Remove New Church Attendance Policy at St John the Beloved

My husband and I have been faithful parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption since many years before we had children. If they had a school, our son would be attending there we have come to love Saint John the beloved, and even enjoy that our son gets to experience mass twice a week one per church. I understand many families have this similar situation. And do not feel we or more importantly our son be penalized for it. We also agree with all of the points previously stated in this petition.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; it has always been an invitation.

Please remember Jesus Way: teach with love, open arms. Remember why the Pharisees crashed with Jesus. Pope Francis pray for this pastor that lost the Way and bring him back to Jesus Way.

Mass is important however you need to allow the parents flexibility to go where they want for mass and WHEN they can. Life is not as simple as it once was years ago. (Unfortunately.) Tuition should be just that….. period. Not based on anything else. If and when people attend St John’s for mass and donate to collections, it’s a bonus to additionally support the parish when they can. The parish is appreciated.

Ipetitions won’t let me edit my original comment, but I wanted to clarify: I work weekends to help offset the cost of sending my children to Catholic school. If mandatory church attendance is enforced, I won’t be able to work those hours, which means I’ll likely have to pull my kids from Catholic school and enroll them in public school. If that happens, they’ll naturally want to participate in sports with their public school classmates. At that point, I won’t have any reason to continue coaching or volunteering at the school carnival.

I attend church every Sunday with my children, and I still do not agree with the new school and athletics policies. We should be spending efforts on increasing engagement, making people feel welcomed, modernizing services, engaging students and sports teams in the mass so that families enjoy mass and want to attend. Maybe sports teams attend once a month together before a game and have an active role in reading with a homily geared toward their age. Having free children’s programs so parents can participate in mass while their children learn about God through a project is supportive and may encourage them to come. Forcing and penalizing our students and our athletes does not seem to align with our Christian values. Punishment is not going to draw families to our church or increase engagement. Feeling love, support, acceptance, and fulfillment brings people back to Christ . I worry these new policies for the school and sports teams will diminish engagement in our parish and our school community. We need to do better.

I can’t sign the petition (system is not allowing me) so i will paste here what I had wrote: While my child doesn’t attend your school, many of the points raised here are exactly why she does not and why we stepped away from the church. Pope Francis was the talk but the administration of the catholic church remains far from the teachings of Jesus so we opted to observe our religion in our own way, free of the politics of the church. Your words call the church to stop talking and start walking; use the time looking at your community and the reality of the needs. Many are struggling (esp. now) and transportation, work, and frankly an adults need to just be able to sit in their home for a moment with peace. Mental health of stress and anxiety issues are high; why are they seeking to add to that? Fully agree that the approach detailed is wrong and punishes children that may very literally have no say in their ability to attend a weekend mass. Catholic schools are to grow kids in the faith and education so creating even more hurdles to that seems to be counterproductive.

1 year ago Featured

If the goal was to unite the SJB community...mission accomplished! The group signing this petition has donated thousands of hours of time and helped to raise millions of dollars to support SJB. We can only hope that our many contributions might earn a seat at the table for the decisions that impact the community we have collectively built.

As a former parishioner, student (‘05 graduate), youth group member, and CYM athlete, I am very concerned about what has happened at the parish I grew up in that they felt the need to issue this letter, and especially only three days before the tuition contracts are due. A transactional approach is NOT the right way to handle this. If people like the church they belong to and are logistically/healthwise able to attend Mass, they will do so without needing any further incentive. It’s as simple as that. Parish leadership needs to take a good long look internally at why Mass attendance is down and consider the situations of the parish families. This used to be a good parish to belong to, but it sounds like things have deteriorated since I moved out of the area in 2018. I fear that this tuition policy will further destroy the parish from within for the current members, and I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of families end up leaving due to this.

Reverend Michael Vannicola & Mr. Richard Hart,

 I am writing with deep respect and genuine concern regarding the recent letter from both of you concerning Sunday Mass attendance and its connection to tuition contracts at St. John the Beloved. While I appreciate the earnest desire to strengthen our parish community and deepen our families' connection to the Eucharist, I would respectfully urge you to reconsider the decision to mandate Mass attendance through contractual obligations and financial incentives and sports participation. I worry that this approach, though well-intentioned, may inadvertently cause harm. Mandating Mass attendance risks undermining the free will and personal conversion at the heart of our faith. The Eucharist, the “source and summit” of Christian life, is best approached in love and freedom, not as a condition for financial assistance or to participate in a sport. Tying attendance to tuition discounts could unintentionally foster resentment, superficial compliance, or alienation rather than genuine spiritual growth. In fact, a petition has already been drafted with legitimate points of concerns that show the harm of the letter has already been done. Moreover, the letter does not seem to sufficiently account for the real-life challenges many families face: work obligations (especially among lower-income households), health issues, transportation difficulties, mixed-faith families, or those struggling with their faith. Mandating attendance without acknowledging these realities risks appearing insensitive and may push struggling families further away from the Church rather than drawing them closer. Some families attend other churches but choose SJB for school only based on where they live, or, a preference of where they prefer to attend. The verification process will sow division within the parish, create a spirit of judgment, and damage the communal trust that is essential to Catholic life. Our Catholic identity is not measured solel

Though this is unfortunate, it is not surprising, as it is an extension of what has become a running theme being directed at students and parents. The petition clearly points to multiple valid points, and it is my hope that this will catch somebody’s attention and the parish can revisit a more fruitful way to bring everyone together.

Letters like this are why people are turning away from the Catholic Church. It is not a welcoming, inclusive, or understanding place to be. Shame on the SJB leaders for issuing this. You do not know families’ personal circumstances, so how dare dictate what they do with their time and their money. And then to hold children accountable for things outside of their control? Ridiculous... No one enjoys being forced into anything. This is going to backfire on the Church, and have adverse consequences for the school.

Brian Galbraith

There has to be another way to bring people back to church. Maybe update this services. Quit begging for money every 10 minutes. Now there out to destroy the sports program that my father and many of his friends helped build many years ago. They keep this up people will go somewhere else.

New church leadership is destroying what a lot of very good people built for decades.

Upon reviewing this new policy I am very disappointed in the school and to whomever was involved in creating it. How are our young people ever going to willfully accept the church into their adult lives when they are "forced" into going to mass and turned into a pawn for a tuition coupon. Myself and other donors will be re-considering our contributions if this policy is not dismissed or changed based on the input of the currently enrolled parents and guardians.

Bring back summer CCD program

Policy is absurd!

I will say this a horrible decision by the school/parish. As you know, The SJB community is very close and this could cause major negative repercussions going forward. Sure my comment won’t change your decision but the amount of people that feel the same way will. I suggest you make the right decision my May 1st