Over twenty years ago, I was a member of the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Jefferson City. In 2001, Diocesan leadership decided to institute an October Count. I was very excited about this because I was teaching information technology at St. Thomas Seminary in Hannibal. I could use this as a way to teach students about the use of databases, spreadsheets, and charting to track information. So I volunteered to manage the Diocesan October Count and did so for two years before the seminary closed.

I am glad that the Diocese continued to have October Counts during the intervening years. Long range data is important for perspective. The only year the counting didn’t take place was in 2020 when the pandemic disrupted so much of our parish life. There was an October Count in 2021, but given the continued effects of the pandemic on our religious practices, something more is needed. Now parishes in the Diocese of Jefferson City are asked to record Mass attendance for all Sunday Masses, the Sunday Vigil Masses, and Holy Days of Obligation for an entire year, from August 2022 through July 2023. 

We are accustomed to an October Count each year since 2001. The first year we counted, Mary Immaculate averaged a weekend attendance of 482. St. Rose averaged 57. In 2002, the first year the Newman Center kept a record, they averaged 498. The first five years that we kept records, the combined October attendance for each weekend for Mary Immaculate and St. Rose was 527. 

 In 2021 the combined average weekly attendance in October for Mary Immaculate and St. Rose was 320. The combined average for October 2022 is 307. This year the Newman Center has an average of 100 students attend Sunday Mass. 

The trend of the past three months has been decreased attendance; however, that is mainly the result of the numbers at the 9:00 AM Mass. The other Masses demonstrate fairly stable trends. There is one bright spot:  the first Sunday in November recorded 175 attending the 9:00 AM Mass. Let’s hope that the trend reversal continues.

As they say, understanding these trends doesn’t require a degree in rocket science. We really don’t need to see the exact numbers or make a detailed statistical analysis to tell us that according to the metric of participation in the single most recognizable Catholic activity, Sunday Mass, the experience of being Catholic is quite different from what it was 20 years ago. At this point in a story that I have been following closely for some time, I am fairly certain of a basic trend.  Even prior to the pandemic, the general trend for the entire Diocese of Jefferson City was a 1% decrease in participation each year. Overall in the Diocese there has been a 20-25% decrease in participation in Sunday Mass in the past twenty years.

The situation requires a drastic and comprehensive response if we are to take our responsibility seriously to spread the Gospel by Word, Sacrament, and Charity. For the Diocese of Jefferson City, under the leadership of Bishop McKnight, embracing a culture of Stewardship is the path toward reanimating our deflated communities. I am personally convinced that the program of prayer, participation, and sacrificial giving—or time, talent, and treasure—which we have been asked to embrace is the best response we can make as individuals, families, and a community of believers. 

As I write this on November 10, there have been 35 commitments returned of the 410 total that have been prepared. Opening the returned confidential envelopes and reading the commitments has been an amazing window into God’s grace. The trend I have noticed with these responses is a generous commitment to prayer, service, and sacrificial giving. I am extremely grateful.

I have written about many aspects of Stewardship during the past year. Lately I have highlighted several of the important objectives of the Stewardship Renewal we are undertaking as a parish through the stewardship commitment packets. These packets are primarily meant to assist parishioners in making a firm commitment of discipleship in the year to come. But there is also another very important, and very practical, aspect of the renewal process and that is represented by the responses that are returned. All in all, the information that we receive from the packet will give us a better indication of whom we can count on to simply show up. It is serving as a basic census to see who we are as a parish, who are the 99 sheep of the flock. With that knowledge, then we can direct our efforts at reaching out in the next step of pastoral renewal, bringing our brothers and sisters back who have drifted away, gotten lost or overlooked in the challenges of the past years. 

I urge all parishioners to prayerfully complete their Stewardship Commitment forms and return them in the Sunday collection, mail them in, or drop them by the parish office as soon as possible. We would like to have all of them returned by the end of November.

This common commitment to our faith through stewardship will strengthen our identity as a community of faithful disciples. Then we can then continue our mission to evangelize with renewed strength, deeper resources, and above all, more workers for the harvest.