I’m a nomad when it comes to churches. There’s St. Agnes, the first church along the Panhandle I started attending because it was exactly one block away from where I lived. There’s St. Mary’s on Cathedral Hill where Dean got confirmed and has plenty of parking. There’s the beautiful St. Francis of Assisi that has a single mass every day. There’s Old St. Mary’s in the Financial District where I go annually on Ash Wednesday to get dirty. There’s St. Dominic’s where we got married.

And many more! There’s the St. Joseph’s parish I grew up in. There’s the stark Newman Hall for the Berkeley campus.

Because I have great foresight, I decided to register us at every parish that has a good Catholic school attached. Are they really going to know, or even care, if you are registered at multiple churches? I don’t think the San Francisco Archdiocese is that technically-advanced. I grabbed a flyer in the back of St. Ignatius. I filled out online forms for St. Vincent de Paul and Saints Peter and Paul.

Of all the churches I’ve been to, experienced, signed up for, never have I received a personal call back from the pastor welcoming us to his parish and requesting a meet and greet. Churches are like businesses and you’ve got to do what it takes to keep your parishioners feeling good and happy. Not only did I appreciate the personal touch, I was shocked that it’s never happened before. So a big shout out to Notre Dame des Victoires which is probably (even without the phone call) the school my kid will go to.