This document provides tips and best practices for parishes to welcome visitors and engage returning Catholics during the Christmas season. It notes that church attendance increases significantly around Christmas and provides statistics on Catholic Mass attendance. It encourages intentional hospitality, clear communication of Mass schedules, and preparing parishioners to welcome visitors. It also includes tips for bulletins focused on welcoming newcomers and invitations to parish events. The goal is to make visitors and returning Catholics feel welcomed in the community and engage them in ongoing parish life.

1. Christmas
Stewardship
Welcoming Visitors Beyond “Hello”

2. St. Nicholas
might not be the only one showing up once a year
SOME ENLIGHTENING STATISTICS
• Google searches for the word, ‘Church’, increase 25% the week of Christmas
• 22% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass once a week, every week
• 65% of U.S. Catholics attend Mass on Christmas
Packed Christmas Mass

3. Meet with your Hospitality/Greeting Team
• Don’t leave welcoming on auto-pilot
• Be INTENTIONAL about your parish’s
Welcoming Experience
• How will you engage a first time visitor
(or twice-a-year Catholic?)
How will you engage them!
Please come join our group!

4. Communicate the Christmas Eve/Day
Mass Schedule
• Telephone Message
• Pulpit Announcement
• Website
• December Bulletins
• Social Media
• Mobile App
• Any print ads (i.e. newspaper, local ads, mail flyer)
Hint: Be sure the dates and times for all events are the
same for all communication platforms. 

5. Hospitality/Welcome Table
• Central Information point about parish and its ministries
• Clearly mark area for visitors to leave contact info (make
sure contact cards include email address)
• Include upcoming Events happening after the Holidays and
an invitation to attend that event

6. Paving the way from Parking Lot to Pew
Consider prepping your existing parishioners 2 weeks prior to Christmas!
• Ask them to consider parking in the further lots to make room up close for visitors
• Ask them to consider sitting up front to allow more room in back of Church
• Help them communicate the Love of Christ by being as welcoming to visitors at Mass
as they would be to visitors in their own home
• Help them to see that one way to evangelize is to accept people as they are, especially
those who only show up once or twice a year

7. If you are creating a Specific Christmas Bulletin….
Here are some Tips:
• Avoid Standard bulletin chatter (reminders, dates of meetings, financial
statistics, etc.)
• Create articles that emphasize welcoming and community
• Focus on upcoming fun events for RE, Youth or Young Adult
• Articles should be written with the understanding that people reading
bulletin may have little concept of the Catholic Faith
• Emphasize any ‘Returning Catholics’ program you may have
• Invite non-Catholics and Catholics alike who may have questions to come to
a simple Q & A session
• If you are starting an Alpha Group at your parish include an invitation
• Please see next slide for an example of an excellent Pastor’s Letter that you
might want to include in your bulletin

8. An excellent Christmas letter.
Include a message like this in your bulletin.
The Catholic Community of Insert your parish Name
welcomes you, God’s beloved, and we wish you a very
Merry and blessed Christmas and happy New Year!
Yes, you, whether you are a faithful parishioner, a Catholic who joins us only once in a while, a visitor, or a
member of a different faith tradition, you are God’s beloved. That is how God sees you, and so our parish
community wishes you God’s gift of Christmas peace.
May you who are faithful parishioners rejoice in God’s many blessings and know that
you have been a blessing for others.
May you who have come home from college or far away to rejoin your family for the
holidays know you are always welcome at Insert your parish Name, your spiritual home.
May you who are visitors find here a community of welcome and a community that
rejoices in praising God.
May you who are members of the parish family, but of a different faith tradition or of
no specific faith, know that we hold you in our hearts and ask for God’s blessings on you.
May you who come with sadness in your heart or who have experienced great
sorrow, pain, or hurt in the past, sometimes from the Church itself, experience this
Christmas a new beginning of healing, hope, and peace.
At Christmas, God sent His Son to bring all of us to new life.
If you would like to explore this new life with us, I invite you to visit our website at www.yourparish.org or give
us a call so that we can meet with you: Your Parish Contact Info.
Courtesy of Fr. Mike McDermott

9. May You Have An
Excellent, Meaningful
Christmas Worship Experience

10. Christmas Prayer
O God, of Mercy
As we journey through
This Advent and Christmas Season
Help us to share the
Good News of the Gospel so that
Returning Catholics may be drawn
To your Church, and follow Jesus,
Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
We make our prayer through Jesus our Lord.
Amen