BLOG POST | Hey Deacon!

Why is it so important that we register in a parish? Isn’t it good enough that we go to Mass?

Registration is the official way we join a parish community. Many people think that because they attend a particular parish they are automatically registered, but this is not the case. Membership requires signing up, formally enrolling yourself in a parish.

Registration is a commitment to a community, a way to be included in the religious, social, and ministerial activities of your parish. Your registration affects the parish in many ways. In our diocese, each parish is required to submit their annual census report, called Status Animarum. This report provides a snapshot of the number of parishioners, youth under 18 years of age, the sacraments administered, etc. It also helps the Bishop’s office plan how many priests are needed for a parish or a group of parishes. Your registration helps determine what benefits and obligations the community has to the diocese.

Parish membership is an indication that we take our faith seriously. The early Church understood the importance of a communal identity in Christ and the Faith was spread because the Apostles formed communities-churches-in various cities. The community was charged with carrying on the work of Jesus and spreading the Good News. They relied on one another for support in difficult times, both spiritual and material support. St. Luke wrote: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” (Acts of the Apostles 2:42) Therefore, from the very beginning, communal identity was foundational to being a Christian.

In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2179) quotes St. John Chrysostom: “You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.” Parish life helps nourish our faith and gives us the means to continue to grow in faith.

Pope Pius X, one of the patron saints for our diocese, said that the purpose of the parish is to gather people with their different backgrounds and talents and insert them into the universality of the Church. The parish is a microcosm of the whole Church. While nurturing the souls of the faithful members, the parish as a whole must be ready to respond to the broader needs of the diocese and the national and international Church. The faithful must also have a sense of serving the needs of all the faithful throughout the world and of building up the Kingdom of God now.

Parish registration creates a two-fold obligation: On one hand, the pastor is obligated to serve the spiritual needs of that individual. On the other hand, the individual is obligated to support the mission and needs of the parish.

By registering you can stay connected with your parish and help your parish stay connected with you. There’s something to be said about belonging, about claiming your parish as “my church, my home” and allowing your parish in return to claim you.



Author Bio:
Deacon Dan Vaughn