Young Families

 To the new families (and to the families with new babies!) in our CCSB Community,

On behalf of the Young Families Leadership Team, we wanted to say hello and WELCOME!

Whether you plan to only be in Baltimore temporarily or plan to stay forever, whether you have kids now, are expecting your first or have no kids on the horizon, whether you work from home, stay at home or work outside of the home, whether you are indeed young parents of young children or old(ish) parents of young children, we want to personally invite you to make CCSB your home and a place that you bring your family to celebrate… every Sunday at Mass, at church dinners and Lenten fish fries, Taste of Spring, Oktoberfest, Christmas caroling and movie nights!

We have a lot of opportunities to let your kids be kids, in a fun-loving and inclusive community.  We want to be the type of parish community that makes young families want to stay.

We got together as a group to talk about ways to welcome new parents, and decided the first step would be a letter with some background and tips. Here are 6 suggestions.

  1. Join our email list to ensure you get the CCSB weekly bulletin, “CCSB: This Week in South Baltimore.”  These rolling events will let you jump right in… or wait until you’re ready. We also have a Young Families email list!

  2. Get to know CLOW (Children’s Liturgy of the Word): You have seen the kids being called up by the priest and going to Children’s Liturgy, but did you know these facts about CLOW?

    • CLOW is for a wide age range! New moms are welcome to come nurse and hang out with us.  If you or your baby need a break, or your toddler needs a chance to toddle, come to CLOW. There is plenty of seating and you and your kids are welcome to take part in some/any/all of the activities, which often include coloring and a craft! No child is too young, though it is best for a parent to stay with kids less than 4 years old.  Roll on in, no matter how late you are.  It matters not!

    • Older kids are welcome too! Melanie’s 3rd grader loves the extra chance to ask about scripture reading and the messages are aimed at children, even though he’s already made his first Holy Communion. Beth’s 2 year old just started joining and all the other kids love to help her with crafts! 

    • Feel free to accompany your child, no matter what their age, if they (or you) are nervous.  We have two VIRTUS-certified CLOW volunteers present at all times.

  3. Thinking about attending Mass with your children, but nervous about it? Take this as your sign to come join us! We are waiting for you and your kids: “quiet or loud, this is where they belong!”

    • We recently rolled out “pew art” for kids to have something to entertain them easily available.

    • There are bathrooms at all the churches

4)    Join in the existing activities and give us your ideas! Our current list of activities for young families include: Christmas caroling, Youth Masses with young greeters, ushers and lectors. Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW), Kids’ Zones at Oktoberfest and a Taste of Spring, Family Dinner Nights, Lenten fish fries and more! Do you have ideas for more service or social groups for our kids, especially middle-school aged? Let us know!

5)    Join a small group for moms or dads!  Our Moms group meets monthly, always focusing on a different theme. Join the Moms group email list here. For the Dads group, contact Beth Mayr at beth.mayr@archbalt.org to learn more.

6)    Questions? We are a friendly group and can help get you to the right people. We can walk you through baptism, faith formation or just give you the support, humor and encouragement to come to Mass with a noisy kid!  We are here to extend and receive grace from each other, in the Lord’s house.

We are glad you’re here with us.

Warmly,

Young Families Leadership Team

Alexa & Zac Blanchard, Jessica Caire, Laura Delaney, Bailey Jenkins, Gabriela Kahrl, Beth Mayr, Melanie Nies, and Lenna Vaughan