A Listening Session was held on March 2nd in the Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall. Father wishes to thank all of the parishioners that attended the listening session in person, all those that joined via the live stream and all those who have watched the stream since it was live. The respectful and thoughtful questions that were offered were appreciated. Continued patience is requested as we continue on our journey of faith together. For those unable to attend, some Frequently Asked Questions are below. The full session can be viewed on the BSP Youtube channel HERE.
Mass Time Questions
Q. Is it possible for another mass time to be added at Newman?
A. Many factors will be evaluated when looking at the need for an additional mass time at either parish. Part of the answer depends on the amount of space that we need and where people are going. The 11:15 time is currently dependent on our Sunday school program and allows those attending the Sunday morning program to attend at 11:15 at Newman if they wish. If the Sunday morning sessions do not continue, then there could be an opportunity to shift the times. Adding masses will likely not happen. BSP can hold 600 people. Roncalli can hold 400. At most we are hitting 900 on a week-end. We have enough space. Jesus had the Last Supper. Not a 5 pm last supper and an 8 pm last supper. He brought the community together. Part of this is discernment that the Catholic church (especially in the US) needs to look at. Are we getting too individualistic? What sacrifices do we make so that we can come together as a family to worship. The current times were decided upon with the parish councils taking the numbers and the needs of the entire community into consideration. We want to give this at least a full year before changing.
Q. Would there be a possibility of moving the Sunday night mass earlier during the summer when the students are not in session?
A. There is a need for it in the city, but it needs to be a city-wide endeavor so the priests could share the workload so one does not get burned out.
Q. Can the class mass be separate from the daily mass again?
A. Not with the number of priests that we have in the city. We have been asked to consolidate the number of masses, as opposed to multiplying them. We are blessed that within the city there are at least 6 options for daily mass attendance at various times. One thing that the city is lacking is evening masses for those that work and are not able to get to the other daily masses.
Q. How was the Triduum schedule determined and has it been officially settled now?
A. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday. Various factors were considered. The Easter Vigil is about welcoming in new catholics through the RCIA process. Newman has 8 (primarily college students) entering the church and BSP has 2. Another consideration is space. Good Friday at Noon is generally the most attended and has been packed at BSP in the past. Based on that, we are using the bigger church (BSP) to accommodate the noon Good Friday service. Easter Sunday morning is also well attended so that 9 am Mass will be at BSP also. Holy Thursday and the Vigil will be held at Newman. Holy Thursday will end with a procession from Newman to BSP for Adoration, ending either in the chapel or in the parish hall. Newman always had two Good Fridays services because of the smaller church size. There will be a second Good Friday service at Newman in the evening to accommodate those that cannot get off work at Noon. Because of the nature of these Masses, there cannot be multiple Holy Thursday and Easter Vigil services, but more than one Good Friday service is possible. We will evaluate after this year to see what worked and what didn’t. Father doesn’t know how it’s going to go, but we’re going to try our best and then go forward.
Music / Liturgy Questions
Q. Will we ever have permanent book hymnals again?
A. There are reasons to continue with the worship aids: cost, variety of music available, less paper being used. That being said, it is new and a challenge to get used to as the readings and the Order of Mass are not included and the font can be difficult to see. However, we have increased the font size based upon feedback. And missals are available at the entrance of the Church by the main holy water font for use by those wishing to follow along with the readings. Father is grateful for those who found ways to accommodate the many different requests possible!
Q. What about the music selection in selecting music that is familiar to both parishes?
A. Great effort has been made to combine the repertoire from both parishes into the week-end song selection. Generally there are 2 hymns familiar to BSP and 2 hymns familiar to Newman. There will be a learning curve for both parishes. Please be patient with the process and open to appreciating the variety of musical styles available in our worship.
Q. What about including the organ at BSP more?
A. There are plans in place to utilize the BSP organ more going forward.
Q. Can the Children’s liturgy come back?
A. There is no opposition to that, but there have not been volunteers willing to do it. Anyone who would like to volunteer for that can contact Kristin.
Questions regarding Attendance/Community
Q. Do we have attendance numbers pre and post switch and have the collections been affected?
A. We do have numbers pre-pandemic and where we are now. We have had parishioners leave for other parishes and we have had people join the parish. All in all, across all the week-end masses we are about the same since July, but across the board less than they were prior to the pandemic. Since the pandemic, young families have been the slowest to come back. Bringing people together in fewer masses instills a greater energy and spirit to the worship at Mass. It’s more engaging to have the buildings full. For newcomers (who came after the change in Mass times) they are seeing something that perhaps we can’t see that have been here for so long.
Q. Do we know why people have left?
A. We have anecdotal reasons. For Newman parishioners, leaving is generally related to having to leave their building. For BSP parishioners, the changes in the music, the priest differences, and using MSP are all reasons given for leaving.
Q. How can we involve more young people in serving at daily mass, Sunday etc.?
A. Focusing on Sunday…the group that was the slowest to come back after covid was families with little kids, which has created a deficit of servers. Most of those present have had children stop coming to mass and stop bringing their children. We need to fix that problem, (people not coming to mass at all), before working on getting servers. The Church needs to do three things: 1. Evangelize, 2. Worship God, 3. Serve those in need. An effective Church needs to be doing all three. In evaluating Newman and BSP we need to be looking at how we are doing all three. A lot of discussion at the session was focused on Mass times and styles of worship, but beyond that we need to be looking at how we can look outward. We all have family members that aren’t catholic and we may not be the ones that will bring them back. But maybe we’re called to evangelize someone else’s family. That is church and that is what we need to do.
Q. Not really feeling the community aspect yet between the two parishes. How can we foster that?
A. First of all, patience is needed. We’re not even a year in yet. How do we create relationships? Time, Prayer and Food. Someone suggested a wine and cheese thing after the Saturday 4:30pm Masses. We have parishioners with hospitality talents. We’d love for those people to step forward and provide that.
Q. Newman is very Student focused and some stationary members are feeling left out. Is there a way to meet the needs of both groups?
A. This is always a tension with a Newman center and a parish. The needs are very different and it is difficult. It is hard and a work in progress. Studies indicate that a pastor can effectively minister to 100 people. We have over 2500 people (not counting students) that our pastor is responsible for. The movement in the Church is to see how we can grow smaller faith communities within our parishes to minister to each other. There is a lot of loneliness etc. in the city. We need to support one another in this.
Q. Regarding the Inspired by the Spirit campaign. Can you speak to how that went, if goals were met and if any of the money has been spent yet?
A. Newman - 118% of $520K goal
BSP - 93% of $625K goal
Raised about the same amount of money total.
BSP’s focus was the sound system, lights and school buildings
Newman’s focus was - lower level bathrooms and kitchen, pipes, church lights, and solar panels.
BSP - there are solicitations for 3 bids on the sound system. Still being worked on.
Newman - solar panels are being checked into, there are some other issues with the building before solar will be a usable reality for the building.