PARISH BASICS AND CHURCH GROWTH

for established parishes

(This is a synopsis of a workshop presented at the Parish Ministries Conference held last summer. This was also presented at the Diocesan Assembly in Waterbury, CT in October.)

Worship

Fr. Eugene Vansuch, Bethlehem, PA

When talking about the basics of worship, it must first be consistent. Services must be held regularly with as little postponement and cancellation as possible. The first responsibility of a parishioner is to worship. There is no church growth unless the community is a worshipping community.

The pastor also must work to allow the services to grow and evolve as the parish grows and evolves. Here the example of frequent communion and combining the Matins and Liturgy of Pascha were used as an example. Where that was not the norm, a parish must be moved towards them to grow.

The facilities must be conducive to worship. If the church is too small, expansion must be considered. Air conditioning was mentioned as valuable in today's world, as people live in an air conditioned world everywhere except church.

The types of worship must be considered to allow the parish to grow. For example, Vesperal Liturgies were mentioned as conducive to growth, allowing two-worker families to still participate in worship.

Stewardship

Fr. Paul Kucynda, Wayne, NJ

For a parish to grow, stewardship must become a lifestyle for the people. There must be a personal understanding of stewardship as well as a communal understanding. My giving, whether time, talent or treasure, is important. But it is equally important that the community of the parish be stewards, giving of time, talent and treasure to outreach.

Stewardship needs to be a focus of education in the parish. For established parishes, it is absolutely crucial that proportional giving (in all areas) replace any type of "dues" mentality for growth to occur. Allocation of resources to growth oriented projects is much easier when the parish isn't limping along trying to make ends meet.

For a parish to truly reflect the Kingdom of God, everyone must live understanding that we are stewards - simply asked by God to manage and care for what is His, not ours. If we begin by looking at our life as a gift from God to be preserved and used for His glory and move to seeing the parish as something God has given to us to care for, the Church will grow. If we seek to hoard everything in our life, including the Church, there will be no growth ­ personal or communal.

Fellowship

Dr. Alice Woog, Minneapolis, MN

Fellowship ­ simply being together for the sake of being together ­ is an important aspect of the Christian faith. Organized fellowship is an important part of church growth. It must have a purpose, as no one comes to unorganized, nebulous "functions." The fellowship should meet a need of the people, for example a singles group or group for divorced Christians, etc, whatever need is identified in your parish.

Stewardship and fellowship go hand in hand. Good stewards also share good fellowship. A healthy parish community has good fellowship opportunities. The people of the parish actually like to be together. That joy attracts people. A valuable aspect of stewardship/fellowship is outreach within the parish, i.e., a visitation group for shut-ins, a car pool for those without transportation, etc.

The healthiest fellowship in a parish that is growing is a fellowship that is "natural." It doesn't take an immense amount of effort to organize and initiate the fellowship. If it becomes too forced or artificial, it is not healthy.

Education

Fr. John Dresko, New Britain, CT

Overall, education in a parish that is healthy begins with a general vision of the overall life of the parish: where it was, where it is, where you want it to be. For example, an education program would not just be church school, but a goal in worship, stewardship, and fellowship. If you have no vision about receiving the Eucharist, for example, why worry about making the liturgy more accessible to people? If you are content (lazy?) to simply collect dues from parishioners, why worry about getting people to volunteer their time and talents? If you are happy that everyone simply shows up occasionally for services and leaves with a minimum of controversy and aggravation, why encourage people to share time with each other and build a community spirit in the parish?

When you teach is important. If you try to hold a Tuesday evening Bible Study and three people show up, and you try on a Sunday morning before liturgy and 75 people show up, is there a choice in when to hold the class? A pastor can try to force the issue of scheduling and really educate three people or meet the people where they are and educate a whole community. A real problem, however, is that we are becoming more and more a "Sunday morning church," with anything not held on Sunday morning a miserable failure. The community must be moved towards breaking that type of church life.

Finally, it is important to remember that education takes many forms. Classes are not the only forum for education. There are sermons, which do not have to be a simple rehash of the day's scripture lesson. Sermons can use other readings or a deeper spiritual lesson than simple exegesis. Parish bulletins can be a source of education ­ even by what is NOT put in them. Some bulletins have a couple of pages of instruction, some have three pages of "who bought what candle why." Just by eliminating the candle list educates the people to a much higher vision of what the Church is to be. Lastly, if you don't have one, start a parish library and encourage people to use it.