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Following the Catholics Come Home Chicago evangelization initiative, average Mass attendance in most parishes in the archdiocese reportedly increased 8.1 percent. According to a survey conducted after the campaign, about half of the responding pastors said there was an increase in confessions.
A summary report from the archdiocese’s Office for Evangelization said that 269 of 368 parishes and missions in Cook and Lake Counties responded to its survey. It conveyed the results of two separate surveys given to pastors and to the designated parish program contact.
The report noted that the February attendance count showing the 8.1 percent increase was held at the beginning of Lent, when traditionally more people attend Sunday Mass.
A total of 440 surveys from 201 pastors and 239 parish contacts provided the data for the report. Evaluations were generally positive, with more than 90 percent of parish contacts saying that their parishes were enthusiastic about and engaged in planning for the initiative.
Two-thirds of responding pastors suggested that the Catholics Come Home commercials be used again in the future and 71 percent thought the initiative benefited their parishes. Eighty-eight percent thought the archdiocese should use media to evangelize in the future.
About 64 percent of pastors said that their preaching changed because of the new people in the pews and “the need to be more welcoming,” according to the summary report.
The evangelization initiative was a collaborative effort between the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Dioceses of Joliet and Rockford. The viewing area for the ads consisted of 20 counties across northern Illinois. All three dioceses shared the $1.3 million media buy, with Chicago’s portion being $850,000.
The report added that there will be discussions between the dioceses in summer 2010 to plan for a similar media-oriented effort to continue the “momentum” of the campaign.
“The second phase will apply all that was learned this past year and it will be developed with an awareness of the success experiences in our parishes,” the report said.
In a similar vein, the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization is holding an exposition on July 27 titled “The New Evangelization: Using New Media.” It will teach participants how to build a website, how to use social networking, and how to create podcasts and multimedia productions. Two similar expos were held in May.
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