

How can you tell if someone attending Mass is a newcomer or visitor?  Maybe you have many parishioners at your parish.  Enough, so that it is impossible to recognize everyone.  Especially if it is a Mass you don't normally attend.

 

Kathi Rowley of Mary, Queen of Peace recently gave us this tip.  "If they have to ask for or are looking for the bathroom, they probably haven't been there before."  She pays attention to those who pop out of Mass and are obviously hunting for something!  What a brilliant idea. So for all of you that are working on welcoming...give it a try.

(Thanks to Kathi for this tip!)

 

She also shared her parish's 3 step process to make contact with newcomers.  During the week in which they register, two senior parish volunteers with the 'gift of gab', call the newcomers and welcome them.  A month later, the pastor makes a phone call to welcome them again.  Finally, 6 months out, someone from the pastoral council calls them again.   This is working well for our Sammamish parish and we think it will work well for you.  If you try this, please let us know by emailing parishstewardship@seattlearch.org.  As always, we welcome your comments. 

Catholic Community



Stewarding Community with Parishioners

 

Earlier this week, I listened to a Paulist Evangelization Ministries webinar on Families, Evangelization, and the New Catechesis.  Aside from the important topic of evangelization, which is so crucial to spreading the message of stewardship, it made some good points about how we steward community with our parishioners.
 

• A Faith Forming System should take into account that to a great extent there is Church Life and there is Daily Life that our parishioners experience.

 

• We are dealing with parishioners - and people who reside in our parish - that are greatly diverse in how they experience religion, from Vibrant Faith and Active Engagement to Not Affiliated.

 

• Parishes have the challenge of connecting Church Life and Daily Life. (And our culture makes it much more important that we make those connections.)

 

The good news is that Online/Electronic Communications can make that much easier than in the past.  A lot of good and practical ideas were shared.  To listen to this webinar go to:

 

http://eventcenter.commpartners.com/se/Meetings/Playback.aspx?meeting.id=248115

Great Evangelization Resource for Parishes

Welcome Newcomers Back On The Path

 

During Lent it is not uncommon – and hopefully we expect – to see the faces of those who rarely, if ever, come through our doors.  We want to encourage as many people as possible to come into our churches during Lent and Easter.   I’ve found a great deal of resources and inspiration from the Paulist Evangelization Ministries.  If you haven’t checked out the Paulist’s and their evangelization resources, or haven’t checked them out in a while, I’d encourage you to do so – especially during a season when we hope to see so many unfamiliar faces.  http://www.pemdc.org/    Sign up for their weekly Evangelization Exchange email.