On March 11, 2011, Apple released the iPad 2. Official numbers are not out yet, but most news sites are reporting that Apple sold 500,000 units over the initial weekend. That’s amazing considering they only sold 300,000 of the original iPad on it’s launch weekend a year ago.

I like gadgets, and I’ll probably get an iPad when the hysteria (and the price) drops down a little. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why someone would wait hours in line to be among the first to have what is essentially an expensive toy for adults. For whatever reason, though, Apple has clearly figured out how to appeal to a massively broad spectrum of humanity.

Doesn’t that make you curious? What is it Apple knows that we don’t? Isn’t our “product” (eternal salvation, peace that passes understanding, lions laying down with lambs) inherently better? How can we get people as exited about faith as they do about iGizmos?

I don’t have all the answers, but Anthony Gittins might have some of them. In “Six Missionary Insights for Adult Formation,” he applies his experience of being a missionary in foreign lands to faith formation. If we take some of his lessons to heart, perhaps we can connect more deeply with what people truly want.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard all about the coming changes in the Roman Missal. Some parishes are exerting a great deal of effort to help their parishioners prepare for the changes. That’s great news. However, I don’t think the impact on the parishioners is going to be as great as it will be on the presiders. Parishioners will have to get used to new texts for the Gloria and the Creed. And we will no longer be able to sing the “Christ had died…” memorial acclamation. But the bulk of the changes will be found in the presidential prayers.

For a terrific overview of some of the changes presiders can expect, read Francis L. Agnoli’s article, “What’s new about the new Eucharistic Prayers” on the Today’s Parish website. And please leave a comment to let us know what you are doing in your parish to get ready for the new translation.

David DeLambo, PhD, author of the “Lay Leader’s Guide” in Today’s Parish, sent in these interesting statistics about the average size of U.S. parishes. According to a recent CARA report, the average size of parishes grew by 36 percent in the last 10 years.

In 2000, just one-quarter of the nation’s parishes had more than 1,200 registered households. By 2010 that had grown to one-third. At the lower end, parishes with fewer than 200 registered households dropped from one-fourth of the nation’s total in 2000 to barely more than one in seven a decade later (24 percent to 15 percent).

The overall average size of parishes grew 36 percent, from 855 households in 2000 to 1,167 in 2010.

CARA, a research agency based at Georgetown University in Washington, also reported these findings:

• One third of all parishes now regularly celebrate Masses in a least one language other than English, up 50 percent from 10 years ago. Two thirds of those who offer services in another language said they have Spanish-language Masses.
• The make-up of parishes is becoming younger: “The percentage of parishioners under the age of 40 increased from 41 percent in 2005 to 45 percent in 2010,” the report said.
• The median annual parish offering per household in 2010 was $468, but those in smaller parishes gave much more on average than those in the largest parishes.

I was leading a workshop on adult faith formation recently, and one of the participants asked how we can form the faith of Catholics who hardly ever come to church. That was an almost insurmountable problem when I started out in ministry. Today, however, we have so many ways to reach out to people and build community—even if we seldom physically see them. In “Seven secrets to adult faith formation,” Kathy Gallo provides some excellent suggestions for connecting with people of all commitment levels in the parish. My favorite is this:

Don’t be afraid of the media. Quality video, reading material, and especially the Internet can provide vehicles for people to learn, to critically reflect, and to interact with others. Use these resources well.

I thought of this tip when I was watching all the unrest and violence in the world in CNN the other night. What kind of impact could a three-minute video clip from the pastor or bishop have? What could he (or even you!) say in three minutes that would give comfort regarding a current world crisis? Post that clip on your parish website and Facebook page and e-mail a link to everyone on your parish list.

To read the rest of Kathy Gallo’s suggestions, click here.

In my experience, actually sharing faith out loud with someone is difficult for a lot of Catholics—even if they are ministerial leaders. We love to quote the saying that we should all proclaim the gospel. And if necessary, use words. More often than not, we decide the words are not necessary.

We have to become better at vocalizing our faith if we are going to be a force for evangelization in the world. We don’t need to take on the persona of a street-corner preacher. Quiet, gentle words, spoken to the right person and the right moment, can be powerful and life changing. But we have to start practicing saying something out loud that proclaims our faith.

James Czegledi asks, “If we do not share our faith with others, how will they come to faith themselves?” He also offers several tips for those of us who might be a little shy about sharing our faith:

• Show the personal presence of God in what you do
• Tell your faith story using ordinary language
• Don’t criticize or judge. None of us have lived a perfect life
• Be supportive and encouraging
• Try not to quote others
• Share your story
• Include your struggles of doubt and pain as well as joy
• Show and tell how you have integrated your faith in your life

To read more about what James Czegledi has to say about faith sharing, click here.

