AMDG
CRUCIAL FUNCTIONS OF
THE PARISH REPRESENTATIVE
SET THE MEN ON FIRE AND THE PARISH IS RENEWED AND
ULTIMATELY THE ENTIRE DIOCESE.
EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD STARTS AT THE GRASS ROOTS……FIRST IN YOUR
FAMILY AND IN YOUR PARISH.
The most
critical aspect of promoting the Steubenville Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal is at
the parish level…….having at least one representative in each parish to
mobilize the men to attend......i.e. considerable one
on one personal selling. This is so important since many men quickly browse
through the church bulletin if at all, don't notice the poster, don't look at
the brochures and pamphlets in the back of the church, and hardly listen to the
end of Mass announcements.
Since
the Parish Representative cannot talk to every man even in small parishes, he
can use all the help he can get to reach every man in the parish. Thus we recommend that the Parish Rep form
a team of men who have attended previous Conferences.
With the abundance of fallen
away and drifting Catholics, the pastor is happy that the men make it to Mass
at all. There’s a lot of evangelization to be done and the pastor can’t do it
alone. He needs your help. One vehicle for deepening the faith of the
men is mobilizing the guys to attend the Diocesan Men’s Day of Renewal. We have to overcome inertia: “I don't know if I can know;
I'll think about it; Maybe I'll go; I'll see how my schedule is; I may have to
work; we'll see; I may have something else going on” etc.
The Parish Council should make the Men’s Conference, and the Women’s
Conference, and the Youth Rally an important part of the parish pastoral plan
and program.
Also crucial is the local
Council of the Knights of Columbus.
They are most important to mobilize their men to attend and to help the
Parish Representatives in mobilizing the men of the local parishes to attend
the Conference.
Then there are the many men who come to Mass occasionally
if at all or are on the verge of falling away. Many others indeed have fallen
away and we may have to take advantage of a casual meeting at a sports event or in a store. All of the above are the men we are trying to reach.......the
indifferent Catholic who's happy where he is in his spiritual growth and has no
desire to get any closer to God. It's in this area where the Parish
Representative can be a true apostle and missionary. It's evangelization at
its best. The Men's Conference could provide that spark to set them on fire
and bring them closer to the Church. This is the New Evangelization that
St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI promulgated and Pope Francis continues
to do, especially in this Year of Mercy.
This is perhaps the first step to renew families and parishes. The men must take spiritual leadership.
Thus I sent out the following e-mail to the parish representatives with a copy
to the pastors in my Nativity of Mary Deanery. It occupies the southern extreme
of the Diocese of Steubenville which extends over one hundred miles and 13 counties.
I also included prospective representatives throughout the diocese.
 |
| Mark Nehrbas |
MARKETING THE 2019 MEN’S CONFERENCE AT THE PARISH LEVEL
The Crucial Importance and
Functions of the Parish Representative
Believe me, your
role is crucial because the key to a great turnout is promotion at the grass
roots: (1) at the parish level and (2) at the level of each Council of the
Knights of Columbus. We must reach the
men, many of whom are laid back and lax about the Church; are drifting, or have
fallen away except perhaps for Mass on Christmas and Easter. Mobilizing the men of your parish to come to the
Diocesan
Men’s Day of Renewal on March 23 at St. Stephen’s Church in Caldwell (off
of Exit 25 on I-77 near Marietta) from 9 am to 4 pm or so is a very
important part of the New Evangelization. The men are invited to bring their teen age
and older sons, grandsons, nephews, godsons, students, friends, etc. An added feature is a Holy Hour with the
Blessed Sacrament at the beginning of the day.
This event
is so important because if the Lord uses this Conference to set the men on
fire, we renew the parish and ultimately the entire diocese.
In our parish
we have used bulletin blurbs, brochures, posters, etc. and many men don’t even know
the date of the Conference. All of these
are important and help, but the most effective is the one on one personal
selling. That’s a lot of work.
At this
year’s Men’s Conference we have Mark Nehrbas, a speaker at many
conferences. He has fought a six year
battle against an aggressive form of stomach cancer. He went to Lourdes and was healed. He will give his testimony of what he went
through. This is very relevant to us
because we’re all going to suffer sooner or later. He’s going to give us tips on how to cope
with suffering when our time comes. He
will show how suffering can make us saints.
By uniting our cross with the Lord’s cross and offering it up to God as
a dynamic prayer for our intentions, suffering can be very productive. It
will be a great day of enjoyable fellowship and spiritual invigoration. We’ll go together in the parish van on
Saturday March 23 at 6:30 am. We’d love
to have you (and your son) join us. Can
we count on you? Here’s our conference
brochure.
That’s my sales pitch (10 lines) this year in
my encounters with the guys……one on one or in small groups. You can make it even shorter and better for
your men. Even if the person doesn’t
come, the message will make him think.
