How does one keep holy the Lord’s Day when they’re soaking up rays on the beach and their church is back home?
“I always encourage people: Don't take a break from Jesus while you're on vacation,” said the Rev. Msgr. Charles Singler, pastor of St. Rose Catholic Church in Perrysburg. “Don't take a vacation from the Lord.”
He and other area pastors said people may tune into their home church via live stream or check out a congregation where they’re visiting.
“I love to visit local churches and other communities ... when I'm on vacation,” said Luke Shortridge, pastor of the Perrysburg campus of CedarCreek Church. “We don't feel at CedarCreek like it's us or nobody. ... We love other churches; we support other pastors as much as possible.”
Pastor Shortridge said attendance, both in person and online, tends to decline about 30 percent during the summer months.
“I would have thought, theoretically, that people are going on vacation, that means they're going to pull up the website,” he said. “Some do that I'm sure, but we don't see a big shift to online viewing.”
Monsignor Singler, who noted that overall he feels that a lot of people "really try to make a concerted effort" to find a church to attend while away, said live streaming Masses helps many St. Rose parishioners stay connected to the faith community while on vacation or when home bound.
While he didn't know what to expect going into the past weekend, Monsignor Singler said there was "very good attendance at our services" before the Fourth of July — though he's curious to see how the holiday will affect the upcoming weekend's Masses.
"Our congregation maintains pretty well," he said of people going out of town. "I can't say that I see a significant change."
As for people coming into town, St. Rose welcomes visitors for events such as family reunions and weddings, the priest said.
The summer is nothing new for CedarCreek: New people check out the church every weekend and nearly 2,400 households were added to its database so far this year, Pastor Shortridge said.
On the water
Things look a little different for congregations in northwest Ohio’s bigger tourist areas.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Put-in-Bay has a higher and more regular summer attendance, said the Rev. Bob Solon. The roughly 30-person congregation is home to more summer residents than summer visitors, he added.
“We have a number of members who basically attend in the spring, summer, and fall months and not in the winter because they go away,” Father Solon said. “That's more of our fluctuation than visitors.”
Yet, being the only non-Catholic church on South Bass Island, St. Paul's serves all island visitors who are not Roman Catholic.
People come to the island to walk and pray in the St. Paul’s labyrinth. The church remains open daily throughout the day, allowing people to come in and catch some silence away from the action of the island.
“There are some folks who, even when they come to a resort, feel it's important that they remain connected to God,” Father Solon said.
Tom Groot, lead pastor at Faith Church in Sandusky, said the church sees a number of worshippers visit who are in Sandusky for vacation or working at Cedar Point. As for his regular attendance, which can average 425 each weekend, there’s not a noticeable change during the summer.
“We are blessed to not see a significant dip in the attendance of our members throughout the summer,” Pastor Groot said, but added, “There are always the vacations and the really nice summer days that will take people away from our services.”
An initiative he believes keeps people coming throughout the summer is an eight-week series that brings in guest speakers from a range of places.
Monsignor Singler shared insights from other Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Toledo.
Our Lady, Queen of the Most Rosary Cathedral is a hot spot for travelers, and is even a recommended attraction on some tourism websites. People from around the region also stop by the Sorrowful Mother Shrine in Bellevue, Ohio, which offers outdoor Masses from May through September. St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marblehead even relies on the summer offertory as its primary source of income.
”Going to church while on vacation helps remind us of the diversity of God's kingdom,” Pastor Groot said. “To worship with different people and learn from different leaders is a way to recognize that God's kingdom is much bigger than what we typically see on a Sunday morning in our home town.
“No matter where we are, no matter what we are going through, God is with us.”
Contact Sarah Readdean at sreaddean@theblade.com.
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