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A strategy for parishes to engage, enrich and encourage parents!
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Wow that was fast! Well done.
Now take a look at the recommended steps. If you think the step will be helpful, then take it, but if it doesn't fit your vision for the parish then skip it. This is about helping you to bring BIG value to the families in your home away from home.
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15
Step 1 - Sign Up
Registering your parish with Me & My House has a few benefits that you may want to receive.
FIRST, if your parish is among the first ten parishes to sign up in your diocese, then your parish will get an automatic 10% off of any resources you purchase from MMH.
Second, if Patrick Sullivan (host of Me & My House, author and father of nine children) is in your area giving a talk on Catholic parenting, then we will not only notify you, but we will do our best to fit in another session at your parish.
Third, parishes registered with MMH are periodically asked to review our resources. If your review is chosen to be shared on our website or any of our social media platforms, then we will credit you up to 75% of the resource's purchase price.
Finally, signing up as a parish gives you access to ALL of our free resources at once, so no waiting around to see what's coming next. If you like it, you simply download it and put it to good use long before others have even heard about it.
So what do you think, would you like to sign up?
Step 2 - Get Their Attention - coming soon
With Me & My House there are two wonderful ways to get the attention of the parents in your parish, and both can be used in either the parish bulletin or directly on your parish website.
FIRST, there are the cartoon strips Caleb's Tale and Holy Happy Mess. Both faithful and fun, the cartoons highlight the joys and realities of Catholic parenting and grand-parenting, giving your parishioners something to look forward to every week.
SECOND, there are articles on parenting. These cover a wide variety of topics from experienced Catholic parents that get it. Trust us, your parishioners are going to thank you for the practical wisdom that these articles provide.
The best part is that you can decide which article or cartoon to publish and when, as signing up as a parish gives you access to a year's worth of material. Simply pick the ones that best fit your community, download it and you're done.
Step 3 - Challenge Them
One of the reasons that Me & My House is so effective is because we know exactly how to challenge parents in a way that is both encouraging and productive.
FIRST, there is The 5 Day Catholic Parenting Challenge. This challenge gets the parents in your parish to make small but powerful changes to their parenting that can ignite a life of faith in both child and parent alike.
SECOND, there is the Catholic Baby Bootcamp. This challenge helps parents of newborns by providing them with reasonable but effective steps to both stay sane and not lose sight of the gift that is their new child. (Coming soon)
Parishes which have signed up for MMH can view and download both video challenges in their entirety.
(And just in case you haven't signed up yet, simply return to STEP 1 when you are ready to unlock them).
Step 4 - Connect Them
It is more and more difficult for parishes to connect with the parents within their care, not to mention the great need to help parents connect with and learn from other parents who could offer some practical and wise counsel.
This is why we at Me & My House have created and encourage 3 points of contact, each with their own merits.
FIRST, there is the parish led Me & My House parenting or grand-parenting group. From week to week, this group uses our ground breaking parenting program Me & My House which not only helps parents by giving them practical advice, but it encourages group discussion, deeper friendships among parishioners, and the awareness that the Pastor and team leaders do care to help where parents need help the most.
SECOND, there is the Me & My House Catholic Parenting Group on Facebook. Contributors include, moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, priests and religious; essentially, anyone who loves parenting, the Catholic Faith, and having a community to share them with. In the group, your parishioners can receive advice on all things parenting, and you can rest easy knowing that the views expressed come from a faithful Catholic perspective.
FINALLY, there is our Me & My House email list. By encouraging parishioners to sign up, you can be certain that they will be receiving relevant and inspirational Catholic parenting resources weekly. In the emails, they will received videos like the Theology of Parenting, which is all about the why of Catholic parenting; or Useful Parenting Bytes, which provides interesting ways to integrate faith with our children of all ages.
Step 5 - Inform and Inspire Them
Through our various video resources Me & My House makes informing and inspiring the parents of your parish accessible both financially and logistically. Simply sign up, look for the videos and articles that best suit your evangelizing needs, and download. It's that simple.
However, if you want to take things to another level we do have two options for you that you might want to take advantage of.
FIRST, the Me & My House Catholic Parenting Program is a comprehensive study that has born great fruit in parish, group and even private settings. The program which has even received an Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat from the Thomas Cardinal Collins of the Archdiocese of Toronto is available for purchase.
SECOND, you could always invite Patrick Sullivan (host of Me & My House, author, speaker and father of nine) to speak at your next event. Just send us a message through our contact page and we can get the ball rolling on your next great event. Patrick is always delighted to visit parishes in order to renew parents and grand-parents in their most sacred task of raising children. The talks, which are always a great mix of theoretical and practical, will leave your parishioners rejuvenated.