How To Welcome the Stranger
One of the things we do least well in the Catholic experience is welcome newcomers. Too often registration is with the parish secretary. The name is placed on a card or registration form and most of the folks eventually join the inactive or the liturgically active but socially and ministerially uninvolved categories.
To remedy this situation and welcome the stranger, consider these suggestions:
· Hold registration for new parishioners after liturgies on the weekends. Or, invite people to drop by the parish or the parish center during the week.
· Assign a parish staff member to meet with new parishioners and arrange a home visit.
· Dispatch a welcoming team, made up of members of the Parish Stewardship Committee and pastoral staff to visit all new members within the first month of the registration.
· Provide each new parishioner a folder of information of materials about the parish which includes the following:
· A letter of welcome from the pastor that is inviting and introduces the stewardship message.
· Statements about the sacramental life of the parish and registrations, information for each sacramental preparation program.
· A facility floor plan and explanation of the church’s artifacts and the art objects, along with a liturgical explanation of their location.
· A listing of staff members and leaders with accomping photographs.
· A current calendar of social events with an invitation for the new parishioners to be a guest at the next event.
· Newsletters and bulletins and a copy of the diocesan calendar.
· Lists describing parish ministries and organizations and information about how to get involved in them.