If you were unable to attend any of the Masses this weekend, please see the announcement below of the upcoming new Mass schedule.
For several years, two priests have served this parish. After July 8, only one priest will be assigned here. This makes it necessary to change the weekly schedule of Masses and confession times. The change that will affect the largest number of people involves Sundays. As you know, two weekends ago, we carried out a survey during Saturday evening and Sunday Masses to get an idea of everyone’s preferences and opinions.
The survey was developed with the help of a committee, whose members were chosen to represent regular attendees at 5pm, 7:30, 9:30, Noon, and 1:30. I would like to thank the members of the committee (Michael Case, Deacon Mark O’Loughlin, Tony Stout, Becky Hollen, Stephanie Wood, Lee Ann Breeze, Adriana Johnson, Laura Kreber, Laurie Waddle, Chris Cheatham, Tammy Bergman, Michelle Vent)
We also looked at average Mass attendance during the past couple of months. I think you will find these numbers interesting:
Saturday 5pm 108
Sunday 7:30 120
Sunday 9:30 242
Sunday 12 noon 163
Sunday 1:30 (Spanish) 206
As you can see, the largest average attendance is at 9:30, while the second largest attendance is at the Spanish Mass. While we all know that we don’t have enough priests, we also need to acknowledge that not enough people are coming to all of the Masses. In devising a new schedule, we also need to take into account the need to create enough space between Masses for religious education programs, baptisms, and social events like pancake breakfasts. Acknowledging in advance that it’s impossible to make everyone perfectly happy, these were the factors we took into account in devising a new schedule.
Here is what we came up with. On Mondays, there will be no regularly scheduled daily Mass. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, morning Mass will be at 8:15. The school day will start earlier this fall, which means that school Mass will also be at 8:15 a.m. On Tuesday evenings, we will continue to have a holy hour with confessions offered from 5:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.
On Saturdays, there will be no morning Mass. Confessions will be heard Saturday mornings between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., unless there is a funeral Mass. The Saturday evening schedule remains unchanged. Confessions 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mass at 5 p.m.
On Sundays, the first Mass will be at 8:00 a.m. It will include music, but no incense. The next Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. and will include more music and incense, similar to the 9:30 Mass now. The third Mass will be celebrated in Spanish, at 12:30 p.m. This schedule will go into effect Saturday, July 6.