In parting give him our brochure as a reminder to decide and register. A sign-up sheet is attached.
If a guy
tells me a definite yes, I try to get him to register in advance. If the answer is “maybe”, I'll approach him
again in a friendly jovial way, hoping and praying that I don't make a pest out
of myself and come over as a telemarketer.
True, that's a risk, but it does take some persistence. I try to avoid phone calls unless one is a
good prospect a few days before the Conference. Of course, phone calling is a
good option with men whom you don't see.
At the same time, I'm enlisting the help of the guys who went last year
to help me to talk it up and promote it.
They are a great testimony.
At the diocesan level we like to have three
articles in the Steubenville Catholic Register.
Go to the diocesan website (www.diosteub.org)
and hover over the “ABOUT” Menu at the top of home page. Then hover on “Men’s Ministry” and click on “Men’s
Day of Renewal”. The link to our brochure
and “Additional
Information” are on the bottom left under documents. Our
Bishop will give a talk and preside at Mass.
Useful Resources.
You and the parish representatives you appoint can utilize our Conference Blog
at http://diosteubmen.blogspot.com. The 2019 series of resources begins with Blog
160) A General Overview
of the 2019 Steubenville Diocesan Men's Day of Renewal; 161) Form to Place an
Ad in the Program Booklet; 162) Diocesan Press Release #1: Cancer Survivor to
Show How Suffering Can Make You a Saint; 163) Possible Short Announcements For
the Church Bulletin; 164) Promotion Ideas; 165) Functions &
Crucial Importance of the Parish Rep; 166) Sample Sign Up Sheet; 167)
Sample Bulletin Insert & Facebook Entry; 168) Diocesan Press Release #2:
Urgently Needed: A Few Good Men to Promote the Men's Conference; 169) Backing of the
Pastor Crucial to the Men's Conference; 170) Role of the Deacon in
Promoting the Men's Conference; 171) Example of an After Mass Promotional
Talk By a Layman; 172) Examples of Possible Pastor Announcements
Supporting the Men's Conference; 173) Diocesan Press
Release #3: Men Asked to Make a Lenten Sacrifice to Attend the Men's Conference; 174)
Mobilization of the Knights of Columbus Councils to Attend & Help Promote
the Men’s Conference; 175) Invitation to Parishes in West Virginia to
Attend the Men's Conference; 176) Invitation to College Students to Attend
the Men's Conference; 177) Press Release to
Catholic Newspapers; 178) Press Release to Secular Newspapers; and 179) My Ad in the 2019
Program Booklet; Numbers
160 – 179 will be added in the next few days.
They correspond to numbers 136 - 155 of 2018 which are similar in principle to the
current year.
At the parish level, we’re hurting unless we can confide in your
help. With the critical shortage of
priests, we can’t count on the pastors because they are so busy and overworked. Many of them are responsible for two or even
three parishes. They don’t have the time
to do the grunt work of promotion. Thus
we ask you to cover some or all of the points below to the extent that you are willing
and able. If you can cover at least
the first three items well, your campaign will be a success. The rest of the items are bonus if you can. Only item #3 may be difficult and/or time
consuming. Samples of items #2, #5, #6,
and #7 will be e-mailed to you for possible use and adaptation to make it
easier.
SUGGESTED TASKS FOR THE PARISH REP FOR THE MEN’S CONFERENCE
1. *Every parish should have
received a poster and a brochure to duplicate as needed. If they are not available in the church,
please ask the secretary to run off more.
They could have been set aside and forgotten about. Please be sure that the posters are posted in
good spots, perhaps one in the church and another in the Parish Hall as well as
a few brochures at each exit of the church. You can duplicate the attached brochure or download
one from the diocesan website and then duplicate them in color or black and
white. The brochure contains a
registration form.
2. *Ask the secretary with the approval of the
pastor to put in a short announcement in the Church Bulletin each Sunday of the new
year until the Conference date as long as there is space available. You can put in a slightly different message
each Sunday that makes the men think, not the same bland just the facts every
week. I sent a number of possible blurbs
which you could adapt to your parish.
They are also available as Blog #114 at http://diosteubmen.blogspot.com.
3. *****The most important
of all and the key is to mobilize the men one on one with personal
selling of the event, collect the $25 fee, and register them
on the form inside the attached brochure or on one of the short forms attached
(each sheet has a set of three forms). Before approaching each man, ask the Holy
Spirit to help you choose good prospects and say a silent prayer for
success. After talking to a prospect, give
him a brochure as a reminder to decide and then register. If he won’t commit himself, then ask again at another
time. Men may register individually or the parish representative
may collect the registration forms with payment and send them to Roger Huck; c/o
Men’s Day of Renewal, P.O. Box 54; Beverly, OH 45715. Although one can register at the door, this
would save considerable time waiting at the door. Checks for the Registration cost of $25.00 per person are to be made payable to
the Diocese of Steubenville with “Men's Day of Renewal” written on the
memo line of the check. Early
registration helps with planning as number of lunches, etc.
