Sunday, April 11, 2004
Crowing about Easter Crowds
Easter Vigil surprised me. I wasn't ready. I'll admit it. Last year, we barely had 300 people in attendance. Last night, I ran out of candles. That's never happened before. I figured on 400 people, optimistically, and tossed out the old nubs of candles. Oops. Final tally: 503. Fourteen new Catholics bumped up last year's crowd, but some of that 67% increase included non-RCIA guests, and some new faces. That set the tone for today. Sunrise was full, especially with our pastor guaranteeing a "full 45-minute Easter Mass." Then we had standing people at 7:30. That never happens. Overall Easter attendance was up 30% over last year. My big hope is that a fraction of those folks were moved to deeper faith (or at least slightly impressed with liturgy), they'll give it a try next week.
