Some Great News! (Mass Time Change)

Sep 17

Jesus Christ: yesterday, today, and forever ~

I want to thank all of you who participated in the survey last Sunday about changing the Sunday Mass schedule. A majority of you chose the 8:30 & 11:00 option. The 8:30 & 11:00 Mass times fit our programing a little better than the other, so I was relieved to see that outcome in the voting.

I want to also thank all of you for being so understanding. Changing routine is annoying. Change that replaces something that one prefers with something that one doesn’t prefer can be painful, yet I have not heard one complaint (so far) which speaks volumes about your selflessness. Thank you for your understanding and patience as we move toward a new Sunday Mass schedule.

Starting on Sunday, October 3rd, we will be moving the Sunday Masses to 8:30 & 11am. For myself, as your shepherd, I feel fantastic about this change. I feel as if I am regaining full stewardship of the parish without burning myself out. This will be healthy for all of us for the reasons I reiterate below.

Practically speaking, in addition to the Masses starting at 8:30 & 11am (beginning on October 3rd); Confessions will now run from 7:45 – 8:15am, and from 10:00 – 10:45am; Sunday morning faith formation (or religious education) will run between the Masses from 9:45 – 10:45am. This is what the weekend Mass, Confession, and Faith Formation schedule will look like beginning with the first weekend in October:

Saturday

2:30-4:15pm Confessions

4:30-5:30pm Mass

Sunday

7:45-8:15am Confessions

8:30-9:30am Mass

10:00-10:45am Confessions

11:00-12:00pm Mass

Here is a reminder as to why we are moving from three Masses on Sunday to two.

Need: In terms of seating capacity, we don’t need four weekend Masses. Our church comfortably seats 700 people – 800 elbow to elbow – and 900 thigh to thigh. We have 900 people in the pews twice a year; for the first Christmas Eve Mass, and the 9:30 on Easter Sunday. Pre-pandemic we were averaging 400 people per Mass, or 1,600 per weekend. Meaning, that even before Covid we had 1,200 empty seats per weekend, or 57% of our full capacity. Currently we are averaging 1,128 people per weekend with 1,672 empty seats, or 40% full. While it remains to be seen how many Mass-goers will return when the pandemic is completely finished, we don’t expect that number to return to what it was before the pandemic; some people have gotten used to not going to Mass. By the numbers, we’re offering more Masses than we need.
Liturgical volunteers: Ideally each Sunday Mass would have at least 26 liturgical ministers; one sacristan, four altar servers, eight ushers/greeters, one lector, four plus Eucharistic ministers, five plus choir members, and at least three people to host coffee hours after Mass. It was a challenge to get everyone we needed for a Mass before the pandemic, now we never have a full 26 person ensemble. It is very frustrating trying to launch a Mass with key people missing. Letting go of one Mass will help us to consolidate volunteers onto the remaining two Sunday Masses, making the Mass-going experience better for everyone.
Healthier community: Consolidating the Sunday Masses will increase the number of people attending the two Masses (an encouragement to the faith), and help recruit volunteers. Going down to two Masses will also allow more of you to meet each other, which contributes to community cohesion and health.
Messaging: By going from four weekend Masses to three, I will be able to preside at all three weekend Masses. This will help with messaging both through the homilies and through the Mass announcements, keeping our parish informed and shepherded.
Healthier priests: When we move to three Masses from four, I will preside at all of them every weekend I’m in town. Fr. Martin will still say Masses when I’m away during the week which is more often than you may realize. He won’t be saying a weekend Mass unless I’m out of town (up to five times a year). This will give Fr. Martin a much needed break during his retirement.
Sunday is supposed to be a Sabbath for priests too: Until the last few centuries, priests didn’t say two Sunday Masses, let alone three. Like the laity, they too were expected to have Sundays free of unnecessary labor. Yet because of the priest shortage, that rule has changed to allow a priest to say up to two Masses on a Sunday, with three being exceptional. Sadly, three has become a norm. With two Masses on Sundays I can feel a little more sane on Sundays.
The 40% rule: For all the reasons stated above, Archbishop Etienne would like parishes to prune away a Mass where weekend attendance isn’t exceeding 40%. He’s right to care about anemic Masses due to poor attendance and a lack of volunteers, as well as priest burnout.
For perspective: The Mass schedule at Holy Redeemer has already changed a few times since our first Mass in 2008. In our 2000 year history, Mass schedules will change numerous more times. This is normal and everything is okay.

All of this information has been presented to our Evangelization Team and Archbishop Etienne and has their full support.

In Christ, I Love You,