What are 95% of the visitors to your parish website looking for? Mass times. That’s it. This was brought home to our staff this week when we spotted this Tweet by Catholic evangelist Meg Hunter-Kilmer (see below). The long and short of it? Publish your Mass times everywhere!
Stop what you’re doing and open your parish website on your computer’s browser. Are the Mass times prominently displayed on the front page? Now look at the parish website on your phone. Can you see the Mass times without scrolling? Now do the same on a tablet. Can you spot the Mass times easily? If the answer to any of these questions is no, there’s work to be done. Having Mass times available right away is an important part of a parish’s first impression. Let’s make it easy for people to meet Jesus in the Eucharist.
In fact, when we consider the implications of not having those Mass times displayed everywhere, it’s heartbreaking. People missing out on the source and summit of our faith. People never darkening the door of a Catholic Church again. Just publish your Mass times everywhere and you’ll already be head and shoulders above a lot of Catholic parishes around North America.