Mass Time Survey

  We have been very blessed in many ways here at Sacred Heart. I am truly fortunate to be your pastor and am glad to be part of a thriving and growing community. Since the launch of our Uniting in Heart Pastorate Vision Plan in June 2021, we have implemented many ideas for ministry and programming here in the parish. We have what have been referred to as “good problems to have.” One of these problems is the limited seating in our worship space, which was anticipated when our current space was renovated eight years ago to replace the original church. The original church, our chapel, seats around 100 people. The current worship space seats just over 200. This capacity is determined by a diocesan-standard rubric of 22 inches per person. In 2015, the renovation was seen as a stop-gap measure until the construction of our new campus. The projection at the time was that we would outgrow this space in about ten years. We are very much on-track to do just that, and perhaps are ahead of schedule. 

    Our Mass attendance has increased significantly in the last three years. At the end of 2020, our Mass attendance was about 200 people per weekend.  This is the same level as before Covid 19 restrictions. By the end of 2021, our average attendance was around 400 people. At the end of 2022, the average was over 500 people. Now, so far in 2023, the average weekend attendance is just over 600 people per weekend. This is 75 % of total weekend capacity.

    In November 2020, I was given permission by the chancery to add the Sunday 5pm Mass, thus giving us four Lord’s Day Masses. This was to accommodate social distancing and to allow the maximum number of people to attend Mass in-person. However, when the restrictions were lifted, we saw an influx of attendance. I was granted permission to keep this additional Mass as we continued to pursue a master plan for the new campus. As a reminder, priests are only permitted to offer three weekend Masses, unless necessity requires otherwise, and must have permission from the bishop. 

    We are at an impasse with our current space and Mass schedule. Each Mass averages around 120-130 people per Mass, except 10:30 AM, which routinely exceeds the limit of 200 people. In this case there are many people in the narthex, and many of those in attendance are small children, thus explaining how the limit is exceeded. 

   The parish leadership team has been discussing how to approach our growing attendance. Several weeks ago, we brought this issue to our pastorate consultant.  She, in turn, consulted with other chancery staff. The chancery would like us to conduct a survey to determine the best way forward. Next weekend, you will receive a survey inquiring about your family demographic, which Mass you attend, and which options you would consider helpful for your family and for the parish to accommodate the increasing Mass attendance. This includes the possibility of adding an additional Mass, which would require receiving the assistance of another priest as I would not be able to exceed my current schedule. 

   I would like to make note of a few things. First, our internal discussion about possibly adding another Mass began before I was asked if Fr. Arbuckle could come to Sacred Heart on a temporary basis.  This process is not influenced by his presence, especially since our need for an additional Mass will continue after he has been reassigned. However, his presence here does help us in the short term. Second, some people have asked if adding additional Masses would preempt the need to pursue building our new campus. Since the plan for a new campus has been in process for some time now, adding additional Masses is not a solution for the entirety of our needs as a parish in the long term.  

    Considering our options, this is a short-term solution that only addresses space issues concerning Mass. We need to consider more than just our worship space capacity as our ministries outside of Mass continue to grow. The master planning process will continue as planned. 

    Thank you in advance for your participation in this survey. Once we have distributed it, please complete it and return it to us as soon as possible. The leadership team and the chancery staff will then use the results from this survey to determine our next steps so that we can continue to minister to the community of northern Hamilton County. Should you have any questions, please contact myself or Emily Sipes, Director of Operations.