A User-Friendly Parish: Becoming a More Welcoming Community

Rating:
Summary: Kollar's book is user-friendly, readable, useable.
Review: Judith Kollar's awareness-heightening book reflects her years of experience with Catholic parishes, encouraging small changes that will reap large benefits. Her suggestion that parish staffers should know what it's like to sit on the congregation's side of the altar is just one example of her thoughtfulness. "Explain, explain, and explain, again!" likewise encourages parish personnel to help the parishioners to understand changes in liturgies and in the parishes' heightened social / societal responses. Certainly, this little book with the big heart should be read by all parish personnel. It's a delightful User-Friendly book!

Rating:
Summary: Boring - and highly recommended
Review: The nuts-and-bolts of running a parish in a hospitable manner is of little interest to me; hence, the "boring". However, Kollar gives very concrete, practical suggestions which are available to all parishes regardless of financial status; hence, the "highly recommended".

Kollar presents her material in short chapters with a "think and reflect" summary for each chapter. This makes the text very usable in a small leadership group setting. The concreteness of her suggestions show how to identify the problem areas while recognizing that the particulars of a parish will determine the implementation.

What is considered? Landscape, signs, lighting, voice mail, job titles, comittees ... all those little details that determine first impressions. Buy yourself a copy - then copies for each of the parish leaders.