Give priority to the
most likely prospects, especially when time is limited. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance as to which
men to approach during the rush to the parking lot. Enlist the help of a couple of other men; get
the local council of the Knights of Columbus to help; even better, form a team of guys
who have attended previous conferences.
That would enable you to reach almost every man in the parish,
especially those who come to Mass only occasionally. That could be the start of an evangelization
team, which every parish very much needs.
Ask the other men who have attended a
previous conference to talk it up. Word
of mouth is the best form of advertising.
You can see the men before and after Mass, devotions, at family,
community, or parish functions as the Fish Fry, by phone, perhaps at work, and
anywhere else you may run into somebody you know. If there is any unemployed man who would like
to go, but cannot afford it, ask the pastor or a parish organization for
help. He also can simply show up at the
door and say that he can’t pay. I myself
would be willing to pay for a few registrations if no other help is
available. Money should not be an
obstacle for any man to go.
4. Organize the men if
possible to travel together as part of a car or van pool. A larger parish or group of parishes might be
able to fill a bus if the Conference is well promoted. That will make for enjoyable fellowship and foment
a more cohesive parish community as the men get to know each other better and become
better friends. It would be ideal if the
pastor (free of charge) could accompany the men, thus giving him an opportunity
to know his men better. We need
confessors. If the distance is great,
that will give it a pilgrimage flavor, especially if the Rosary and Chaplet of
Divine Mercy are said and the men discuss the conference on the way back.
5. Put a sign-up sheet on a
clipboard on a table in the back of the church. Ask the pastor to include the sign-up sheet
in his announcements at the end of Mass as a reminder each Sunday. The sign-up sheet should include the name,
phone number, and e-mail address to contact for registration and confirm the
time and place of departure in the car pool van or bus.
6. Obtain permission to put
a one sheet (front and back) insert into
the Church Bulletin. This would
include selling points, benefits for the men, details about the speaker, and a
registration form. There will be an
example on the Conference Blog at http://diosteubment.blogspot.com,
which you could use as is or as a model for adapting it to the culture of your
parish.
7. Ask the pastor to say a
few words to support the Conference with a few words in the announcements
after Mass. His enthusiastic support and
help would be huge.
8. Perhaps a
leader among the men could say a few words after Mass with the pastor’s
approval. One who has been to a previous Conference could give great
testimony.
9. Enlist the help of parish
organizations and the local council of the Knights of Columbus and its grand knight to
mobilize and organize the men. Even members of the Catholic Women’s Club and
other women could encourage their men to attend……husbands, boy friends,
fathers, sons, godsons, nephews, friends of the family, etc.
10. To obtain the best
speakers in the country (they are expensive), the Steering Committee asks for donations
and/or ads for the program booklet from local businesses or council of
the Knights of Columbus. Attached is a
form with instructions for obtaining the ads.
If the proprietor or key person in the business is Catholic, it should
be a much easier sell and his business would have exposure throughout our far
flung diocese……13 counties in all.
11. Use the Social Media (Facebook, Twitter) and the old
fashioned telephone, both voice and texting to contact the men, one on one.
If we can get the men in good spiritual shape, we
renew the family. If we renew the
family, we renew the parish, soon the diocese and ultimately the Country. We let the women be the pillars of the parish
when the men should be spiritual leaders in the parish and especially in the
home. If the mother takes the spiritual
lead in the family, there’s only a 40% chance that the children will remain
faithful to the church as adults. If the
father takes the spiritual lead, that probability doubles to 80%! It's our job to put Christ into the market
place......in our professions, on the job, and in the community. That's why this Conference is so very
important and you have a crucial role. That’s
why it’s so important that the every pastor asks a leader in the parish to be a
parish representative for the Conference.
To get a good
turnout (each soul has immeasurable value), we need a solid program plus
MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING.......PROMOTION AND PERSONAL SELLING.
This is 21st Century evangelization at its best. Certainly,
St. Paul and the original apostles after Pentecost would have used every
marketing tool if they would have them.
I think that they were marketers of the Gospel. May we follow in
their footsteps in promoting this Men's Conference. If we could draw an average of ten men
from every parish in the diocese, this would be a big success.
The Conference Blog at http://diosteubment.blogspot.com is
designed to help you promote the Conference and when it is over, to improve and
maintain men’s spirituality with excellent articles. My personal blog at http://paulrsebastianphd.blogspot.com
has many more articles on men’s spirituality.
If I can be of any help, please call me at 740-245-9404 or e-mail me at
pauls@rio.edu. Thank you so much for
your help and God bless.
*********************************************************************************
St.
Joseph, model of a true man of God, pray for us and the success of the Men's
Conference.
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