4 minute read
Parish Hospitality Team Continues To Go Above And Beyond Reaching Out During Global Health Crisis
Last spring, the global pandemic that began changing the way Americans live — and worship — was an entirely unprecedented event. While St. John Before the Latin Gate, like all Catholic churches across the world, had to adapt to new ways of serving God’s people, one thing remained the same — the strong faith and active discipleship of our parish family. Throughout this time, our parish Hospitality Team has continued to reach out and provide spiritual nourishment to countless parishioners.
Following her retirement from the role of parish secretary a few years ago, Justyna Creager began coordinating our Hospitality Team, which includes our ushers and greeters, as well as the Newcomers group and Theology After Hours. With the COVID-19 crisis limiting most of our usual hospitality outreach, the team soon found new ways to serve.
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“It became obvious that we needed to figure out how to engage and how to reach out to the community,” Justyna says. “It was important for us to be creative with our efforts to be the Body of Christ. We needed to be respectful that people were fearful and wanted to keep their distance, but we wanted to reach out, so we came up with several ideas for doing just that.”
As the first people who greet parishioners and visitors to Mass, our ushers and greeters play an essential part in ensuring that all feel welcome here at St. John. This role has certainly changed over the last year. When the church was able to reopen following the spring shutdown, our ushers and greeters quickly got to work roping off certain pews to allow for social distancing, propping open doors for those arriving for Mass, and providing hand sanitizer at entrances and exits.
“I think this helped make people feel not only welcome but also safe,” says Justyna of these special measures. “They are helping people find a safe space to sit. The ushers and greeters have been serving in this new way, and I’m really grateful for the people that have been helping with it.”
Technology has also proven a blessing when it comes to providing the opportunity to “gather” virtually as a faith community. Theology After Hours — typically an evening of music, food, and dynamic speakers — moved to a virtual format in 2020. Justyna looks forward to continuing to find creative ways to bring this wonderful event and fellowship to our parishioners again this year.
In addition to the conscientious work of our ushers and greeters and the fun of our online events, the Hospitality Team has also been busy reaching out to parishioners on an individual basis. When Justyna realized that close to 100 parish photo directories had not yet been picked up from the parish office, she decided to put together a packet that included the latest church bulletin with updated Mass information, a holy card, and a letter from Fr. John. Then she and several Hospitality Team members delivered the packets — making a call and dropping them off at people’s doorsteps if they preferred, or in many cases, taking the opportunity to have a socially distanced chat.
“The parishioners were just so happy to see us,” Justyna says of these quick visits from outside the door. “It was really well-received, and as a result of just checking in on people, we were able to deliver some groceries, and I even got a call the next day from someone and was able to give her a ride to the doctor.
“They were so happy to see someone from the church family,” she continues. “I think that’s because, being from St. John, we connect on a different level. I can say, ‘I’m here to let you know we’re in this together and we’re here from you.’ They are comfortable and have that spiritual connection with us.”
Witnessing the overwhelmingly positive response to the personal deliveries of the parish directory, Justyna soon had an idea for another ministry — the Care Call Ministry, dedicated to “staying together while apart.” The goal is to have every registered household in the parish receive a phone call from a Hospitality Team caller to make sure that St. John is meeting their spiritual and physical needs. In addition to informing parishioners about the Thursday Mass for the vulnerable and the livestreaming Masses, the callers are also taking prayer requests to be shared in our bulletin and prayer chain.
“Right now, everybody is so stressed out and disconnected, and isolation is not helping, so when we call and say, ‘We are here for you and we’re your parish family,’ we mean it,” says Justyna. “I want everybody in the parish to feel connected.”
Now more than ever, we are all in need of a strong sense of community and belonging. How blessed we are in our parish to have a Hospitality Team devoted to making everyone feel a valued part of our faith family!
Are you interested in helping with the Hospitality Team’s new Care Call Ministry? This is an easy and rewarding way to serve our faith community from the comfort of your own home! With many registered parishioners here at St. John, we are looking for more callers to help fulfill this need. Please contact Justyna Creager at justynkao@yahoo.com or 210-792-5282.
Justyna Creager, coordinator of our Hospitality Team, has been working to find new ways to keep parishioners connected throughout the pandemic.
