ChristmasStewardshi

pWelcoming Visitors Beyond “Hello”

St. Nicholasmight not be the only one showing up once a year SOME ENLIGHTENING STATISTICS

• Google searches for the word, ‘Church’, increase 25% the week of Christmas• 22% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass once a week, every week• 65% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass on Christmas

Packed Christmas Mass

Meet with your Hospitality/Greeting Team• Don’t leave welcoming on auto-pilot• Be INTENTIONAL about your parish’s

Welcoming Experience• How will you engage a first time visitor

(or twice-a-year Catholic?)

How will you engage them!Please come join our group!

Communicate the Christmas Eve/Day

Mass Schedule• Telephone Message• Pulpit Announcement• Website• December Bulletins• Social Media• Mobile App• Any print ads (i.e. newspaper, local ads, mail flyer)Hint: Be sure the dates and times for all events are the same for all communication platforms.

Hospitality/Welcome Table• Central Information point about parish and its ministries

• Clearly mark area for visitors to leave contact info (make sure contact cards include email address)

• Include upcoming Events happening after the Holidays and an invitation to attend that event

Paving the way from Parking Lot to PewConsider prepping your existing parishioners 2 weeks prior to Christmas!

• Ask them to consider parking in the further lots to make room up close for visitors• Ask them to consider sitting up front to allow more room in back of Church• Help them communicate the Love of Christ by being as welcoming to visitors at Mass

as they would be to visitors in their own home• Help them to see that one way to evangelize is to accept people as they are,

especially those who only show up once or twice a year

If you are creating a Specific Christmas Bulletin….

Here are some Tips:• Avoid Standard bulletin chatter (reminders, dates of meetings, financial statistics, etc.)

• Create articles that emphasize welcoming and community• Focus on upcoming fun events for RE, Youth or Young Adult• Articles should be written with the understanding that people reading

bulletin may have little concept of the Catholic Faith• Emphasize any ‘Returning Catholics’ program you may have• Invite non-Catholics and Catholics alike who may have questions to come

to a simple Q & A session• If you are starting an Alpha Group at your parish include an invitation• Please see next slide for an example of an excellent Pastor’s Letter that you

might want to include in your bulletin

An excellent Christmas letter.Include a message like this in your

bulletin.The Catholic Community of Insert your parish Namewelcomes you, God’s beloved, and we wish you a very

Merry and blessed Christmas and happy New Year!

Yes, you, whether you are a faithful parishioner, a Catholic who joins us only once in a while, a visitor, or a member of a different faith tradition, you are God’s beloved. That is how God sees you, and so our parish community wishes you God’s gift of Christmas peace.

May you who are faithful parishioners rejoice in God’s many blessings and know thatyou have been a blessing for others.

May you who have come home from college or far away to rejoin your family for theholidays know you are always welcome at Insert your parish Name, your spiritual home.

May you who are visitors find here a community of welcome and a community thatrejoices in praising God.

May you who are members of the parish family, but of a different faith tradition or ofno specific faith, know that we hold you in our hearts and ask for God’s blessings on you.

May you who come with sadness in your heart or who have experienced greatsorrow, pain, or hurt in the past, sometimes from the Church itself, experience this Christmas a new beginning of healing, hope, and peace.

At Christmas, God sent His Son to bring all of us to new life.

If you would like to explore this new life with us, I invite you to visit our website at www.yourparish.org or give us a call so that we can meet with you: Your Parish Contact Info.

Courtesy of Fr. Mike McDermott

May You Have An Excellent, Meaningful

Christmas Worship Experience

Christmas PrayerO God, of Mercy

As we journey through This Advent and Christmas Season

Help us to share theGood News of the Gospel so that

Returning Catholics may be drawnTo your Church, and follow Jesus,

Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.We make our prayer through Jesus our Lord.

Amen