BALTIMORE — Seek the City to Come, is a new initiative implemented by the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The goal of it is to get people back into Mass.
Faith leaders say, they’re tired of looking at empty pews. In light of their Seek the City to Come initiative, church members gathered to attend the first ever prayerful open discussion.
According to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the number of Catholics and those affiliated with other denominations of faith have plummeted. Priests say they’ve been hosting more funerals than baptisms and they worry about the future of Catholicism.
This is why churchgoers geared up to attend a prayerful open discussion to come up with ways to save the church.
"I just hope through this, we get some answers. Get some guidance. And we can start brining the younger people back into the church," said Robert Zacherl, member of Saint Lukes Church.
The prayerful open discussion is just the beginning of the Seek the City to Come initiative. Faith leaders are proposing six to 12 months of listening to church members, while visiting each parish, followed by four to six months of discussion.
By doing this, priests hope to improve services and better fulfill the needs of church members, but some churchgoers like Zacherl, believe the solution is simple, people need to make time.
"People are just lazy. That's really, in my opinion, the big thing people have just got away from going to church, too many things going on, too many excuses," said Zacherl.
"I think we saw more people before the pandemic and then nobody of course for a long time and then it became very slow to come back because it was assigned seating. You had to call ahead of time to reserve a seat and then when they opened it up more people didn't understand and they were afraid. But I think that, where two or more are gathered in his name there is love," said Linda Piazza, Our Lady of Hope Saint Lukes.
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