“Think like an outsider.”

Posted by on September 24, 2012 | 3 comments

Last week I had the privilege of joining the priests of our diocese during part of their annual Priests Convocation. The speaker for the day was Fr. Frank DeSiano, CSP, who spoke on how parishes can reach “inactive” Catholics.

One of the highlights of the presentation was a segment on “thinking like an outsider.” Fr. DeSiano invited the priests to think about coming to their parish as a stranger and to consider what that experience is like:

  • How easy is it for a newcomer to park in your lot? To find their way around your campus?
  • How friendly is your congregation? Your ushers?
  • How well does the congregation participate in liturgy?
  • What impression will people get within five minutes of walking into your parish?
  • What is the registration process like?  Does it involve more than just sending out collection envelopes?
  • Can people with physical handicaps get around your church?
  • Do you welcome different cultures?

As someone who was once a member of four parishes in four cities in a three-year period, I can attest to the fact that how well the parish is suited to “outsiders” can make a huge difference. And it’s not always the large parish that does the best job — my family had the best parish experience when we moved to rural Iowa and joined a wonderfully warm, welcoming parish community.

 How “user-friendly” is your parish? Would an “outsider” feel welcome there?

  • Tonia Marshall

    I joined a small parish and went to the Friday noon Mass every week for a year without any of the 30 or so regulars showing any sign of having seen me there before. Once a month the Mass was followed by a seniors lunch. I wasn’t a senior, how welcoming is that?! The same can also happen at Youth Masses if you don’t happen to be young. I think a parish needs to be a community before it is a series of groups.

  • William O’Leary

    These are great questions to consider. We definitely need to “think like an outsider” in many aspects if we are going to successfully reach inactive Catholics.

  • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

    Agreed, Tonia! While we certainly need to support various types of ministries, when we fail to build up the body of Christ as a whole I think we are failing our mission.