Local churches say Easter season has brought attendance rebound from pandemic

Jesse Collings, MetroWest Daily News
·4 min read
2

Knocked for a loop during the pandemic, local Catholic churches are starting to see a bit of a rebound in attendance this year, ahead of Easter Sunday.

Along with many other elements of society, church attendance is slowly starting to return to levels last seen before the pandemic. The Rev. Peter Joyce, pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Milford, said his Winter Street church is among those seeing more parishioners appear at Mass.

“We are certainly experiencing more people in attendance," Joyce said. "We saw that on Ash Wednesday, when we had our biggest crowds in years."

The Rev. Peter Joyce is pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Milford.
The Rev. Peter Joyce is pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Milford.

Ash Wednesday, which occurred this year on Feb. 22, is the start of Lent — a 40-day Christian observance that focuses on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and the miracle of His Resurrection (Easter Sunday).

Joyce said his sermon this weekend will point out that Easter is not just an observance of a past historical event, but something people experience each year.

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“A lot of our focus is going to be how the Resurrection of the Lord is not simply a past event for us," he said. "It is something we believe happens in those, as St. Paul says, who share in the dying of the Lord, the rising of the Lord, and the sacraments of Baptism and confirmation, and receiving the Lord for the first time in communion.

"Part of my homily is going to be focused on how this isn’t a simple past historical event, but a mystical, present reality.” 

Outdoor Mass provides boost

At Saint Anselm Catholic Church in Sudbury, Mass attendance is up about 10% compared to before the pandemic, according to the Rev. Joseph Canavan. He said the rise can be attributed to the church continuing to hold Mass outdoors.

“The reason we have gone up is because we are still offering Mass outside of our church, in our parking lot,” said Canavan, who has been a priest for 52 years. “We’ve gotten new members of the parish since we started doing it out of necessity due to the pandemic. When we voted on whether or not to continue outside or to go back inside, an overwhelming majority of families voted to stay outside.”

The Rev. Peter Joyce, pastor at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford, is encouraged by a recent uptick in church attendance. "We saw that on Ash Wednesday, when we had our biggest crowds in years."
The Rev. Peter Joyce, pastor at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford, is encouraged by a recent uptick in church attendance. "We saw that on Ash Wednesday, when we had our biggest crowds in years."

Canavan said that on Easter Sunday, the 11 a.m. Mass will be held outside the church at 100 Landham Road, as it is every week. And because it is Easter, a special 9 a.m. Mass will be held as well.

“We do manage to broadcast the Mass inside the Church as well, so if people want to go inside they can," he said. "We’ve got it going both indoors and out."

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The Rev. Steven Clemence, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Marlborough, said attendance is up by about 300 people per month from a year ago.

“There are certainly some people who stopped coming to church during the pandemic, but we are seeing people return in larger numbers,” he said. “A part of it is that there are more people moving to Marlborough, so they are coming to the church. For Palm Sunday we had standing room only, and for Easter we are going to bring in as many extra chairs as we can.”

Parishioners 'visiting more frequently'

Clemence said not only have church officials seen an increase in new faces, the church has also noticed an uptick in the frequency established parishioners have been attending Mass. Clemence said it started during the height of the pandemic, when the church first began staying open at all hours.

“What we’ve noticed is that some of our parishioners, people that have been coming for over 50 years, are visiting more frequently — they are growing in their faith,” he said. “During the pandemic, we left the church open all day, which we had to do out of necessity for safety, but we’ve kept that going and every day we see people coming in and out of the church at all hours.”

The Rev. Peter Joyce, pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford, is shown in front of one of 14 arches under renovation.
The Rev. Peter Joyce, pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford, is shown in front of one of 14 arches under renovation.

As for his Easter sermon, Clemence said he intends to discuss the challenges people have faced over the last several years, and the value that faith has in helping people overcome those challenges.

“We know how troublesome and precarious our lives can be, but Christ wants to give us a new life," he said. "Only by His Resurrection could we receive that new life. A lot of people are afraid to love, because they have had a bad experience with their love. With Christ’s love, that fear is completely alleviated, we don’t have to be afraid to love anymore.”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: MetroWest pastors say Easter has provided post-COVID-attendance boost