In the words of one of the priests, teach them that it's a
church, not a club. We need to reach out and bring in, one by one, the
scattered and lost
more spirituality
projects to help needy / sick / incarcerated
I'm not sure, we have regular teachings and lots of
activities already, but maybe keeping our website updated would be a good
start.
Encourage men that are married to educate at local
seminaries rather than up and leave family to study at the designated
seminaries. I believe this may encourage an increase in men who are considering
the priesthood.
We'd love to have a permanent community in this area that we
could attend more regularly.
Visitors not being run out by obnoxious behavior by a
zealous nationalist, or something like that
Try to go to more services, learn more about the faith.
Active outreach to unchurched/dissatisfied; public events to
raise visibility; efforts on the part of members to bring more people to parish
that some members would attend Divine Liturgy more
frequently.
More open and growth oriented.
Pews gotta go!! I'm always trying to be an
"non-ethnic" promoter of the parish, and welcoming to visitors. I
have been thinking about doing "St. Paul Street Evangelization" for
the parish. I wrote a book about the icons in the temple. I take a turn reading
the epistle, and try to do a good job. Amateurish reading detracts from the
liturgy. We have icons in Greek and in the ethnic language. We have a few icons
without names, and I tried to get them added in English, but got shot down. I
think even a couple icons in English would send a message to visitors. Change
the name of the sui iuris church, at how it's referred to in English. From what
I can tell, the band we have now only dates from the mid-20th century, and the
patriarch discussed changing it in the 1990s.
Something like an organized Eparchical RCIA. Training in
things like an organized evangelization. Training and encouragement in things
like the Byzantine Divine Office.
Outreach to others in need throughout the community.
Currently, they only care for Greeks.
I figure the best thing I can do at this point is pray and
try to be kind to fellow parishioners.
Closer cooperation with other Eastern Christian communities,
both Catholic and Orthodox.
More clergy
Extending an invitation to others to visit our parish and
worship with us more often.
better advertising perhaps.
Getting help from the bishop for new books, and a better
church website.
If I had the answer to this, it would be wonderful
I have given this much thought. in my childhood, my father
became a cantor and our entire family has served in several Byzantine parishes
in many, many capacities throughout my lifetime. I personally have taught ECF
for over 30 years until just a few years ago when the program was disbanded. I
am at a loss...I just wish there was more enthusiasm on the part of the clergy.
They just seem so tired. They are stretched so thin that there is no time for
spiritual fatherhood. They don't reach out anymore. My humble opinion is that
it may be time to merge parishes to give us the sense of community that we long
for, and a priest who has time to take care of us, and who takes the spiritual
leadership of his flock seriously. Many here are so apathetic, and it is difficult
for their flock to feel otherwise when they are faced with such leadership.
I'm not sure what I can do, someone suggested we start a
young adult group but then stopped attending the parish.
Change the priest. Barring that, have the priest understand
that the people have good ideas too and to listen. Have a parish council. Have
ECF and adult education and teen groups.
Better pastoral leadership - concrete action to help
disciple believers and lead the congregation to a "faith that works".
evangelisation, more parish activities, more parish sponsored
open invitation events
Printed and digital newsletter, digital bulletin on web
site, frequent web updates
If we could provide our priest with housing, he would not
have to work full-time outside of the parish.
If we could grow it. For example, being raised Roman
Catholic I kind-of (in a very fringe way) may have known Eastern Catholics
existed but I knew nothing about them.
We need more fellowship. We have limited space but when we
do have a social event we overflow into the church. We need to do more of this.
I know it's not supposed to be about the money but we need to do a major
fundraiser. It has been over ten years since our last one.
Offer more liturgical services.
Evangelization
Try to stay out of and dispel conflicts. Try to be impartial
and peaceful and lead by example of God's Love. At some point try to get my
head organized enough to come up with something for the young adults to
participate in and enjoy.
More youth activities, more effort to make visitors welcome.
Better catechesis??
More clergy.
Priest in residence
Reach out to the community to grow our parish, make others
aware that the church is here.
Invite more people my age, help the young people feel
welcome and appreciated
1. better cantors 2. regular choir rehearsals 3. Reaching
out to those that now attend Latin churches 4. Having a Bible study
A hungry administrator ready to evangelize the people.
Education of the parishioners in what is truly their
tradition.
They need more parishes for the unchurched or churched
immigrants who live far away.
doing more akathists
Act as if one's eternal destiny depended on one's faith, and
then spread that faith to others.
Evangelization to unchurched
prayer
Bigger building would encourage growth. Congregation may be
right sized for our tiny chapel.
Education classes on the bible and the liturgy and theology.
a younger priest able to offer all the feast days, etc.
Actually my friend and I organized an after church
lunch/coffee hour! Next week will be the first one so I hope it goes well. I
was craving more community with them.
Increased church and activity attendance
A priest and regular access to the Divine Mysteries. Our own
space from whence we could engage in evangelization and outreach to the
community.
The priest could use some help, additional priest.
emphasis on Byzantine tradition and follow the typikon;
release financial statements
More outreach to nonbelievers, other Rites.
I'd like to see the kids do more because I believe that will
lead to them feeling more ownership which means they will be more likely to
stay with us as adults.
being a Community instead of paying lip service to it
I'm a Latin Catholic - not in a position to say one way or
another
Find ways to better integrate the local population.
Catechism and falling in love with the Divine Liturgy.
We'd try to build steps to greater evangelization, using our
personal talents/skills advantageously.
More-dynamic preaching, stronger leadership from the pastor
(saying this doesn't cancel out the problem with clericalism), finding some way
to involve single people that's not bound up in the traditional "men's
club"/"ladies' guild" activities
Outreach to help the community grow. Education program.
More regular liturgy
Getting more people more involved, instead of just the same
core people doing things.
Getting more parishioners involved in chanting the Epistle,
helping to cantor (especially men), & having some men help to serve at the
altar. It would also be nice having a deacon in our parish.
I do not attend Divine Liturgy enough to offer any advice.
Increase membership
We invite friends. We are as active as we can be. We pray
the Lord will sustain us.
Outreach to younger families.
The demographic of the city has changed significantly since
the founding of the church, so to reach our base we need a mission that is
close to their suburbs; we also need to open the church to the neighborhood and
local colleges
The parish needs a good, regular Bible Study.
