Our parish is large and vibrant. It has a lot of groups and ministries, but currently there is no moms' group. I have felt a calling to maybe help fill that void in our parish, so I am meeting with our pastor this week to discuss this possibility.
Do you belong to a moms' group? Or a women's group?
If so, what are your favorite things about it?
What do you wish was different?
If you could have a "dream" moms'/women's group, what would it look like?
I would love it if you could share your ideas with me in the comments section. Alternatively, you may email me at pensivecatholicmama at gmail dot com. If you have any friends who would be willing to give me their opinions, that would be fantastic, as well! Thank you!
hey Jamie! Came here from A Knotted Life. I am part of a wonderful moms group through my church. Once a month we do a Moms Night Out (usually a late, quick dinner), a playdate at someone's house, and one or two trips to local museums, the aquarium, farms in the fall, gardens in the spring, etc. There is also a part of the group with kids in elementary/middle school who do after school activities like trips to the ice cream parlor or the American Girl Doll store. Good luck with your group!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sully! I appreciate you sharing those ideas with me!
DeleteHi Jamie! I also came here from a Knotted Life. I am also looking for ideas, but it looks like the response has been quiet, so I thought I'd share what has happened in my experience. When we moved into the parish 5 years ago, there was no moms group. There was a homeschooling group, but since I wasn't homeschooling at the time, I felt I was on the outside looking in at that group. I was really yearning for some connections, and providentially, my priest mentioned to me that another mom had asked him about a mom's group, and he said "why don't I just connect you two." Upon further reflection, he realized he knew a few other moms who might be interested, and he started sending me phone numbers. So basically I started cold calling! I left lots of messages lol. I wrote emails that got no response. I got frustrated. But I also felt called to persevere. I tried to arrange a couple of playdates at the park, but no one showed up. Then one day, I was excited about a book I wanted to read, and I asked a friend if she wanted to read it with me. She was excited at the idea, and I thought that maybe I would give this "group" idea one last try, and I emailed out my idea to this list of moms, that maybe we could meet to discuss the book. All of a sudden there was interest! It was like the book idea gave them the confidence to maybe show up at someone's house they'd never met before, since this time there was a purpose and something to talk about. The group grew rapidly and friendships formed. In the past 5 years, our mom's group has taken many forms. At one point I helped guide the group to split into two, in order to keep an intimacy, and not let anyone feel lost in the crowd. It worked for a time. Then many of us had older kids, some of us began homeschooling and we could no longer meet during the day. So now we meet at my house on a weekday evening at 8pm. We're still reading our books! We've read 5 or 6 now, I think. At this point in time, we have our mom's night at my house, which is open to anyone, we have our homeschool group, and we have a playgroup for moms of toddlers and infants. It is thriving and it is soooo heartening to see moms making connections and forming their own friendships. From all these groups, I could probably list 20 moms who I know and call dear. Currently I feel called to see how we can make our mom's group a little more official with the parish. The priest who helped me get started has since been reassigned. He hadn't been too keen on connecting it officially with the parish, due to legal concerns that would have made it complicated, but I always thought that perhaps that concern was unfounded. We have a new priest now and I plan to talk with him and get his thoughts on making it official. So from all that rambling, the things I have learned in starting a group have been: 1) persevere. 2) Use SOMETHING as an attraction. It doesn't need to be a book, but it's an easy pull. The Momnipotent series, I think, would be an AWESOME starter program. 3) Don't be afraid to let the group grow, and be looking for ways to keep out of a clique mentality, but also finding a way for people to feel welcomed and not lost in the crowd. That last one is tricky. One way that we've recruited new members is through our Stork Club. The ministry brings meals to moms who have had a baby. I make sure those moms get a personal invitation from me to get connected. We've had several moms start showing up through the Stork Club invitation. Hope this helps and God be with you in your endeavor! - Lauren
ReplyDeleteLauren - thank you so much for this thoughtful and detailed response. I REALLY appreciate it. You are the second person to suggest the Momnipotent series, so I will have to check that out! I'm so glad to hear that the moms' group at your parish is thriving! Thanks, again!
DeleteCame from AKL :) part of a moms' group connected to a university Catholic campus center (we are an assorted bunch of wives of employees; women who went to school there and ended up staying in town; people who have adopted center as parish). They do a lot and admittedly I haven't participated a ton yet for circumstantial reasons BUT they pitch in and provide moms who have new babies with meals (I got them for two weeks, it was awesome).
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I LOVE is kids' adoration- the center has adoration every Tuesday and one half hour in the morning is designated as kids' adoration (aka not silent, others be warned). Sometimes it's just straight up come and pray with your kids, other times one of the moms leads a story (like a saint's life) and prayer/song - one of the leaders teaches CGS at the center so it's done well. We even did stations of the cross last Lent. Obviously kids' adoration would take some organizing and coordinating in a regular parish, but it's awesome.
Oh, they also do a book group once a month, for fun and fellowship. Not necessarily religious reading - I think Jane Austen was a recent selection.
DeleteEliese - thank you for sharing! I love the idea of Kids' Adoration! I even have a book on it that I haven't yet read. I need to break that out and get to thinking. I really believe it would be such a blessing to many, so thank you very much!
DeleteI've ran a Community Mom's group since 2008 and we have about 200 moms who are currently part of it. When we started we used a Meetup webpage, which is a fabulous website for organizing things, but has a yearly cost, so we eventually switched to a Facebook page so we wouldn't have to worry about fundraising. We did all sorts of activities like stroller walks, playdates, messy art parties, mom's nights in/out, family Halloween parties, etc. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun and we all made so many great friendships this way. But at the time I started we had 1 child and now we have 4, so eventually I had to pull back on organizing. We still have a book club that meets monthly and two groups that meet one day at the community center and another at a local church in their playroom.
ReplyDeleteIn the mean time I came back to the Catholic Church and have gotten very involved in our Catholic community. I've definitely feel a calling to start a Catholic Moms or Women's group at our Catholic Church. And it finally feels like the right time with the kids. I am hoping to do some work over the summer and start one in September. This website has a lot of good ideas: http://catholicmomsconnect.blogspot.com/p/start-group.html I have also looked into the Momnipotent Study as a way to get started or Walking with Purpose http://walkingwithpurpose.com/ if I go with more of a general women's group.
I was also in a Mom's group at our Catholic church before we moved. They had an older woman of the parish who helped plan a once a month day for the moms and lead things and then various women helped her each month. They also had a playroom where one of the older moms and her high school daughter would babysit-they charged $2/child or $5/family-they were then able to be compensated for their time, but was affordable to everyone to attend. The group also provided a breakfast meal/brunch or snacks brought in sometimes by the older women in the parish and other times by volunteers within the group. It lasted about 2 hours-9 to 11 a.m. On the other weeks when they didn't have the monthly meeting they reserved a room in the church for the moms to bring their kids in and have a playdate and time to chat.
Whatever you decide to do, I recommend taking the time to pray about it, find someone to help you, take some time to brainstorm ideas, and getting a clear picture of when and what you will do each month/week. The most successful mom's group that I have been a part of tend to have a clear vision, organized plan for each meeting, and a welcoming, fun atmosphere.
Good luck!!!
Nana M - thank you for taking the time to share all of your ideas with me! I had actually found that Catholic Moms Connect blog you included, and it helped me greatly. I am really trying to take their recommendation to heart: don't try to be all things to all people. It's great advice! Thank you for all the information you shared and especially your last paragraph about having a clear vision and an organized plan. That's extremely helpful to me. Thanks, again!
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