Fling the church doors open

One of the most powerful seasonal greetings we can offer is to say “Welcome home for Christmas”. When we are expressing hospitality to those who no longer attend Mass regularly, the greeting has a particular resonance, and should inspire us to think of the many different ways we can make the welcome not simply a gesture, but a rich experience for the welcomed. We can involve every single person in our congregations, from the primary school child to the octogenarian, because everyone is able to say “welcome”, with a smile.

With words and gestures, it can be easy to let people know that the Church door is open to all. We should be especially assiduous in promoting this message throughout this “Year of Mercy”. The doors of people’s hearts and the actual door of the Church are synonymous and must be open at the same time. If every Catholic Church in the country was open throughout the Year of Mercy, it would have a huge effect.

For a long time I have observed “strangers” visiting the parish church outside worship times. In nearly every case, there is a specific reason for the visit, usually to light a candle for Fred who has cancer or to pray for Mary who is in hospital. I am surprised at the large number of people who make these casual visits. If they find the church closed on Monday, how can we expect to see them on Sunday morning? According to Pope Francis, a parish church with closed doors is a museum, and a poor one at that. Most of our churches are works of art that are brought to life by vibrant and lively people.

Christmas is a glorious opportunity to pull out all the stops in offering hospitality to all those who cross the threshold of the Church. This “welcome home” promotion can be done at any time during this Year of Mercy. Every Catholic in the pew, and those outside, needs to know that they deserve a second chance, since we have a God of the second chance. It is amazing how mean we have been with forgiveness; but, with the whole idea of forgiveness, we have placed a bounty on mercy.

Even as we welcome people, we need to examine carefully what they will find when they come back. Every Sunday we celebrate a treasure of immeasurable proportions but, according to Pope Francis, we sometimes leave Mass as if we have been to a funeral. We need to make sure that what we give returnees is much more than they received before they left us. Every parish needs to re-evaluate the following points. I consider these to be the 12 commandments of a warm, welcoming community.

1. Keep an open church during the week.
2. Begin the welcome in the church car park.
3. Continue the welcome at the church door.
4. Welcome everyone at the start of Mass.
5. Offer a lively and uplifting liturgy.
6. Enrich the celebration with music.
7. Have a good sound system and visual aids.
8. Preach a meaningful, inspiring homily.
9. Ensure the church is warm and well lit.
10. Use the space in the church porch wisely.
11. Give care to all during and after Mass.
12. Genuinely invite people to come again.

All children at Mass should be acknowledged right at the start of Mass even if they do not have their own Liturgy of the Word. They behave much better if their presence is acknowledged, and the following Sunday there will be more children at Mass. Children are the modern-day missionaries to each other and their families.

Children should be involved in the welcoming ministry because they do it naturally. They just love giving out hymn books. When Pope Francis compares the family to the parish he clearly points out that children must be at the heart of the parish. For decades they have been so in our Catholic schools but we need to make stronger bonds between what happens in the Catholic school and what happens at the Sunday Eucharist. Young people too need to be engaged in ministry, especially as musicians, catechists, readers and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

Having prepared the community we are now ready for the real work. We are asking Catholics to be missionaries. They will never be good missionaries unless they learn how to welcome and how to offer mercy. We need to walk in the shoes of those who have left the Church. The reasons why they have left are many and various; some have been deeply hurt, and some are very angry. If we can empathise with them, then we shall understand better the difficulties they may suffer when they attempt to return. I have heard of people who make several attempts to come back, only to drive straight out of the car park. That is one good reason that welcoming Catholics back begins in the church car park. The Knights of St Columba perform wonderful hospitality on special occasions in church car parks but every Sunday Mass is a special occasion, and may be extra special for someone.

The next step a returnee has to take is to enter the church building itself. If this is home, then it must be warm, inviting and a good place to be. Most church porches are full of clutter which serves no useful purpose whatsoever. We really need to spend money on the entrances to our churches.

Many returnees will have to negotiate a new relationship with the Church and with the Lord. This will certainly not be easy for them and it may be uncomfortable for us too because we have taken so much for granted. It would be wrong for those who have never left the Church to think that the return of the exile presents no major challenges once they have made the move to return. A newly recovered faith in the Lord leaves many floundering.

A warm welcome is vital, but we need to walk alongside people. Accompany them during Mass, because words and actions will have changed since they left. Invite them to refreshments after Mass, and make sure they are never left isolated. Listen carefully to what they have to say because they will have a lot of questions. As they leave, make sure they are invited back; walk with them to the car park to let them know that this is a loving and caring community. We are about to implement some of these ideas for Christmas this year and we will be carefully monitoring the success of the way we welcome people.

Fr Tom Grufferty is parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and St Joseph, Christchurch, Dorset.