For those of us that have been shopping for homes, I would bet all of us have been in a home that is ugly to bones. The type of home that leaves you wondering if the architect dropped acid before putting his thoughts on paper, or a bunch of the builders drinking buddies got together and thought “hey this would look good” and proceeded to build after several cases of Natty Light. Either way, there is no amount of renovation to improve a house that is ugly to the bones.

This leads me to our Catholic Churches. No the Catholic Church is not ugly to bones thank you God. It is more like that home we have all seen that got stuck in 1970 to about 1979. Calf scour colored appliances, carpet that required a rake, there might even be a Velvet Elvis over one of the beds or a mantel. Not ugly but certainly in need of a coat of paint, new carpet, and stainless steel appliances. Heaven help you if there is painted paneling.

I am beginning to see a very slow remodel of churches, like the home from the 70s, to more current fashions. I think this is a good thing. Now, before anyone begins thinking that I advocate an out with the old in with the new mentality please keep reading. The Catholic Church is not ugly to the bones and does not require a tear down and rebuild like an ugly to the bones house. The Catholic Church needs freshening like a home that that is structurally sound but needs new paint, appliances, and that annoying squeaky door fixed. The kinds of changes I see are simple and could be put in place by any one attending a Catholic Church. For example, a coworker went to Mass in Edmond Oklahoma and brought back the bulletin for us staff to see. While looking through this bulletin I saw a youth ministry titled “Jesus and Java”, a bible study at a local coffee shop. HELLOOOO, how hard is that? A ministry for adults at Prince of Peace in Great Bend titled “Holy Grounds”, again in coffee shop. Don’t like coffee? How about Theology on Tap at local pub in three different parishes in this diocese? Here is a novel concept from my home parish, a men’s retreat titled “Guns and God”. (That was not the actual title but I thought it would have been cool.) A group of guys got together for a men’s retreat in the morning. Then, went out and shot clay targets at the local gun club in the afternoon. This is not ground breaking stuff people. All we do is begin incorporating our faith into what we already do. Everything from the words we use to adding spice to our ministries is a great way to "remodel" our churches. The Word of God does not change, the doctrine does not change, but the places and ways people can learn, grasp, imbibe, contemplate faith does.

Most everything I am talking about is more a matter of “rebranding” or changing venues than anything else. So for those of you reading this that have a creative bug, why not create that bible study in the park? How about a Father Son retreat in the mountains? What if we rebranded the funeral dinner ministry to “Happy Cakes”? Oh, how about this! Rather than say “we need”, we could say “you are invited”. Little things can make a big difference.

What are your ideas? Send me creative ways to reach out to our brothers and sisters and I will post them on the stewardship webpage and on Facebook.

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