I still remember the most welcoming church I ever walked into. I was greeted at the door, then 2 steps into the door, then again and again and again. At least 2 dozen people didn't recognize me, so they sought me out. Most of them didn't just say "hi", but introduced themselves, asked how they could help, or if I needed someone to sit with. The sad thing is, it wasn't a Catholic parish and I have never experienced the same kind of welcome in the hundreds of Catholic parishes I have been to. Why is that? The simple answer is, that most of us who are Catholic don't really care about outsiders visiting our parishes, but are all about insiders.
While that may sound harsh, it is true. We budget for insiders. We plan for insiders. We staff for insiders. We care for insiders. We have insider language. We have our website / bulletin / announcements for insiders. I could go on, but you get the point
Now, compare that with the mission Jesus left us, to "go and make disciples of all nations." We are
supposed to be concerned with non-members, the outsiders. In fact, our Church is one of the few organizations on the planet that has a mission that is aimed at those who are currently not associated with us. But we aren't fulfilling that mission, in most of the ways we operate. If you still don't buy into this premise, then I offer:
4 Signs Your Parish Isn't Friendly To Non-Parishioners
The culture of your parish is about maintaining the current momentum. There is little (or no) concern about evangelizing the local community. Just look at the bulletin, website, or better yet - the budget. If it is more about clubs, programs, classes, etc that "feed" the consumerist mentality of those who are already "involved", rather than equipping them to evangelize and disciple others, then it isn't about the core mission of Jesus, at least in most of the activities outside of the Sacraments.
There is no plan of growth (outside of building new buildings). Growth is measured in changed lives / conversions. In fact, Jesus said you would be able to discern a good tree from a bad tree by fruitfulness. So, is your parish fruitful? Is it growing through conversions? Are lives being changed? How do you know and measure such success?
The parish staff (or key volunteers) are strained to the max. There is too much to do and no time left to do it. Sound familiar? This is what happens when all the insiders need the staff to take care of things. When we empower the average Catholic to be stewards of Good News / the mission of Jesus, it should relieve the staff, not add more onto them.
Pew Wars! Nothing says "you are not welcome" like saved seats, every easy-to-access seat on an aisle taken (and every seat in the middle of a pew open, so you have to climb over people to get to them), reserved staff parking near the front door (and no visitor parking), and the glares of others when someone new decides to visit.
If this doesn't sound like your parish, then let us know, because I would love to learn what you are doing different. If it does sound like your parish, but you would like to do something abou it, but don't know where to start, maybe we can be of help.