If your church closed tomorrow…

“If your church closed tomorrow, how much time would pass before the local community noticed?” This question is often proposed to church leaders in order to generate a review of the church’s impact on that local community. It is my conclusion that people would notice very quickly if St. Willebrord Parish closed our doors.

First of all, a total of more than 100 people attend Daily Mass, and nearly 2000 every weekend. Nearly 500 students attend Faith Formation on a weekly basis.

Our outreach to the poor is daily, direct, and multi-faceted. We provide sandwiches and beverages to anyone who comes to our door, about 15-20 per day. Some of the homeless spend long periods of time warming and resting themselves in our buildings. Sometimes in the quiet of a mostly empty church you will hear the snoring of the men or women who have found some respite from their hardships. These same women and men are also very heavy users of our bathroom facilities as they “freshen up” for the day.

Our parish supports a food pantry which can be used up to once per month by families living within a designated region around the parish. In 2015 we distributed food to 444 households, including 672 adults and 642 children. The food is largely donated by parishioners. From donated funds we also serve a monthly meal at the N.E.W. Community Shelter which is now serving more than 200 meals a night. Finally, we offer our Parish Center as an overflow shelter to the nearby St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter from November through April. They needed to use it a couple of times this season. Each Christmas we provide food for needy families and gifts for children. Our parish typically helps about 50 families with 150 children.

In addition to the above, in the past 12 months we have given about $20,000 to needy families for rent assistance, electricity and water bills, food, short hotel stays, and other miscellaneous needs. This money comes from a grant we receive from The Augustine Stewardship Fund of St. Norbert Abbey. The average amount of assistance was about $260. Many of those we helped were parishioners. Some were families who simply had nowhere else to go.

If our parish closed tomorrow, how much time would pass before you noticed?

Peace, Fr. Andy