Changing Sunday Mass Times

Sep 3

Jesus Christ: yesterday, today, and forever ~

Our current weekend Mass schedule is as follows: Saturday 4:30pm, and Sundays at 7:30, 9:30 and Noon. At some point in the near future we are going to restructure our three Sunday Masses down to two, while keeping our Saturday evening Mass at 4:30pm. Here’s why.

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 (pre-pandemic). 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. Those two things will contribute to a better Mass going experience for everyone. Going down to two Masses will also allow more people to meet each other, which contributes to community cohesion.
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 priest burnout, and anemic Masses due to poor attendance and a lack of volunteers.
For perspective: In Holy Redeemer Parish’s 2000 year history, Mass schedules will change numerous times.

So what’s the plan?

We will have in pew surveys on Sunday, September 12. After I’ve had a chance to analyze the data, I’ll decide on what the new Sunday Mass schedule will be. That data will include some things not on the surveys, such as the Sunday Mass schedule of surrounding parishes, and when parishioners can make it to Mass, not necessarily when they want to. One thing is for sure, we will have to maintain roughly 90 minutes between the end of one Mass and start of another for faith formation for children (Sunday school). So here are the two options that will be on the surveys for those of you who attend Mass on Sunday, September 12. You’ll notice that no one gets what is currently in place. Please be open minded:

8:30 & 11:00

9:00 & 11:30

All of this information was presented to the Evangelization Team and has their full support.

In Christ, I Love You,