Coronavirus: What Happens to the Bulletin?

Hey guys – Max here, bulletin editor and webmaster of St. Damien Parish. As I’m sure you’ve all heard, Bishop Sullivan suspended public access of daily and weekend Mass for the foreseeable future due to Coronavirus concerns. This is leaving a lot of people with a lot of questions, and I’d like to take this opportunity to answer one of them: what happens to the bulletin?

The soul purpose of a weekly church bulletin is to inform parishioners about ongoing news and activities within a church and community. Our bulletin is unique in the way that it informs yet entertains with our weekly features and columns. Starting this weekend, however, it will be reverting back to a newspaper-style guide to what’s going on with St. Damien Parish amidst the Coronavrius outbreak. That means, for a considerable amount of time, we will be publishing shorter issues jam-packed with information. Now is a better time than any to regularly read the bulletin for new information such as updates from the Bishop, Fr. Michael Rush, and other heads inside of St. Damien Parish.

When Mass reopens to the public, we will then begin featuring more content such as Know Your Fellow Parishioner. Until then, though, we’ll be sticking to the most important information we can provide.

If you’d like to pick up a copy of each bulletin, we will be providing them inside St. Augustine Church on a table at the main entrance. You’ll also be able to pick up a copy at the St. Damien Parish Office, located at 1337 Asbury Avenue here in Ocean City. I’m hoping we’ll also be able to provide digital copies of the bulletin on our website. Stay tuned for that!

For those of you who want to read the latest news as it breaks, please be sure to keep checking back on the website. This is our quickest outlet of communication so that we can inform you of everything revolving around the Diocese of Camden and the Catholic church as a whole as leaders and lawmakers respond to COVID-19.

Please keep the St. Damien Parish clergy, staff, parishioners, and community in your prayers during this difficult time. We’ll all be praying for each and every one of you in hopes of good health in the future.

Time to go back to work!

Max