Members of the Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland delivered a lecture in the North Lounge of the Cushing Student Center on Thursday October 16 in regards to drawing Catholics to attend mass.

Father Michael White, a pastor at the church, and Brian Cook, the church’s Director of Missions, focused upon the methods that they used to improve their attendance and overall atmosphere.

The methods disscussed appear in the books Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter and Tools for Rebuilding: 75 Really, Really Practical Ways to Make Your Parish Better, which Fr. White wrote with his associate Tom Corcoran.

Fr. White and Cook highlighted the importance of three parts of the “weekend experience:” music, message and ministers.

These were all focused explicitly upon to welcome “Tims” back to church, a moniker designated to Catholics that no longer made mass a part of their Sunday activities.

Through renovation of their weekend experience, the Church of the Nativity was able to increase their Sunday attendance from 1,400 to over 4,000.

Specific changes included placing greeters at church entrances, enstating child care programs and ensuring that their Sunday messages and music fit the spiritual needs of their congregation.

Fr. White and Cook urged the audience to apply these methods to the campus church community.