St. Dominic Catholic Church

Pastor's Corner

April 15, 2018

One of our challenges at St. Dominic’s is parking.  When the church was built, the parking lot was designed for about 130 spaces.  In the 1940’s families were larger so more people came in one car, people in the neighborhood walked to church, and most businesses were closed on Sunday mornings, so there was more street parking. 

Today, families are smaller, and we have a larger percentage of older parishioners who may drive alone or with their spouse.  Businesses are open on Sundays and people are out shopping and going to brunch.  There are four churches within a five-minute walk of St. Dominic’s, not including St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, which is closing, and they have services during our mid-morning Masses.

Our tight Mass schedule makes it hard to have any fellowship after Mass.  Great opportunities like our breakfasts complicate parking.  I have also told seven groups that were meeting during our Sunday Mass times to meet at another time on Sunday or on another day.  

It’s because of the difficulty with parking that I have not chided people for arriving late to Mass.  Our census collecting back on two weekends in October showed that fully 20% of those who attend Mass arrive late!  Sometimes people just can’t find parking.  But if you habitually arrive late, you need to plan a little better and give yourself more time.  The opening rites of Mass include a penitential rite that offers forgiveness for venial sins you are aware of and for which you are sorry!

Finally, we rent our parking lot out to film crews occasionally, and this is an inconvenience for daily Mass attendees and the school children who lose their playground for the day.  On the other hand, rentals have brought in $23,000 that did not come from your pockets for the support of the school, which has allowed us to maintain the same tuition for at least the last five years.  So – thanks for your patience!