Worship and Music
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Andrew J. Macirowski, B. M. E. Pastoral Coordinator for Worship & Music “Love God, serve God; everything is in that.” St. Clare of Assisi A Brief Introductory Note: Numbers and trends that are referenced in this ar cle are mainly compiled from the la er half of calendar year 2019 and the early part of 2020, and do not reflect the temporary closure of this parish due to COVID‐19, nor the phased reopening process. There is an addi onal sec on at the end of this ar cle which references those par culars separately. Mass A endance and Worship Prac ces A endance at Mass, ac ve par cipa on in the liturgy, and recep on of the Eucharist are the tent poles of our Catholic life, inside the walls of our worship spaces. The la er half of 2019 and the early part of 2020 saw a steady number of a endees at weekend and weekday Masses. When compared to previous years, a endance is down slightly overall, a few percentage points. However, there has been a notable shi in the numbers counted at specific Masses. While the an cipatory Saturday Mass and 10 AM Sunday have always remained popular and the most well a ended, there has been a slight decrease in weekly a endance at the 12 Noon Mass on Sundays, and a slight up ck in the 8 AM. Weekday Masses remain steady at about 35‐40 persons on average, with a notable increase in Lent to around 50‐55 when worship moved into the Parish Hall chapel. Our Ministries and Members We have 162 ac ve volunteers who give of their me to serve in our various liturgical ministries at weekend Masses. This is a decrease from the previous year’s 174, as we had some members move, and some re re from the ministries, without them having been replaced.
Many of our volunteers work hard and o en. And while this is certainly commendable, some individuals end up serving with much greater frequency than others; some mes by choice, but more o en by necessity. With weekly a endance just under 1,000, we should expect a volunteer base of about 220‐ 250, yet we have considerably less than that. We are always in need of more volunteers in each and every ministry. Some have been hit harder in recent years than others in terms of re rements, but all ministries are in need of an increase in order to serve our parish well.
A secondary issue compounds the first is the preference of volunteers to only a end certain Masses. As men oned previously, the Saturday and 10 AM Sunday Masses are greatly preferred by many of our volunteers, and those who serve at those Masses do so with less frequency as the numbers are greater. However, the other Masses are o en understaffed: The 8 AM Mass is
“Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” Psalms 100:2
