My parish did meet in a house 50 years ago. It grew. We now number 3011 families — Catholic families — and over a thousand university students (latest number on students — it just bumped up over 100 more than in August) and that’s just those who take the trouble to register.
We have 6 masses a weekend, 7 if you count the church 20 miles away which the friars also serve. There are two other Catholic parishes in our city of 40k+. I don’t know their numbers but I do know the few times I’ve gone it was hard to get a seat.
Our parish is SRO on what we call the “last chance Mass” 5:15 Sunday PM and often at the 9:00 and the 11:30 Masses. Christmas and Easter are ridiculous. There are 72 large pews (it’s almost a “church-in-the-round”, sort of a church-in-the-’U’) and we’ve just commissioned another row of pews and benches around the back.
The new building is maybe 12 years old and the pews are already falling apart while we need a new floor in the meeting room of the education and office wing which is like 8 years old.
This Place is JUMPING! After Saturday AM Mass, Rosary, Morning Prayer, and confessions, there was a meeting of our “chapter” of Lay Dominicans. A choir was rehearsing, there were two weddings, and at least one other meeting going on.
So a house wouldn’t do it. We’ve got over 40 lay-lead ministries ranging from Bible studies, shut-in care, to helping our ‘companion parish’ in Haiti, which includes a church, a school and a feeding program. We hand-tie string rosaries (they don’t rattle) for Catholic troops in the CZ, we provide tutors and study materials for a local public elementary school, we go cook at the Salvation army and supply food to local food banks .... I could go on and on.
Nope, a house wouldn’t do any more.
“This Place is JUMPING”
That is just it!
The Church, the building houses our FAMILY. The Church is my home. I am there meeting, praying, adoring several hours a week. Our church is not locked during the day. It is never locked during the day.
Mass begins at 7am and the church is open. It is locked after 9pm, but the Adorers who are in Chapel, open the door for the next hourly adorer and that goes on round the clock until 7am the next morning.
And yours does sound like a jumpin' place! :)
>>Our parish is SRO on what we call the “last chance Mass” 5:15 Sunday PM<<
*snicker* Last chance?
Our last Mass on Sunday is 8:30 pm.