Warm Greetings and Hospitality Abound with the Welcome Ministry

The Welcome Ministry, a new ministry here at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, has found that it has become a most welcome ministry, as members greet arrivals at our four weekend Masses.

“The reason it was organized, is that we felt often our church and other Catholic churches didn’t do an effective job of welcoming people,” says Dorothea Bitler, who coordinates the ministry. “We wanted to be more intentional in the way we welcome people and make them feel one with us.”

Dorothea, along with ministry partner Rachel Vann, organized the ministry during the summer, with Welcomers, as they are called, first taking their places before the weekend Masses in November.

“Throughout the fall, we tried to figure out how to make it run,” Dorothea says. “We wanted to do it without imposing on people, and we wanted to make it a good fit for the members.”

Members are asked to sign on with the Masses they typically attend, and Dorothea and Rachel arrange the schedule accordingly.

With the membership now at 25 parishioners, there are typically two to four Welcome Ministry members at each Mass who offer a welcome greeting, distribute worship aids, and answer any questions the arrivals may have. As Mass-goers leave, the members offer a farewell and distribute bulletins and tri-fold brochures with contact numbers for the parish, as well as other ministries, and a map of the parish campus.

The Welcome Ministry members are easy to identify — they wear a blue sash with the letters “OLL,” as well as name tags, so arrivals can put a name to a face.

“The people have just responded beautifully,” Dorothea says. “We will do whatever tasks our parish wants us to do — if there is a special retreat or any kind of event for our Welcomers to be part of.”

The Welcome Ministry strives to foster the stewardship way of life in our parish and to be a ministry of community-building and evangelization. The members are finding that taking part has enabled them to grow in their own faith as they offer their time to Our Lady of Lourdes.

“We strive to be the face of welcome representing the faces of the parish,” Dorothea says. “We have all age groups.”

Members include our school administrators, coordinators of other ministries, older parishioners, and young families.

It makes a difference for our parishioners to be warmly welcomed as they arrive. They appreciate being spoken to when they enter the church and asked if they need any worship aids.

“A comment made by an individual was that it was appreciated that someone noticed they came,” Dorothea says. “It was a welcome, and not just an obligation.”

As we prepare for Lent, with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 22, the Welcome Ministry is preparing, as well by ensuring everyone comes into the church feeling a sense of belonging as they make their Lenten journeys.

“We want people to see themselves in the faces of the Welcomers,” Dorothea says.

If anyone would like to join the ministry, but did not have the opportunity during the Stewardship Renewal, please contact Dorothea Bitler at 919-621-6841.