Make Your Flock Whole
It’s a familiar story: the family you used to see at Mass every week slowly stopped showing up when “life got busy.” Or maybe there’s an elderly parishioner you haven’t seen since the COVID-19 pandemic a few years ago. Noticeable or not, we all have holes in our pews.
A 2014 PEW study found that 13% of all U.S. adults are former Catholics—and that was ten years ago! That means for every convert to the faith, there are at least 6.5 fallen-away Catholics. COVID-19 amplified this problem. A 2022 CARA study showed a 7% decline in Sunday Mass attendance compared with pre-COVID data. This significant portion of Catholics lost connection with their local parish during the shutdowns, and just never came back.
It’s time to bring them home.
In this Year of Parish Revival, we are inviting clergy and parish leaders to pursue each lapsed member of their flock. Just like the Good Shepherd, we will call each of the lost sheep home as a part of the Invite One Back initiative. This campaign begins now in anticipation of the upcoming Year of Mission, when the wider Church will be sent out to win new souls for Christ. Returning fallen-away members to the fold will set the groundwork for this new missionary chapter.
The goal of this initiative is to guide people to intimate encounters with Jesus Christ and lead souls to salvation, allowing them to experience God’s love, mercy, and goodness. To do that, we all need to invite back everyone who has left in a way that makes sure they feel seen and desired as an individual member of your parish family. Whom are you called to invite home?
Click below to learn more about this timely initiative, and scroll down on this page for resources and information about how you can get started!
Whom to Invite
Before you begin outreach, the clergy, staff, and leadership team at your parish will need to discern the following:
Who will receive these invitations? Make a list of parishioners you haven’t seen in a while or people who used to be members of your parish, and start praying for them now. Discern how you can best reach each member of that group, and make a plan to contact each one of them in whatever way would be most meaningful.
Who will intercede for this initiative? Put together a team of prayer warriors dedicated to covering every fallen-away member of your parish in prayer. This is a great way to involve the whole parish in this meaningful campaign!
Your Tool Kit
Once you’ve discerned the right people to contact and enlisted intercessors for your campaign, it’s time to pursue the lost sheep! We’ve created a variety of resources you can use to re-engage lapsed members of your parish. Each community is a little different, so choose the methods of communication you believe will be the most personal and effective for the people you serve. If you feel inspired to “invite one back” in a different way, that works too! There is plenty of room for creativity in this campaign. Know that we are praying for you on this journey.
Letters
Choose the letter that will best resonate with your community, and copy the text of that document onto your parish letterhead. Feel free to personalize the content, and be sure to edit the custom fields so they contain the correct information!
Mail a letter to each person on the outreach list you discerned above. These invitations can also be sent via email, but in general, a physical letter will be most impactful.
Click below to download each document as a Microsoft Word file.
Inviting Back After Covid
We Miss You
Join the National Eucharistic Revival
Postcards
To help you create a beautiful postcard, we’ve prepared templates below using a system called Canva. Canva is a free design program that will allow you to begin with our template and customize it for your parish. Then, you can download the files to print yourself, bring the files to a local printer, or order prints right in Canva.
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Phone Calls
Having a conversation on the phone with each invitee will take time, but it is by far the most personal way to engage your fallen-away parishioners. This is because it creates the opportunity for two-way communication. On a call, you can find out why they haven’t been active at the parish and how they might need your prayers or other support. You can then respond appropriately to what they share, making them feel heard and desired as a member of your parish community.
Below, you’ll find call scripts to use as a starting point for this outreach as well as some “tips and tricks” for this sort of call. Don’t let these confine your conversations, but rather use them for inspiration as you encounter and connect with your parishioners!
Click below to download each document as a Microsoft Word file.
Best Practices
Training Webinars
We hosted webinars in English and Spanish to answer questions and ensure Parish Leaders have everything they need to implement this at their parishes. View the recordings below as you use these resources in your community!
