How do you support family participation at Mass and beyond? We welcome Heidi Indahl back to continue her series on family-based faith formation and discipleship. The rest of her family formation articles may be found here. Thanks again for your work, Heidi! Enjoy the article.
Why “Scaffolding” Matters for Families at Mass
You have probably seen construction scaffolding on the outside of a building. Scaffolding provides safety and support to workers so that they can do their job. Without it, they may be hired to do a job, but unable to do it well (or even at all). In education circles, we also talk about something called scaffolding.
In teaching, scaffolding is similar. Scaffolding is the support we provide to help a child access material in the curriculum at the correct level of challenge- not too hard, not too easy. Today I want to talk about what this means specifically for helping families at varying levels of knowledge, skill, and experience to access the gifts of Mass more fully- particularly those families who are new or coming to our liturgies but struggling to engage.
Welcoming with Grace: We All Are Growing
Just to be clear: we are all continually growing in our understanding and reverence–specifically including me! It’s okay that children and adults do not know what to do at every moment or if they suffer from a bit of distraction. It’s ok to ask questions and clarify when we aren’t sure about why something happens. It’s ok for you and it’s ok for the families in your parish. I don’t care how old you are or how long you have been Catholic. You get to keep learning, and you need to keep learning.
We want families to feel welcome at Mass and part of that is knowing that their imperfections and questions are welcome too. Leading and modeling with vulnerability is almost always a powerful tool for building relationships and trust, greatly needed if we are to succeed in our goal of walking with families.
Three Ways to Support Families in Participating in the Mass
Here are three areas to consider providing scaffolding to families that will help them understand and engage at Mass in increasingly meaningful ways as they move along their individual journeys of discipleship. They can be made available in educational mailings to families, provided in the gathering space of the church, or introduced through faith formation or sacramental preparation. They cover a range of suggestions for before (preparing), during (receiving), and after (living) Mass across ages. Most suggestions are low cost and minimal effort, but have large impact potential.
*Please note, these supports could be provided in a variety of ways, but they are not meant to change or interfere with the celebration of Mass in any way. Consider the scaffolding image, we are not lowering the height of the building, we are providing support to raise families to levels of understanding they don’t have yet. Support can always be removed as people build understanding and deeper relationship with Jesus. Making even well meaning changes to the Mass that go outside theological norms only creates more problems later.
Support For Learning The Rhythms & Routine of Mass
Pictorial Guides To Mass (Books, Flip Cards, Etc)
Easy to Find Mass Parts (Pew Cards, Printed Worship Aids, Posted Hymnal Pages)
Educational Mailings on Developmentally Appropriate Mass Expectations & Supports
Training Ministers of Hospitality on Available Supports
Invitations to Serve At Mass In Various Ministries (Gifts, Music, Lectoring, Ushering, etc)
Support For Entering Scripture & The Stories of Our Faith
Mass Bags For Children With Spiritual Resources Rather than Secular
Children, Teen, & Adult Bibles Available
Devotional Resources For Mass Preparation (Hallow App, Magnificat, Daily Bread, etc)
Journaling The Stories Through Drawing or Homily Notes (Highly recommended for those in sacramental preparation, included OCIA)
Resources and Education on Saints (Saint of the Month, Parish Patron)
Support For Making Connections To Daily Life
Predictable & Systematic Welcome and Departure Routines (Hospitality)
Community Involvement Invitations Visible In Gathering Spaces (Time, Talents, & Treasure)
Catechesis on Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy
Invitations to Parish Prayer Chain and/or Adoration Sign Up
Parish-wide retreats, book studies, bible studies, and small groups
In teaching, we usually think of scaffolding as a temporary structure and have a plan for removing it. In ministry, this is a self directed removal. As attention builds and understanding and reverence increase, children and families will need fewer of the low level supports. There is frankly no external timeline for this and in my observation, families with access to a variety of supports will remove them and seek new levels on their own as they grow in discipleship. At first they will be mostly focused on learning the rhythms and routines, then they will engage with stories of faith more deeply (the kerygma), and finally they will increasingly make connections to their daily lives of faith.
By having a variety of tools and resources available to support families at different points on their discipleship journey, we can help overcome various barriers to Mass attendance. Understanding grows from experience and builds into reverence which is also a fruit of authentic relationship with Jesus. It all goes together.
When we leave Mass after receiving the Eucharist we are carrying Jesus in us physically, just like Mary did. Having encountered Jesus’ transformative love, it is our job to bring that to everything we do during the week. In supporting families in accessing Mass in new ways, we move one step closer to sharing his transformative love with them so they can also share it with others too!
Are you interested in learning more about how to promote family discipleship in your community and make discipleship driven decisions in your ministry, all while learning how to apply the powerhouse evangelical tool of quality education methods? Check out this new online learning opportunity for 2026 (https://www.designedfordiscipleship.org/cohort-application) from Tim & Heidi!
