Catholics Come Home.orgWell, this is refreshing news!

Apparently, the Catholics Come Home initiative in the Diocese of Green Bay has been a great success, and has encouraged a 7.4% increase in Mass attendance. This initiative has been centered around inviting back former Catholics, and increasing the faith and understanding of currently-active Catholics.

Eight months ago, the Diocese of Green Bay began airing television commercials for six weeks that invited Catholics to Come Home. This month, the diocese released survey findings that show Mass attendance increased an average of 7.4 percent after the commercials began to air.

In addition, more than 95 percent of parish leaders and parishioners reported that CCH had a positive influence on their lives.

For any program like this, two very important factors must be considered: 1. The welcoming attitude must saturate both diocesan and parish-based programs. 2. Truth/morals/teachings must never be compromised in welcoming new and former members into the Church—otherwise, those returning/joining will quickly see that we are duplicitous.

The program in Green Bay also had a very nice, accessible website, which most definitely helped those Catholics who were seeking more information! The website even seems to have been designed competently for SEO and cross-browser compatibility... go figure!

Congratulations to the Diocese of Green Bay! Hopefully, we can see a bit more of this in other dioceses, especially in the U.S.!