There are many ways that a parish can grow: targeting untapped Catholic population, increasing frequency of attendance of already active parishioners and gaining converts. I have seen, from previous experience, that giving attention to these three led to an approximately thirty percent increase in attendance in four years in a county with a declining population. This note will necessarily focus most directly on Saint Paul, but its content will impact both parishes.
The largest untapped source of Catholic population in Grant County are Hispanics. According to the most recent census data, Hispanics are 4.4% of the population in our county. Continued migration coupled with the fact that Hispanics tend to be younger and have more children than non-Hispanics means this number will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. In 2015 and 2016, around 30% of baptisms at Saint Paul involved Hispanic families. In 2017, it was just under 50%. 80% of baptisms had at least one Hispanic parent in the year that just concluded. In many cases the first language of the Hispanic parents is Spanish. The wider family culture almost always has deep roots in a centuries-old Hispanic Catholic culture.
As much as we want to say to Hispanics, "you are in America now, just act like a typical American Catholic", this approach does not create a welcoming environment. Many Hispanics have voted with their feet, either staying home on Sundays or leaving the Church for another Christian community. We can and have to do better at engaging this population. I will present some ways that I have found have worked in next week's bulletin note.