What does a parish do for an encore after it stages a unique, and highly successful , “Homecoming” program which attracts former Catholics back to their faith, and in the process draws numerous inquiries for more information around the world?

It does it again, and “makes it even more successful,” says Rev. Daniel J. O’Connor, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, whose Roswell/Alpharetta parish in the hectic midst of “Homecoming II.”

The North Fulton pastor notes that the impetus for the Homecoming program was the large influx of people into the metropolitan Atlanta area from the Northeast and Midwest, “where we knew that many of them had had some sort of Catholic background.”

Since many of these transfers had never even been to St. Thomas Aquinas, “we had to design a program to encourage them to give the whole Church a new look, as well as this particular parish.” “There are essentially two major changes since our first Homecoming,” Father O’Connor explains. “Before, we asked parishioners to turn in names of co-workers or friends or neighbors who were Catholic, but not attending Mass. A specifically trained group of parish ‘apostles’ then went out to make calls on these people.”

“This time, we are asking each parishioner to make that contact personally, rather than turning names over to someone else. In those few cases, of course, where a parishioner simply cannot or will not do it themselves, we will use our ‘apostles’ team, but the emphasis is clearly on convincing each parishioner to become an evangelist for Jesus Christ.”

“We believe we can do a better job of talking to people we know, even if it’s only a passing acquaintance, rather than using total strangers.”

“The second major change we made is to use Homecoming as an on-going parish renewal program. We started the third week of January and are building toward a climax in the last week of March.”

The control point for Homecoming is a small “prospect card” which each parishioner is asked to fill out before making contact with an RCR.

This card is carefully checked by Father O’Connor and his assistant, Father Daniel McCormick, to eliminate duplication, to see if there is some information about that RCR that the priests might be able to share with the parishioner before the contact is made, and to allow the pastor to send a special letter to the RCR, explaining the program and requesting the person to give the St. Thomas parishioner a chance to talk about the parish, and Homecoming.

All of the parish’s efforts are directed toward Homecoming Sunday, March 25, when parishioners are urged to bring a guest to one of the Masses, but particularly the 9 a.m. Community Mass, which will be followed by a special breakfast.

That week from Monday, March 26, through Friday, March 30, there will be seminars each evening which are designed to address the concerns of former Catholics about key areas such as birth control, changes in the liturgy and the Church’s attitude toward divorced Catholics.

To reach these people, the parish has installed a special phone where laypersons will be available, 24 hours a day, to answer questions about Homecoming and about whatever the caller wants to talk about.

“We have found from past experience that many former Catholics are anxious to talk about whatever it is that moved them away from an active practice of their faith. They want to talk to someone who can listen with sympathy and perhaps offer some suggestions,” Father O’Connor says.

To generate those phone calls, the parish is advertising in the North Fulton edition of the Atlanta Journal, the entire metropolitan edition of the Atlanta Constitution, and in the local Neighbor paper.

Copies of the advertisement will be distributed by parish teams at Roswell’s major shopping centers. A 60-second commercial will be aired over WSB, and Atlanta radio and television stations are being asked to broadcast a public service announcement about the Homecoming program.

“My most vivid memory,” Father O’Connor recalls, “was last time when we brought back to the Church a man who had been away for 30 years.”

“He saw one of our flyers that somebody had put in his mailbox. He could barely speak when he came to the rectory. He said it was the first time anyone had ever asked him to come back to Church in those 30 years.”

The priest paused for a moment. “That was only one example. There were a lot of others.”

“And that is what Homecoming II is all about -- a time to renew our own faith and belief in Jesus Christ, and a time to share that faith with others.” “Our Homecoming program could not have a better name. What we are doing at St. Thomas Aquinas is inviting people to return to the practice of their religion.”

“Regardless of whether we succeed in bringing back 500 people or five, we are doing the Lord’s work. We are trying to help people find their way back home to Jesus Christ.”