A Banner Day for Ministries

By Barbara Grunewald
Barbara Grunewald is a member if Saint John Parish, Fenton, where she trains altar servers and is an all around parish volunteer. She serves as a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council.

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What’s going on here?
There’s so much more going on in a parish than meets the Sunday parishioner’s eye that it’s an ongoing challenge to keep the faithful remotely aware of the breadth of the parish ministries.  At St. John the Evangelist in Fenton, they’ve hit upon a way to heighten that awareness with a dramatic visual impact that not only spreads the word but strengthens support and encourages direct personal involvement as well.

Like so many good ideas, this one grew out of another activity altogether. St. John was entering Phase II of its G.I.F.T. Campaign (Growing In Faith Together), a 10-year project to underwrite the cost of adding and upgrading the parish facilities.  With the counsel of a professional fundraiser, the Parish Financial Council tackled the task of making parishioners aware of all that was happening at St. John.  The group finally settled on a visual demonstration that they called "The Parade of Ministries."  It didn’t take very long to recognize that this could also become a potent recruiting device for the ministries.

Similar sign-up efforts in the past had been named "Vision Fairs," and consisted of setting up a large tent in the parking lot so that after all the weekend masses parishioners could circulate around tables to learn about the various ministries and speak with people active in those ministries.  Volunteers could then sign-up to join in the work.  These efforts had been effective, but now, with the "Parade," the ministries would be coming to the people!  A committee of 16 members was given the assignment to organize the parade and it had six weeks to accomplish the task!

The group decided to make a banner or flag for each ministry.  St. John Pastor, Father David W. Harvey, liked the idea and suggested that the banners be paraded in at the beginning of each mass and paraded out at the end.  At first, the committee agreed to put the name of each ministry and its subgroups on one banner to hold down costs.  Before long, the committee questioned why put in all this effort for just one weekend?  The members decided that every unit would have its own banner and could use it for years to come.  After counting up all the ministries and subgroups, it was determined that 69 banners would be required -- a parade, indeed!

Each ministry would have a 4’x6’ banner and a 3’x4’ banner for each subgroup. It put the committee at the high end of its budget but the members felt the investment was well worth the cost for the end result.

The material purchased for the banners was good quality satin in many beautiful colors.  Many hands were used to cut out the banners and sew them together.  The trick was to find someone to imprint the wording in the time available.  A local company did the job beautifully.  The banners were put on "pvc" pipe poles to help keep them light enough to be carried easily and held high for maximum visibility during the parade.  Several parishioners made sturdy stands to keep the banners visible during mass.

As a member of the committee, I would describe the weekend of the parades:
"Our committee recruited many ministry members and other parishioners to carry the banners during the five weekend masses.  The activity center was the center of operations for the people to pick up their banners and to line up for the procession into church.  Using walkie-talkies, we gathered people wherever we could, even asking arriving parishioners as they got out of their cars to help us fill our quotas.  They were happy to be asked.

"What a sight to see, young and old alike… even parents carrying little ones willing to participate.  The Knights of Columbus Honor Guard led the parade. Other groups represented included the boy scouts, the girl scouts and volunteers from the ‘Apple Fest,’ held annually by the parish.  As the opening hymn began, so did the parade of the banners and the grand display was video-taped for the parish web site.  Even to those of us on the committee, seeing the banners parade in and watching the expressions on the faces of the parishioners was, indeed, awesome!"

"As the meditational song was being sung, all the banner bearers quietly came from their seats and stood by their banners. At the start of the recessional song, they paraded out of church and returned the banners to the activity center to welcome potential recruits and to prepare for the next mass."

There will not be a parade every year, but the banners are on display for most parish events, reinforcing their original message:  "The ministries of the parish deserve your financial support and your personal involvement."

Resources Required: The scope of the parish activities have a major bearing on what it takes to carry off a project like this.  Irrespective of parish size, a dedicated committee is a "must."  For St. John, the project entailed a budget of about $2,800.  Amortized over the expected useful lifetime of the banners, the cost was deemed reasonable.

Outcomes: St. John the Evangelist experienced stronger support for its fundraising efforts and a substantial increase in recruits for its many ministries.

Person to Contact:
Barbara Grunewald
St. John the Evangelist Parish
600 North Adelaide St., Fenton, MI 48430
Phone: 810-629-2251
FAX: 810-629-2302