Three Things Memo

Belong Believe Become

5th June 2023

Sunset over Reid River located between Charters Towers and Townsville                   Source: Canva

Dear Friends in Christ,

This week’s focus is parishes becoming invitational and welcoming places/people for the new and the unconnected. We have also included a short video from the Caloundra parish, Our Lady of the Rosary, on the steps they are taking to be an inviting parish that has a deep sense of belonging.  

As always, we hope you find something to inspire, provoke or reflect upon in your week.

May God bless you,

Geoff & Mark

Mission Renewal Advisors

3 Quotes

Principles for Becoming an Inviting Church

1. “The first priciple to keep in mind when creating an invitational [parish] culture is to remind people that it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7). This means we are responsibile for inviting, but we are not responsible for the response to the invitations. In church circles, it usually takes five invitations to produce one yes, and in spite of the “no, thank you,” we will never know how God will work in someone’s heart even after the invitation has been turned down. When communicating about inviting others we need to be clear [in our hearts] about this.”

2. “The second principle is that we need to name and identify the primary factor that prevents 80% of the members of the average parish from inviting others: fear. The fear is real. Fear of rejection, fear of being considered odd, fear of creating discomfort in a relationship, fear of being considered ‘one of those’ people is what most often keeps our lips sealed…we need to identify it and bring it to the Lord in prayer. We need to hear his voice saying to us continuously, ‘Do no be afraid’.”

3. “The third principle is that nothing inspires people to action like a compelling vision of what can be…If even one quarter of the visitors [to the parish] were touched in some way to begin to take another step in their spiritual lives, that would be [more] people each week. If ever this started to happen our problem would no longer be about inspiring an invitational culture, but in responding to the people who have taken a step in faith to show up, and even to return again.”  

Source: Fr James Mallon (2014). Divine Renovation. Becoming an inviting church (pp.190 — 192).

2 Ideas

Becoming an Invitational Parish

• Construct a list of ways an unconnected person could experience a sense of belonging in your parish community so they would begin to see themselves as a fellow parish member. Share this list with all parishioners, and target one or two ideas that everyone could practise to prepare for those new and returning people to the parish.  

• Rehearse with other parishioners the conversation you would have to invite a friend to ‘return’ to the parish. Ask for feedback on what can be improved and what sounds good, and is natural and authentic for the conversation.  

1 Video

A Mission-Focused Parish: Our Lady of The Rosary Parish, Caloundra.

Father Josh and members of his parish team share their experiences of growing a parish culture of mission on the Sunshine Coast.