Building Church Project

I pray that your parish is undergoing a “Building Church Project.” Truly, every parish big or small regardless of finances should be on board. Now if you are already worrying if your parish can afford this, I guarantee you can. You see this won’t cost a dime. This is not about a building, it is not about our pledges, and it is not about making our structures bigger. It is, however, all about growing the Church by growing disciples. We are the builders and our God has asked us, indeed called us by baptism, to “Go Make Disciples.” By design God’s plan contains action words, “go” and “make.” So let’s look at just some of the ways we grow the Church, build the Church and/or go and make disciples in your own parish. It can be rather simple.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

The importance of making people feel welcome in any parish community cannot be overstated. We must constantly ask ourselves, “How welcoming are we?” Our bishops in their document, “Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization” have told us that the “the entire parish community … must foster a spirit of hospitality and welcome.” 

OurSundayvistor.com says that “a handshake, a smile, an invitation, a ‘glad you are here’ are far more important than many seem to realize.” In my parish, and perhaps yours as well, our Evangelization Team explores the many aspects of growing disciples, and hospitality and welcome are already at the top of the priority list. But leadership can only do so much. 

All of us — priest, deacon, liturgical minister, staff member, parishioner and all present at Mass — share the responsibility for welcoming each other but more importantly for welcoming the stranger whose first or only encounter with Christ on any given Sunday might be their encounter with us. So many, young and old, are in our church every Sunday searching for answers. Perhaps our handshake, smile or invitation to sit with us can reassure those we encounter each Sunday that they have come to the right place to find those answers.

Go out to all the world and tell the Good News!

What is it that excites you about going to your church each week that can excite others? Think of an exceptional concert you attended, an inspirational movie, a fantastic book. How do you share those experiences with your co-workers, your family, your friends, or even friends of friends? I imagine you say things like, “If you have a chance, you need to go!” “You just have to hear this!” “You’ve got to go!” “It was awesome!” “I loved every second of it.” 

Your words have great power to influence others, but it is not just the words you say but the emotion that accompanies your words.

If you are excited, others will be more interested in what you have to say. When you share words of praise, you peak the interest of your audience. When you say “go” because some event meant so much to you, others are more likely to “go,” because they want to have a meaningful experience as you did. 

Let’s turn back to your church for a moment. Do you share similar emotionally charged positive experiences about your Sunday experience? If you do, many of those you encounter are far more likely to come and experience what you have. Imagine who might be sharing your pew after you exclaimed, “I love it here at my parish,” or “You need to come! I’ll meet you there” (or better yet, “I’ll pick you up.”), or “Every week I feel the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist,” or “I love the message and the music,” or “The people and the community there keep me going.” Your voice is more powerful than any bulletin announcement, web page, Facebook message, Instagram post, app or media message.

Do as I say and not as I do

Yes, those words are supposed to have a line through them. I hope they bother you as much as they bother me. Certainly Jesus never would say such a thing. In fact, he simply said follow me; in other words, do as I do. How about: “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” That one I like, but I have a simpler thought: “people are watching.” Every Sunday we witness our faith by how we show it. Our prayer is a public experience. Our young, the visitor, our family members, our friends and our neighbors in the pews are watching. 

Some are watching simply because we are nearby, but some are watching us to learn how to be Catholic and some are watching to see if this Catholic thing really is for them. Some want to see if this Church thing really means something to us, because they need to know if it should mean something for them. While I don’t want you to feel like all attention is on you at all times — because it isn’t — as I said before, people are watching. 

We witness our faith in very practical terms on Sunday by if and how we join the prayers or if and how we join in song. When we arrive and when we leave and the degree of our participation in between all send a message. So many of us have simply always gone to church, but that is not so much the case for our church today. There are many among us who are looking to us and at us to help them find meaning and purpose in this Sunday experience. 

Our faith teaches us that the Eucharistic experience is the ultimate experience of our Catholic faith, so we return each and every Sunday. How could we not? Let us not forget that the little things we do each and every Sunday can make a big difference in helping those who are watching to see that we participate in something here every week that is so important to us that we just need to keep coming back. Perhaps they will do as we do. Beyond that we will leave it up to Jesus to do the rest.

So could it be as simple as being welcoming and inviting, telling people about our wonderful Sunday experience, and doing those little things each Sunday that tell others a lot about what Church means to us? It sure can be. Just don’t confuse simple with easy. It can take great work to accomplish things that are simple. Great work can produce much fruit through prayer, patience and persistence; perfection is not required. One church that I pass every so often near my house has a sign out front that says, “Perfect people not allowed.” Thank God!

Richard Putorti is Director of Music at St. Mary’s, Crescent.