Andrew J. Macirowski, B. M. E. Pastoral Coordinator for Worship & Music
Worship & Music
A Brief Introductory Note: This article deals mainly with the impact of the pandemic on our Mass attendance, ministry involvement, and the needs for the future of our worshiping community.
Mass Attendance and Worship Practices Attendance at Mass, active participation in the liturgy, and reception of the Eucharist are essential parts of our Catholic life when we gather inside the walls of our worship spaces. The numbers from this past year are both telling and encouraging. Following our re-opening in June of 2020, Mass attendance increased gradually during the summer and early fall months, before leveling off in November and actually increasing in Advent! Our Christmas Masses, however, were not very well attended, likely due to a number of issues with a spike in COVID cases in that time, a lack of family visiting our parishioners, et cetera. This was common not only in our parish, but throughout our Diocese, state, and nation. Attendance remained slightly lower throughout the winter months, increasing again in Lent to pre-pandemic levels. Our Holy Week and Easter services were very encouraging: not the same level as in previous years, but very well attended. The anticipatory Saturday Mass and 10AM Sunday remain popular and the most well attended of our weekend Masses. Weekday Masses followed a similar pattern throughout this time. The annual conversion of the parish hall to the Lenten chapel has remained a permanent fixture, allowing us to comply with physical distancing requirements and accommodate baptisms using our free standing baptismal font while communal Holy Water was not permitted in the church. This also grants the use of this larger space for the children’s Liturgy of the Word Dismissal, which is expected to reconvene in the fall or early winter. We have also modified our method of receiving the weekly stewardship offerings from passing of baskets to stationary collection receptacles. These accommodations have been generally well received. Additionally, the number of parishioners participating in online giving has increased.
Our Ministries and Members Prior to our temporary closure in 2020, we had 162 active volunteers who gave of their time to serve in our various liturgical ministries at weekend Masses. At the time of this writing, that number has dropped significantly to 92! There are several reasons for this great decrease. Some volunteers have not returned since the reopening of our church nor since the ending of the dispensation. Others have retired from their ministries due to health, or have downsized and moved from Colts Neck. Some ministries, like the Liturgy of the Word dismissal for children had to be paused during the pandemic, but should be starting up again in the coming months, as mentioned earlier. Many of our volunteers work hard and often. And while this is certainly commendable, some individuals end up serving with much greater frequency than others; sometimes by choice, but more often by necessity. With weekly attendance just under 1,000, we should expect a volunteer base of about 20%, or 200 persons, 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 retirements, but all ministries are in need of an increase in order to serve our parish well.
“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.” St. Augustine
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