Will We Keep a Sunday Evening Mass?
As you know, we’ve been experimenting with keeping a Sunday Evening Mass on our weekend schedule. When I initiated it, I said that I would be looking at a number of factors to determine whether or not it stays on the schedule past Lent. My primary criteria were attendance and participation. Since adding the 5:30pm Mass, our overall average attendance seems to have increased very slightly. This is good, of course, but I’m not yet sure it isn’t just because of Lent. This is one reason I’m continuing the evening Mass during the Easter Season. I want to give it a little more time to develop.
It isn’t just about total numbers, either. If you recall, one of the reasons I combined the 8am and 10am Masses into 9am was that I didn’t want Sunday Mass to feel so empty. Spreading ourselves thin was bad for everyone. Indeed, when we switched to one Mass on Sunday morning, it was immediately obvious how much better it was to have a fuller Church and it didn't even hurt our total attendance. The fuller church made it easier to get pulled in to the sense of being together to worship God and into the momentum of participating. One of the problems with the newly added 5:30pm Mass is that we are again spread a little thin. It is better than when we had 8am and 10am, but not by much.
Related to attendance is participation. A small crowd in a big church tends to automatically participate less and pay attention less. It hasn’t been terrible, but there was a significant decline in participation at the 5:30pm Mass and sometimes even at the 9am Mass towards the end of Lent. We also struggled a little with consistent volunteers for ushering. To put it bluntly, if what I saw and heard on the 5th and 6th Sundays of Lent continues, I will cancel the 5:30pm Mass. It was depressing and frustrating, especially compared to the usually joyful and enriching experience of having everyone together for a single Mass.
Lastly, there is the collection. Money really isn’t the most important thing, but it is one thing people seem to understand. I don’t need the extra Mass to make a whole bunch of extra money. I just need it to not lose money. I looked at the total weekend collection for the first 4 weeks of Lent and then compared it to those same 4 weeks from Lent of last year. It is higher, barely. It barely covered the cost of turning on the air conditioning and lights plus the cost of providing music. And I’m still not sure we got an accurate comparison. One reason many priests dislike a Sunday evening Mass is that it tends to be full of people who do not actually belong to the parish and people who do not contribute. I am happy to “lose” money if it really benefits people, but I am not interested in losing money just to make all three Masses more tedious and less engaging.
So, here’s the point of all this. If we want to keep the 5:30pm Mass, we need to step up. I’m giving it until Pentecost Sunday to see if it’s worth it. More specifically, what I want to see is this:
1) That people at all three Masses remain engaged. When we’re spread thin, it really shows if the majority of the responses are mumbled and half-hearted. Please invite people to come to Mass! Still, even though you can’t control how many people show up, you can control whether or not you show up, both physically and mentally.
2) I need at least 2 ushers to consistently organize the collection, take it, and then make sure the collection is put away after Mass. I say at least 2 so that it isn't one person every week and people can trade off which weekend they "captain" the ushers. They would also greet people coming in, put out bulletins at the end of Mass, and prop open doors at the appropriate times. If you want to be one of the people to help make this Mass stick, please call the office to volunteer.
3) The total weekend collection needs to be at least enough to cover the extra cost of an additional Mass. If you are someone who only just started coming to St. John’s because of the evening Mass, we’re glad to have you! We also ask that you please contribute to maintaining it as best as you are able.
It isn’t just about total numbers, either. If you recall, one of the reasons I combined the 8am and 10am Masses into 9am was that I didn’t want Sunday Mass to feel so empty. Spreading ourselves thin was bad for everyone. Indeed, when we switched to one Mass on Sunday morning, it was immediately obvious how much better it was to have a fuller Church and it didn't even hurt our total attendance. The fuller church made it easier to get pulled in to the sense of being together to worship God and into the momentum of participating. One of the problems with the newly added 5:30pm Mass is that we are again spread a little thin. It is better than when we had 8am and 10am, but not by much.
Related to attendance is participation. A small crowd in a big church tends to automatically participate less and pay attention less. It hasn’t been terrible, but there was a significant decline in participation at the 5:30pm Mass and sometimes even at the 9am Mass towards the end of Lent. We also struggled a little with consistent volunteers for ushering. To put it bluntly, if what I saw and heard on the 5th and 6th Sundays of Lent continues, I will cancel the 5:30pm Mass. It was depressing and frustrating, especially compared to the usually joyful and enriching experience of having everyone together for a single Mass.
Lastly, there is the collection. Money really isn’t the most important thing, but it is one thing people seem to understand. I don’t need the extra Mass to make a whole bunch of extra money. I just need it to not lose money. I looked at the total weekend collection for the first 4 weeks of Lent and then compared it to those same 4 weeks from Lent of last year. It is higher, barely. It barely covered the cost of turning on the air conditioning and lights plus the cost of providing music. And I’m still not sure we got an accurate comparison. One reason many priests dislike a Sunday evening Mass is that it tends to be full of people who do not actually belong to the parish and people who do not contribute. I am happy to “lose” money if it really benefits people, but I am not interested in losing money just to make all three Masses more tedious and less engaging.
So, here’s the point of all this. If we want to keep the 5:30pm Mass, we need to step up. I’m giving it until Pentecost Sunday to see if it’s worth it. More specifically, what I want to see is this:
1) That people at all three Masses remain engaged. When we’re spread thin, it really shows if the majority of the responses are mumbled and half-hearted. Please invite people to come to Mass! Still, even though you can’t control how many people show up, you can control whether or not you show up, both physically and mentally.
2) I need at least 2 ushers to consistently organize the collection, take it, and then make sure the collection is put away after Mass. I say at least 2 so that it isn't one person every week and people can trade off which weekend they "captain" the ushers. They would also greet people coming in, put out bulletins at the end of Mass, and prop open doors at the appropriate times. If you want to be one of the people to help make this Mass stick, please call the office to volunteer.
3) The total weekend collection needs to be at least enough to cover the extra cost of an additional Mass. If you are someone who only just started coming to St. John’s because of the evening Mass, we’re glad to have you! We also ask that you please contribute to maintaining it as best as you are able.