From the Heart of the Shepherd

From the bulletin for The Fourth Sunday of Lent (2026 March 15)

March 15 - 4th Lent

Last week I shared some encouraging figures regarding some special almsgiving efforts that members of the parish have undertaken. Just as “deep calls on deep” when it comes to more causes for encouragement around the parish. 

In the summer of 2019, there was a “town hall meeting” at the home of a parish family in the wake of the school closure that spring. Concerned parishioners felt moved to gather and have a frank conversation about what direction their beloved parish should chart in the wake of such a drastic change. (Doors closed to clergy… this was a grassroots undertaking!) Among the many ideas that were floated and discussed, one very concrete–very tangible, almost edible, you could say–idea generated the most energy and consensus: why don’t we have Coffee & Donuts after Mass every Sunday???

Lest it seem a little petty, the reasoning behind the idea is worth sharing. Many at St. Mark’s were new to the parish, many new to the Cities. And given its location–central to the Metro, near UST and UMN–all kinds of new people were constantly checking the parish out. But how to get to know one another? How to form community, especially when many were coming from disparate directions? Weekly parishioner fellowship, rooted in the liturgy but outside of it, with a low bar for entry and the virtue of organizational simplicity, seemed to be just what was needed. And when the idea was floated to parish leadership, the answer was simply “why not!?”

Weekly Coffee & Donuts began that fall. Though surely there are other factors in play, the following statistics are noteworthy:

Average Sunday Mass Attendance.

(At 9am/11am/Overall).

2019: 159/178/468.

2020 (COVID 🤮): 149/146/390.

2021: 181/164/448   

2022: 214/166/471

2023: 249/181/495

2024: 271/166/506

2025: 287/161/507

2026 (to date): 319/185/565.5

Notice anything? It’s curious that since C&D became more frequent (setting aside the COVID-19 dip, from which the parish recovered remarkably quickly), our Sunday Mass attendance–arguably the best indicator of parish size–has been trending steadily upwards despite the school closure. Yet while attendance at the 11am (after which still Coffee & Donuts remains only about monthly, due to the lunch hour most likely) has stayed consistent, attendance at the 9am has more than doubled. Coincidence? Doubtful. Surely, it is God who gives the increase. But He does to as a reward to our cooperation with His inspirations!

For better or worse, we did not think to calculate the cost of C&D before we made it weekly. Turns out it runs the parish about $10K a year to provide coffee and donuts free of charge at this frequency. A lot of money? Yes. Worth it to build up the parish? Two new families giving annually can more than offset the cost. All the same, I invite you to consider helping to sponsor a weekend or volunteer to help host (if you are not already), so that through the power of the Holy Spirit, frosted deep fried batter can be transformed into the up-building Body of Christ (literally!). And may God bless the many who, over the years, have contributed to this ministry and the growth of our community (in more ways than one).

From the Heart of the Shepherd: The Third Sunday of Lent