Dear Parishioners,
As many of you know, I hold a Parish Board Game Night once a month in the school cafeteria. Also, those of you involved in the school know that I run a Board Game Club after school once a week during the school year. What many of you do not know and are probably too polite to ask is why a priest would spend so much time playing board games and what this has to do with his vocation.
Beyond any other reason, I play board games and encourage others to do the same because they are fun and I enjoy sharing my interests. Over the past decade or two, the board game hobby has exploded with so many new games coming out every year. These games are incredibly diverse and range from social deduction games to strategy games to games that tell a story. Sometimes when I tell people I like games, they think I must mean Monopoly or Candyland. While I appreciate the historical legacy of such games, there are way better games out there. If you want to see examples of what I mean, please look up the following games: Settlers of Catan, Dixit or Betrayal at House on the Hill. I have seen all of these games regularly played in board game groups. They are not that complex but give a good taste of the diversity of the hobby. (N. B. I am purposefully leaving out games that simulate war and political conflicts. But, I really enjoy those as well.)
If I were to give a practical reason for why I play board games, I do have to point out that it overcomes one of the most serious social maladies we have in our culture today: isolation. More and more people do not do things that make them interact with strangers on a social level. Many young people spend most of their free time in impersonal pursuits like playing video games and spending more time on their phones. Many of us do not even know our neighbors or what is going on in the community. On a very basic level we need people in our lives and we are happier when we are inconvenienced by them. However, as much as we need people, there are very few activities one can do to interact with others on a meaningful level.
Board games allow people to interact and really learn a lot about each other. As an awkward person, I often have little idea what to do in a social situation and prefer having a specific job or activity to do. When I play a game with someone, it immediately makes me take interest in the person and I end up learning a lot more about them than if I were just asking questions in small talk. I don’t even like watching movies with people I know anymore because that seems to be a waste of potential time to play games. Overcoming isolation is also the key reason why I see playing games as an important aspect of my ministry. The faith is best shared on a personal level with people you actually know. Hardly anyone picks up a book on Catholicism and thinks about converting and living a deeper life committed to Christ. So, having more and more opportunities to interact with people is essential to spreading the faith in general.
If you are interested in board games, feel free to show up at our next Parish Board Game Night on July 13th in the cafeteria. It begins at 5 pm. But, people can come and go as they please and I’m usually there until after 10 pm. There are plenty of friendly people there (we usually have about 30 players) who also enjoy teaching these games.
God bless!
Fr. Carter