What do people want in a parish? A friendly and welcoming atmosphere, for starters.
Accessibility for people of all needs, children’s engagement in the liturgy, small-group faith studies, thoughtful homilies and inviting music during Mass help parishioners in their discipleship with the Lord.
Throughout the U.S., many Catholic parishes make “welcome” the guidepost in their efforts to evangelize their communities. As St. Paul told the Romans: “Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God” (15:7).
We may take parish life for granted, but the generation that knew Jesus never saw a church building. What were the earliest churches actually like?
