We are a very young parish

Something very interesting that I have been telling our committee members is the age breakout of our parish.

I know that it might be a shock around here, but we are a very young parish, in fact, 26% of the people registered here at St. Luke’s are under the age of 10! The second largest age group is by no surprise, their parents so 18% is aged 30-39 years old. We also have another 15% that is under 20, so almost 42% of the parish is under the age of 20. (I was kind of surprised that at 51, I am in the top 15% of age here.) That means that our average age of the people registered here is under the age of 28.

While these numbers might be a bit surprising, they should not be too shocking, especially if you come to the 8:30 or 10:30 Masses. They paint a pretty amazing picture of where we are at as a parish, insofar as how we are growing. This uniqueness of our parish also presents its own challenges, especially with the respect to fundraising.  I have said that in most parishes, the parents fill the school buildings, while grandparents pay for them. This is something that we are going to need to keep an eye on here and change, as we continue to grow.

Whenever I have someone introduce themselves and tell me that this is the first time that they have come to Mass here, I warn them that we have very “active” Masses here with the number of kids here and that it is a wonderful thing. I often say, I would rather have the kids making a bit of noise and have them here, than to not have them come.  We sometimes hear that children are the future of the Church, but I argue that for them to be the future, they need to first be the present with their parents, even if they make some noise.

We do and will continue to have some growing pains here because we are growing faster than we can afford to construct buildings, so we have to be creative in the way we do things. We will soon be installing a larger screen, and upgrading audio and video for the gym to accommodate the overflow for Masses. This will get rid of the delay for the video on the screen, which I know is a bit distracting, it will also allow us to get rid of the cable that runs through the narthex and along the wall in the gym. I have to admit, even though there are many challenges here, and the celebration of Mass is not the peaceful, quiet, and contemplative way that would be ideal, it is such a blessing to be here in the midst of the vibrant life and excitement that is here.

So… Parents, keep up the good work of bringing the kids to Mass every Sunday, it can only help to strengthen the faith that you have and that you can continue to give your children.

God bless,
Fr. Ken