Are you familiar with “mind mapping”? Mind mapping is a pictorial form of brainstorming. Traditional forms of brainstorming involve making lists that tend to look like outlines or a series of unrelated check boxes. Mind mapping revolves around a central idea with branches that extend out organically.

Mind mapping can be a valuable tool for parish ministry. And with the explosion of web-based applications, there are lots of ways to do mind mapping online. In an article in Today’s Parish about using mind maps in ministry, Michael St. Pierre wrote:

With online collaboration, groups can work together as they prepare for upcoming events or even liturgical seasons. I’ve even used online mind mapping with students as they prepared a “visual book report” of selected readings. In short, mind mapping has never been easier, and you don’t have to worry about losing newsprint, bleeding markers, or wall-space to display your thoughts.

To read more about mind maps and how you might use them in your ministry, click here.

During this time of year, we will see a lot of visitors to our parishes. Unfortunately, in some places, the visitors go unnoticed. I sometimes compare this to the experience of a car dealership. Automobile companies spend millions of dollars to generate the kind of walk-on traffic into their showrooms that Catholic parishes get for free. Imagine the uproar from the corporate office if they found out that a dealership was ignoring people who walked into the showroom on the weekend.

Every stranger who walks into our churches is a potential catechumen, candidate, parishioner, parish council member, or even pastor. What are we doing to welcome them?

Msgr. Vincent Rush has some excellent ideas. He and his parishioners work hard at being a welcoming, inviting community. One suggestion in particular caught my eye:

Take a walk through your parish system, physically and imaginatively: What do people have to do to register? How much of that is for the convenience of the office staff instead of for the benefit of the new member? How useful is the bulletin (really)? What information or help do people most frequently look for, and how easy is it for them to find it?

You can read the rest of his suggestions here.

And if you already have systems in place to welcome newcomers, please share your tips in the comments section.

In the November/December issue of Today’s Parish, William Ditewig identifies the three-fold ministry of the deacon: word, sacrament, and charity. Ditewig emphasizes that a deacon is ordained for all of these ministries and that they cannot be separated. If someone is not prepared to take on each of these roles, he is not a qualified candidate for the deaconate.

Different candidates will have different gifts, of course. Ditewig writes,  “We need to be open to the particular gifts and skills of the deacon involved. And we need to discern how all three aspects of the deacon’s ministry relate to each other in matching these needs and gifts—and what all of this says about who we are as disciples of Christ in this place and time.”

See the entire article here.

Some years ago, I was filling in as a coordinator of faith formation for a small parish that was going through some personnel changes. I figured the best way to get to know the parish catechists was to spend some time praying and sharing faith together. Well, they did fine with the praying. But when it came to sharing faith, it was like a trip to the dentist. They didn’t want to open their mouths. And when they did, it was just painful.

If the catechists among us are reluctant to share faith, how much more difficult is it to get regular Catholics to do so? This reticence on the part of the faithful to say why they are faithful is a huge stumbling block for the mission Jesus left us—to share the good news.

A while back, I asked Susan Wolf, SND, to write about why Catholics don’t more readily share their faith. She cited three central reasons:

• We did not grow up talking about faith and, hence, are uncomfortable doing it, or we never even think of it.
• We did not grow up talking about faith and, hence, are uncomfortable doing it, or we never even think of it.
• We lack confidence. We don’t appreciate that faith is a gift to be shared.

Take a look at what else she has to say in her terrific article: “Why Catholics don’t share their faith…and what to do about it.”

In Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, Jim Collins lists six characteristics that distinguish good organizations from great ones. Number six is that great organizations think differently about technology. If we want to move our parishes from being merely good and put them on the path to becoming great, we need to think differently about the way we use technology also.

Collins makes the point that great organizations do not hop on the latest technology bandwagon for the sake of being trendy. Often, in fact, they are late adopters of new technology. Sometimes they don’t adopt a new technology at all. What they do is, they think about what an emerging technology can do to help them further their mission. Then they make a systematic decision about incorporating that technology into their existing structure. Collins says that great organizations do not use tech for the sake of tech. They use tech to accelerate what they are already doing.

In a recent issue of Today’s Parish, Jon Givens helps us think differently about social media and how using social media wisely can help parishes accelerate their mission. He draws upon Pope Benedict’s letter, “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word,” to offer three steps parishes can take to adopt a social media strategy:

• Define your goals
• Meet your audience
• Build your content

Social media is no longer a cutting edge idea. It has gone mainstream. Catholic leaders need to think seriously about how to use this new media to evangelize, catechize, and generally accelerate the mission of the parish. You can read Jon’s entire article here.