Thoughts on Being Welcoming

In order to be safe at Mass, we have to undertake a variety of different precautions from masks to hand sanitizer to disinfecting the pews to sitting six feet apart. For so many of you this time is just about surviving from one Sunday to the next. You might have even had a minor panic attack looking at that picture above with two people shaking hands! (I think it was taken pre-pandemic!)

Screwtape and Church

A friend and I started reading The Screwtape Letters together a few weeks ago, and I’ve been reminded about how much I really love this book. If you’ve never read, it’s a peek at the correspondence of two demons. A senior demon, Screwtape, is trying to teach his nephew, Wormwood, how to “bring humans over to Our Father’s side.” Somethings feel upside and backwards as you’re reading it – like the reference to “Our Father” … that’s Satan. God is referred to as The Enemy.

When Plans Change

The number of plans that have changed in 2020 is countless for me. Probably for you too. 2020 is the year of cancellations, pivoting, changing plans, and just having no plans. So what does that mean for your parish after creating a strategic plan?

Angel Trees on Amazon

The pandemic procedures are going to change a lot about the upcoming holiday season from visits with family to capacity for Mass to end of year offertory collections to helping those in need. A close friend of mine is the Angel Tree coordinator for our parish and we’ve been discussing creative ways to meet the needs of the children who benefit from Angel Tree gifts as well as abide by safe procedures.

RCIA Mentorship Program

Today’s post flows from yesterday’s research on trusted, belonging relationships. It’s not just for the young people in our life. With the media being so volatile, it’s important we have someone we trust to talk to about matters of faith. How are we living the truth of evangelization. I’ve said before that the first step is relationship. I’m reinforcing that here today.

Belonging

A few months ago I watched a webinar recording entitled “Going, Going, Gone” given by Dr. Bob McCarty. He was discussing the research done in conjunction with St. Mary’s Press about why young Catholics have disaffiliated. One of the phrases he uses repeatedly is, “Belonging leads to believing.”

Fratelli Tutti – Have you read it?

Have you read the Holy Father’s new Encyclical? I’ve just been able to read the summary put together by the Editorial Board here at OSV, and I’m already convicted about how I use social media and engage with people online.

A Compelling Parish Video

One of the “extras” we recommend when a parish engages with us for an offertory program, capital campaign, or vision plan is a compelling parish video. How has the parish shaped the lives of parishioners?

Relational Authority

Almost every parish I’ve ever worked with has asked some form of this question, “How do we engage young people?” Or they express a concern about how “they never see young people at Mass; they’re always off doing other things.” I think this new research from Springtide will help us all craft a ministry that really meets the needs of Gen Z! Let’s explore it together!

Building Relationships

The Fall is typically full for our offertory programs at OSV. Parishes are asking their parishioners to renew and update their commitment to supporting the parish through the Sunday Offertory. One of my co-workers who is very passionate about this solution shared this article with our team a few weeks ago. The old, tried and true, way of simply sending a packet of envelopes to each house and meeting budget isn’t working anymore. It’s more than that.