Blog from Pastoral Parish

What should we do? This is the question dominating so many of the conversations in the Church these days. What should we do about the nones? What should we do about the studies showing how many Catholics don’t believe in some of the Church’s most fundamental...

Too often, Catholicism is characterized solely by its dogmatic teachings. We use those teachings to formulate a checklist by which we judge whether or not people or various projects and institutions are truly “Catholic.” To be sure, as she was founded by Christ...

In the article, O’Malley explains that we as humans have focused so much on seeking to control our world and our lives, we have lost what Rosa terms “resonant relationships.”

For the last 20 years or so, the Church has been heavily focused on the New Evangelization. There have been new ministries, new religious orders, new media, new programs, and new art all created for the purpose of bringing the Gospel and our Faith to the world as it...

Most priests, I imagine, would tell you that they are not reactive, that they are thoughtful in their day, that they pursue the most meaningful things, that they are developing themselves and the responsibilities to which they are assigned. That they have a more or...

Life for new associate pastors can be crazy. Not only are they adjusting to a new public life as a priest, they are meeting hundreds if not thousands of new people, trying to figure out the workflow of the parish, learning how to follow the guidance of their pastor,...

How often have you gotten to the end of the day and been totally exhausted and unfulfilled? You’re tired, but not because you spent time counseling a couple preparing for marriage, or because you spent an hour in the confessional after several pastoral visits, or...

When it comes to parish life and evangelization, we need to talk about the elephant in the room: there isn’t enough time. Between celebrating the Mass, pastoral visits, marriage prep meetings, visiting the parish school, giving a talk at a Theology on Tap, and somehow...

Whether through Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, few things are as familiar to effective parish staff as spreadsheets. We use them for everything. We track baptisms and couples preparing marriage. We track first communicants and confirmands. We likely even use them...

One of the hardest things to do when it comes to Sacramental Preparation is to get people involved in the process. Oftentimes, a couple preparing for marriage or preparing for the baptism of their child will come to their required meetings, but beyond that have no...