Every significant milestone of the Catholic faith begins with a step. For children ready to receive their First Holy Communion, Faith Formation programs are available to them and their families to journey together through the process. For engaged couples, marriage preparation is their first step before saying “I do.” But for someone who has just walked through your church doors for the first time, what next step do they take?
That’s the question that our latest ebook, “A Welcoming Parish’s Easter Guide,” aims to help parishes answer. Next to Christmas, Easter is one of a parish’s most attended Masses of the year. People are more open to being a part of religious traditions and listening to the Good News. This is a wonderful opportunity for your parish team to determine the next steps you’d like newcomers to experience.
Planning With Your Parish Teams
Before you can start creating a welcome path for newcomers this Easter, you’ll need to meet with your team in advance and get their feedback and support. Whether your staff has never prepared for an Easter, or has several years of experience planning for the triduum, you’ll need ample time to plan for communications, safety, equipment, materials, volunteers, livestreaming, and more. The last thing you would want is to encounter a problem that your team won’t have enough time to solve. Easter planning may not seem like a priority in January or February if you’ve done it year after year for decades, but you can’t miss this tremendous opportunity to engage with and minister to those who don’t know Christ.
Our complete guide for creating a welcoming parish experience lists everything leaders should focus on before, during, and after Easter Sunday, including agenda items for a pre-Easter all-hands meeting with your parish leaders. Gathering your teams together before the Lenten season kicks off will help you plan for a better Easter experience with everyone in attendance and the people stepping up to serve your community during a busy season.
Guide Your Newcomers
Once you’ve gained your team’s support, work together to create opportunities to help your newcomers feel like they belong to your parish family by mapping out the directions they need to learn more about your parish, what ministries you offer, the people in your parish, and where they can go to ask questions. To help your team get started, our guide provides two welcome path templates—one for in-person, and one for livestream Mass. Don’t let another Easter go by without having a follow-up plan for newcomers.
It’s an exciting opportunity to guide a visitor from their first step on the welcome path to being engaged and actively contributing to the life of the parish. It’s a privilege to grow the Church in such a way.
As you work to develop your plans for Easter, you’ll need to have a secure church tech system in place to stay connected and engage newcomers beyond Easter. Pushpay’s leading ParishStaq suite helps parishes and (arch)dioceses manage, donate, engage, and ensure the success of their mission—all under one roof. Over 15,000 churches, parishes, and (arch)dioceses trust Pushpay to meet their everyday digital needs. If you’d like to see what ParishStaq offers, schedule a chat with one of our experts today.
