Phew. First Communions are done, maybe you're wrapping up some Confirmations, it's finally getting calm, right?

...and then you look at your calendar and see two straight weeks in June of end-of-year gathering invites.

From the Altar Rosary Society to the catechist reception to the school awards dinner to the Bible study finale — you're in for four nights in a row of eating catered chicken, baked ziti, and salad this June.

These gatherings aren't just great for building community you already have, though.

There's one thing you can do during these meetings to help you build community even after the last cookie has been wrapped up:

Get testimonials!

Likely, the people involved in various ministries at your church are the people who are the most engaged and your biggest fans.

While you have them all together, use that time to get some testimonials for the parish!

These are great to just have on hand for your website, social media posts, print materials, etc.

That way, when it's really busy in November, you don't need to try to get a hold of someone; you just have a stash ready to go.

Ideally, getting these on video is best because you can always transcribe them and use them in written format too — but if all you can get is in writing, we'll take it!

But we don't just want testimonials; we want good testimonials.

The kind that really show transformation and convince prospective parishioners to actually reach out because they want to experience what others have.

So we don't want to just ask, "Tell us your favorite thing about our parish."

Instead, try one of these:

• "Describe your first time at CHURCH NAME. What did you feel or experience?"
• "If your friend was considering joining CHURCH NAME, what would you tell them about why they should join?"
• "How does CHURCH NAME help you to grow closer to Jesus?" (You can sub in there your specific mission.)
• "What was your experience like at other churches before coming to CHURCH NAME?" (Or if they're a convert/revert, ask them what their faith life was like prior to joining your church.)
• "Can you share a story of something that epitomizes the CHURCH NAME community?"
• "Tell me about someone at CHURCH NAME who has impacted your faith life." (Or you could change this to asking about a program or event you've done that's impacted them.)

And while you're at it, ask them for a testimonial about that specific ministry too! Using the format above, be sure to ask leading questions that will get a response besides, "It's great and I have so much fun!" We want to dig at the why — why do they choose to take time out of their busy lives to participate in that ministry?

So go start a doc to collect these testimonials, and then next week, I'll share another way to get testimonials — and these are super important, because they are what people see before they even look at your website.

For His greater glory,

Emily