Note: Happy 2026! Thank you for all your prayers. Our beautiful baby girl arrived the day before her due date and we’ve been settling into life with two toddlers and a baby for the past two months. God is so good!

As I slowly return from maternity leave, I’m not currently accepting new projects or consult calls yet, but I couldn’t wait to send out some newsletters with thoughts I had over maternity leave. Thank you for being here, and hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Whenever I ask parishes who they want to see more of in the pews, I typically get three answers:

1. More young families!
2. More converts/reverts!
3. More people who don’t just come for sacraments and then leave!

You know when you have all three of those in the same place? Baptisms!

Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which got me thinking about the big opportunity we have to engage with those we want to see more of.

In the blur of required documents, explaining for the 937th time why we can't make exceptions for godparent requirements, and keeping baptism candles in stock, we can easily miss those opportunities.

(Side note: go check how many candles and bibs you have. Thank me later.)

So, here’s how to capitalize on those marketing moments the sacrament provides.

For the families of the baptized:

We've seen it happen more times than not:

A couple comes to have their baby baptized.

The baby is baptized.

And then you don't hear from them until seven years later for First Holy Communion.

Why don't they return for Mass or join the church community?

There's likely a number of reasons, but I'd guess that one major one is they don't feel like they belong and just need an invitation and explanation of why it's important.

After all, we know from experience that many of the couples coming to baptize their children are doing so because that's just what you do...but that doesn't mean they aren't also spiritually seeking.

What’s key here is the follow-up. Do you follow up with your baptism families at all beyond sending the certificate? If not, here’s a few ideas:

• Send a congratulations card a few weeks after, maybe with a date the parish will offer Mass for the family’s intentions and encouraging them to attend.
• Hold a "newly baptized" party every 3 months and invite all the families to attend and meet each other.
• Make a big deal of newly baptized in the parish: Post photos on social media (with permission of course), have them stand up after Mass the following weekend for a special blessing or acknowledgement, include their names in the intentions the following week, or have religious education kids decorate cards for the families. And don't assume that they know this is happening — tell them and invite them to come!
• We have to make sure if we're encouraging more young families that we actually have things geared towards them! Invite them to your "mom and me" group or children’s Adoration, tell them where the changing tables are and that it's okay if babies cry at Mass, or pair them up with another young family in the church to be “church buddies” — encourage them to reach out for a playdate or to sit at Mass together!
• Continue to follow up with communications regularly: invite them to family events, celebrate their first baptism anniversary, share what you offer for families, or put together a packet with advice from parishioners about raising kids in the faith.

We wonder why we don’t see them until the next sacrament…but if the next communication they’re getting from you is about signing up for Faith Formation, that could be part of the reason why.

So this week, look through the list above and see if any of these communications are something you can integrate in 2026. You can do this in person, send them in the mail, or email them, but commit to making one of these a reality.

Because the reality is that this sacrament is a huge opportunity not just to welcome one soul into God's family, but to reengage a whole family of souls...and that's an opportunity too important to waste.

Hit reply and let me know:

If I was to create a template for some of these baptism follow-up communications, would that be helpful? What would you want included?

I'm thinking some editable flyers, brochures, and email text you could send out to keep newly baptized families engaged digitally and in print, plus a schedule to follow so it's just plug and play — simple enough even a volunteer could do it!

It's an idea that just popped into my head, but if there's enough interest, I might try to make it happen in 2026! So hit reply if that's something you think would help you to make this a reality!

Okay, so that's for the families themselves...but what about the guests? And how do you encourage families to baptize their kids in the first place?

I don't want to overwhelm you with too much at once, so we'll talk about those two audiences in the next two weeks' newsletters!

For His greater glory,

Emily

P.S. God sees the work you are doing, and He is pleased. Don't let the evil one trap you in burnout. His goal is to burn you out (and turn parish staff against one another) so he can foil all of the good work you're doing on the front lines of bringing souls to Christ. St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us and defend us!