Your Church needs you!

As I travel across the Diocese, I am so impressed with the dedication and commitment from so many active parishioners serving our Church. On behalf of the Diocese, Bishop Scharfenberger, your pastor, and your parish leadership — thank you!

When I struggle to stay energized and start getting weary about our state of affairs, I pray for hope, change and a more vibrant Church. I shake the negativity from my shoes and muster up the energy to get back out into the vineyard of our parishes. Extensive travel across our vast Diocese can be tiring, but I am immediately energized by the hard work and sacrifices by our clergy, parish staff and the commitment of so many lay volunteers. You are on the front lines and your efforts do not go unnoticed.

Research from Dynamic Catholic Institute states that only 7 percent of parishioners at any given parish are “dynamic” or the most actively engaged parishioners. Your continued participation in the Church is vital to our transition from surviving to thriving. This is our call to action. Our time is now. We cannot delay. The longer we wait, the more we are managing decline.

Every metric shows signs of decline and our Church is smaller now than at any point in recent history. I don’t like decline, but if smaller enables us to be stronger, then that is what we need to rebuild our Church. During parish meetings, some say the pandemic is to blame for our challenges. In my opinion, the pandemic is not to blame, our decline started decades ago. We must not allow the pandemic to perpetuate institutional complacency, but instead, be the catalyst needed to make things better. If we have the courage, we can turn the corner and emerge from the pandemic as a stronger Church.

I had the honor of speaking at all of the Masses this past weekend at two parishes in the beautiful hill country of Otsego County. We discussed that the Church is not the building, but the people. We, the people, need to take more responsibility in helping our clergy balance the never-ending list of parish work. I like the saying, “many hands make for light work.” It is time that the many parts of the body, though many, become more united as the body of Christ. We may be hesitant to get involved for a multitude of reasons, but just doing a small task is better than doing nothing.

Our Church needs you. Your parish needs you. Please pray about how you can serve your parish in different ways and make a commitment to personally invite others into ministry. I believe many people are willing to help, but they are not sure how to and are just waiting to be asked.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Please contact me with any questions about boosting evangelization efforts at your parish at [email protected] or by visiting https://www.rcda.org/evangelization. Follow me on Instagram: tom_rcda