Hospitality Ministry - Family Style

Already know what this is all about and just need to sign up for one or more Masses?  Click on the button and off you go.

Otherwise, read on about Hospitality Ministry - Family Style and then you can sign up for your Masses.

Can your family give the parish one weekend Mass a month to welcome parishioners and visitors as they arrive to worship with us?  If you answered yes to that question, you are on the right page.

We want to make it easy and painless for you to do just that - participate in a ministry that presents the face of our parish to all those who come to worship with us at our weekend Masses.  Who better to welcome all who come to worship our God than US!  We want families of all types (singles, engaged, married, divorced, widowed, widower with or without children) and families of all ages to participate.

Everything you need to know and do (it's really simple) is right here on this page.

To sign-up for individual masses, look for the "Sign up for Masses here" headline to the left.

Fantastic!  First, bookmark this page for future reference about this ministry.  We will keep this page updated as we evolve the ministry.  If you have questions, come here to see if we have answers on this page or for contact information for those who lead this ministry.

CLICK HERE to go to SignUpGenius where you can begin to sign-up for your once-per-month Masses between now and the end of June.  We would ask that you sign up at least for two months ahead (and more than that if possible) so we know ahead of time where we might need additional coverage. 

That's really it.  Please don't hesitate to contact Joe Buckman or Mike Nuzzo if you have any questions.  Thank you for allowing your family to participate in putting our best foot forward as we welcome our own parishioners and guests to our Cathedral and do everything we can to make them feel at home.

Below are a number of frequently asked questions that you may have about this new family approach to hospitality ministry.
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That is not a problem.  You can sign up for whatever Mass you want each month and it's fine if it's a different Mass every time. You will sign-up for individual Masses using a Sign-up Genius registration which has been set up for this purpose.  So each month, you are free to select any Mass you want.   

We want children of all ages to be actively involved with you.  This is what we mean when we say this is hospitality ministry, family-style. You know your own children and their ability to take on small tasks that will allow them to be an active part of welcoming people to the Cathedral.

For example, a ten-year-old can likely hand out bulletins or King's Connection to those arriving for Mass or leaving afterward.  A 15-year-old can greet people with a hand-shake, most especially their peers.  We believe the face of our young people being part of this ministry can really change the tone of what it means to be a welcoming parish and that people of all ages are actively serving our parish family.

This is a great way to teach our children what it means to be a servant-leader in the parish and what it means to be a welcoming parish that values everyone that comes to worship with us, parishioner and stranger, alike.

The bottom line is that we want children of all ages (even babes in arm) involved and we trust your judgment as parents to assign them small tasks based on their age/maturity.  And honestly, we just want them present, even if they are running around just being children. Let's all have fun with this as we work to make our parish as welcoming as we possibly can.

Absolutely YES!!  By family, we mean single, married, divorced, widowed, widower, with or without children and those of all ages.  Our goal is to build a hospitality team that represents all of the above because that is who we are as a parish and that is who we would like to have welcoming our own people and the visitors who come to worship with us.

Plan on showing up 20 minutes early and proceed to the entrance you signed up for when you registered.  There will be at least one experienced hospitality minister there to help you and the rest of the team get organized and to be sure all needed tasks are being handled.  Here is a summary list of the duties that the hospitality team needs to make sure are covered:

• Greet people arriving for Mass and let them know you are glad to see them.
• Pass out bulletins, King's Connection (when available) before and after Mass.
• On rainy days, escort people from drop-off zones to the door with an umbrella.
• Volunteer to take up the gifts as a family (just need one family per Mass).  
• Take up the collection(s) in one section of the Church and bring back to sacristy for bagging and drop into the safe. 
• At Masses with large crowds, help people find seats.
• After Mass, spend 5-10 minutes tidying up one section of the Church.
• Other duties as assigned by celebrant, deacon or Mass Captain.

We understand that from time to time things will come up that prevent you from attending a Mass you signed up for.  If time allows, all we ask of you is to make a good-faith attempt to find a substitute family to take your place.  You can scan the Mass sign-up list to find families that have signed up in the past who might be willing to take your place or work out a trade perhaps.

But worst case, we'll just be a family short at whatever station you normally take and it won't be the end of the world.