WHAT DOES A FAMILY FRIENDLY PARISH LOOK LIKE?

IT KNOWS WHO ITS FAMILIES ARE
It doesn’t guess or assume. This means it has up-to-date information information and useful summaries of parish census data available to planners and parish groups.

IT FINDS OUT WHAT ITS FAMILIES NEED
It has been said that a parish’s great virtue is the caring and generosity of its people. It has also been said a parish’s great vice is proposing answers without bothering to ask the right questions. Is this the program needed? Is this program helpful to families? A family-friendly parish is one that asks its families what their concerns re before proposing programs or policies.

IT EVALUATES PARISH PROGRAMS AND POLICIES BASED ON THEIR IMPACT ON FAMILIES
It asks a true cross-section of parish families what difference, if any, a program or policy makes on their life and faith. And it makes changes based on these evaluations.

IT BUILDS FAMILY STRENGTHS 
This means many things. It allows families to minister to its own members. It encourages families to minister to other families. It reminds parishioners that strong families don’t have to be perfect families. It celebrates family successes as parish successes.

IT ALLOWS FAMILIES TO FAMILIES
What a parish is busy, drawing family members to meetings or activities too many nights each week, it can actually undermine family life by not allowing them time together, family time. Call off all parish meetings at least one night a week can be a real gift for families.

IT MAKES SURE THAT NO PLAN AFFECTING FAMILIES IS MADE WITHOUT INVOLVING PARISH FAMILIES IN THE PLANNING
Many families know more about family life and needs than parish staffs do.

IT DOES NOTHING ON THE PARISH GROUNDS THAT CAN BE DONE AS WELL IN ITS NEIGHBORHOODS
It does not assume that all ministry takes place on the parish grounds. Small groups meeting in parishioners’ living rooms are often able to provide a measure of hospitality, comfort, and personal care larger gatherings at the parish cannot offer.

IT CREATES PROGRAMS THAT RESPECT FAMILIES’ DIVERSITY
Not all families preparing for Baptism (or Eucharist, Marriage, etc.) are at the same stage in their development or have the same needs. One-program-fits-all approaches miss the basic spiritual reality; we grow in faith in different ways, at different paces, facing different needs. Programs that respect this reality support family life.

A FAMILY-FRIENDLY PARISH KNOWS HOW TO BE A GOOD HOST
On average, a third of parish families have a single parent as head of the household. The norm in two-parent families is that both parents work outside the home. Some parishioners do not drive. Flexible schedules, baby-sitting services, providing rides…steps like these communicate inclusiveness and welcome to all its people.

IT ASKS THE QUESTION, “WHO NEVER COMES?”
…to liturgy, to religion class, to parish activities and programs and seeks ways to find out why.

IT PRAYS WITH AND FOR ITS FAMILIES
Not just for families in general, but for its young singles, its senior members, its divorced, bereaved, its remarried, its troubled families, etc.

IT LETS PARISH FAMILIES KNOW WHAT SERVICES IT OFFERS
It advertises these services regularly. It knows what services others offer to support families. Community services for families in crisis or which chronic needs are often not known to those families most in need of them.