Over the past several months, many parishioners have noticed something different happening at our 5:30 PM Sunday Mass: connected homilies unfolding week after week around a single theme. These “Message Series” have become one of the most engaging and talked-about parts of that Mass experience, and for good reason.
The idea comes from the parish renewal movement known as Rebuilt, whose work focuses heavily on making the weekend Mass experience more meaningful, memorable, and invitational. In their books and conferences (which our team went to last year), Rebuilt emphasizes that “the weekend experience is the number one opportunity for people in the community to connect with church.” They have been encouragin us to communicate intentionally and consistently through preaching that builds from week to week rather than beginning over every Sunday.
Instead of hearing isolated ideas each week, people are able to reflect more deeply, invite others more easily, and stay engaged in an ongoing spiritual journey. Much like chapters in a book or episodes in a series, each week builds anticipation for the next while also tieing directly to that Sunday’s scripture that was just proclaimed.
That continuity is one of the reasons we intentionally run Message Series back-to-back during much of the year rather than taking long breaks between them. Momentum matters. Engagement grows when people know there is always another meaningful conversation continuing the following week. Our parishioners have been sharing how much this has changed their view of coming to Mass, sharing feedback like, “Now I want to hear the next week!” after implementing message series.
At St. Isidore, the 5:30 PM Mass was originally established as a Mass where we could thoughtfully experiment with new approaches to worship, communication, music, hospitality, and engagement. It has become an ideal environment for Message Series because consistency is critical to their effectiveness. With four priests and two deacons serving our parish, all whom are gifted communicators who bring unique perspectives and preaching styles, maintaining a single coordinated message across every Mass in a weekend would be extremely difficult. The 5:30 PM Mass allows one consistent voice and direction for the duration of a series while still preserving the richness and variety of preaching across our broader Mass schedule.
Most importantly, we are seeing signs that people are responding.
Attendance at the 5:30 PM Mass has steadily increased since Message Series began. Beyond attendance, engagement with the online message videos has also been especially encouraging. The individual message recordings posted each week consistently receive more views than our regular full Mass livestreams, showing that people are continuing to watch, share, revisit, and stay connected even if they miss a week in person.
That matters because the goal of Message Series is not entertainment. The goal is engagement with the Gospel. We want people thinking about the message after Mass ends. We want conversations continuing at dinner tables, in small groups, and among friends. We want parishioners to feel confident inviting someone because they know the message will be practical, relevant, and connected to everyday life.
Ultimately, Message Series are simply one more tool to help people encounter Jesus more deeply and help our parish become more intentional about making disciples. We are grateful for the strong response so far, and we are excited to continue building on that momentum in the seasons ahead.
