The Mass mob, that is. In a recent effort to revitalize historic Detroit churches at which attendance is often sparse, mobs of Catholics have started to fill pews.
Since April, a group called Detroit Mass Mob has planned monthly flash mob-inspired events. Organizers spread word on Facebook and travel to a new church each month in an effort to increase attendance at regularly-scheduled Masses.
"People are upset that the churches are closing, but the simple reason is, people don't go," Thom Mann, an organizer with Detroit Mass Mob, told NPR. Mann said the group borrowed the concept from similar Mass mob efforts around the country. Detroit’s archbishop even welcomed the idea.
The group first mobbed St. Hyacinth parish in April with 150 participants. NPR reported that the group's September mob at St. Florian parish had 2,000 participants and brought in more than $19,000 in donations—about 10 times the amount donated at the parish’s typical Masses.
This week, over 1,500 participants showed up to the group's October mob at St. Francis D’Assisi Church. Check out a video of the mob here.
Want to mob a Mass near you? A group may have popped up nearby:
