Keeping viable, gospel-witnessing parish communities together should be a primary consideration in diocesan decisions about closing or merging parishes.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
The recommended forum for discerning together. The Parish Community is: Gods instrument in enabling the Kingdom of God to flourish in peoples lives Empowered.
Advertisements

Bishops Committee on Hispanic Affairs Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs.
Call to Baptism: Implications for Publicly Authorised Ecclesial Ministry.
Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma Since 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has had one mission— the Great Commission.
15 PRINCIPLES OF CATHOLIC DEVELOPMENT AND STEWARDSHIP.
USCCA Chapter 20 Wednesday, April 12, 2017
DO NOW: THINK ABOUT THE PERSON YOU WILL BECOME. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR LIFE WILL BE LIKE WHEN YOU ARE 25 YEARS OLD? WRITE SOME IDEAS! Chapter 18 ~ “Holy.
Planning Tomorrow’s Parishes A Future Full of Hope Saint Brigid Town Hall March 2012.
1 Journeying Together. THE WIDER WORLD A VISIBLE PRESENCE FAITH AND VALUES WORSHIP.
OVERVIEW OF FOCUS SESSIONS OVERVIEW OF FOCUS SESSIONS WINTER-SPRING 2012 Diocesan Pastoral Council – 3 November
Bishop Joseph Tyson February 22 nd Questions to ask ourselves (every school and every parish): What are we doing well? What can we do differently?
The objectives of the Parish Forum:  To facilitate and improve communications within the Parish  To coordinate and improve activities of the Parish.
New Foundations for a Theology of Ministry Richard R. Gaillardetz, Ph.D.
Welcome to YOU ARE LIVING STONES Meeting of Priests – 18 February Coffee 10.20Opening Prayer & Address – Bishop Malcolm 11.00Deanery Discussion.
YOU ARE LIVING STONES What is a Diocese? ‘A Diocese is a portion of the People of God, which is entrusted to a Bishop to be nurtured by him, with the cooperation.
The Church as Institution
THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS. What is ministry? Ministry means service. Christian ministry means to imitate Jesus, who said, “The Son of Man did not come.
Sacraments of Service and Communion (also Commitment)
One Church What More Can We Do?.
1 Competency-Based Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.
Holy orders Jose Alcantar Miguel Jacome Jacob Torres Diego Vasquez Christian Virtucio.
Ordination of Women. Why does ordination matter? As a symbol? As a symbol? For decision-making in the whole church body? For decision-making in the whole.
Holy Orders Aaron Almario Adan Cañas Bryant Contreras Nick Gatti Joshua Perez.
“Chosen and Called” Christina Morgana Kara Williams Melissa Apicella.
DIOCESE OF NOVA SCOTIA & PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND VISION, STRATEGY, AND SUPPORT TEAM (VSST) BUILDING HEALTHY LEADERSHIP Healthy Leadership for lay and ordained.
MEETING JESUS IN THE SACRAMENTS
The Vocation of the Deacon: An Orientation Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D. Director of Faith Formation, Diaconate and Pastoral Planning Diocese of Monterey.
Holy Orders (the Ordained Ministry) Pries t Deaco n Bishop What do these three all have in common ? What are their differences ?
Ordination of Women. What is ordination? Community decides this person should be a minister Community decides this person should be a minister Usually.
NEW DIRECTIONS Archdiocese of Adelaide 18/11/2014.
Developing Enabler Supported Ministry in the Missionary Diocese of Tasmania.
“We Believe” Sacraments of Vocation Wednesday, Nov. 8 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm Please sign in and pick up Today’s handout…Thanks!
What is required of us? The Role of the Local Church, the Laity & the Clergy in Forming the BECs.
Parish Pastoral Councils. The Calling The call of the first disciples: Matthew 4:18-19 Mark 1:16-20 Luke 5:9-11 John 1:35-43.
Chapter 3.  Church began after the Resurrection of Jesus Convinced the disciples that Jesus was the Messiah This was the ultimate proof of Jesus’ divinity.
Build a Church! Using whatever materials you find and your own creativity, demonstrate the elements needed for a Church. If we don’t have the materials.
A FUTURE FULL OF HOPE SEPTEMBER 20, A FUTURE FULL OF HOPE.
Horizons O Lord our God, look with favor upon your pilgrim people in the Diocese of Maryland. Help our lay ministers, deacons, priests, and bishops.
Recruiting and Forming Catechists JOE PAPROCKI, DMIN National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press in Chicago CALLING.
Chapter 5 Called to the Ordained Life. The Sacraments The Sacraments of Initiation Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist establish our relationship with.
Diocese of Davenport Local Area Parish Planning Process.
– Planning Overview September New Planning Committee established – 2013 New Planning Committee established – 2013 – 6 Pastors, 1 Finance.
Holy Orders.
Sacrament of Holy Orders Read p. 284 Spiritual Advisors.
Articles 10 & 11 EARLY CHURCH LEADERSHIP & THE EDICT OF MILAN.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SACRAMENTS. SEVEN SACRAMENTS Within the Catholic Church there are seven sacraments BAPTISM CONFIRMATION EUCHARIST PENANCE ANOINTING.
Answering God’s call…. Last time…  We discussed the call to single or married life Today we will talk about the call and role of ordained ministers.
Chapter Seven Continuing the Work of the Apostles.
Holy Orders Objectives:
Building a parish vision of Youth ministry A quick overview of the USCCB document “Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Youth Ministry” (1997)
The Catholic Parish Today What are some Vital (and some not so vital) Signs?
Ecclesiology — What in the World Does the Church Do? A Study of the Doctrine of the Church.
Sacrament of Holy Orders
CATHOLIC ACTION in Vatican Council II. Explicit quotations Christus Dominus 17 Decree on the pastoral ministry of Bishops. Apostolicam Actuositatem 20.
Lay Ecclesial Ministries Vocations, Unit 2. What is a lay ecclesial ministry?
About Forward Together in Hope ‘The purpose of Forward Together in Hope is to help us discover how to be more committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
Continuing the Work of the Apostles
Holy Orders Chapter Eight. Sharing in the Priesthood of Christ Christ becomes visibly present to the Church as its head and high priest Sacred power exercised.
Apostolicam Actuositatem Catholic Action The 4 characteristic notes.
Working Together in Mission LaSallian Association of Secondary School Chief Administrators February 21, 2016.
Unit 3: We Believe in One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.
MISSIONARY FOR AUSTRALIA 4 TH NATIONAL CONGRESS 2014.
All are Called to Ministry at Baptism Discover Where God is Calling You When you pass through the waters I will be with you. Isaiah 43:2.
Ordained Life Vocations – Lap 5 – Day 1.
Institute for Leadership in Ministry
3.2 The Three Degrees of Holy Orders
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Parañaque
CHURCH – TE WHĀNAU A TE KARAITI
Presentation transcript:

Keeping viable, gospel-witnessing parish communities together should be a primary consideration in diocesan decisions about closing or merging parishes in a time of fewer priests. U.S. Church leaders must develop best practices for preserving and enhancing vibrant parishes especially as more lay ecclesial ministers, deacons and lay leaders respond to a call from God to serve the Roman Catholic Church. A Call to Preserve Vibrant Parishes

Jesus told his disciples where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Mt 18:20). From the beginning, Christians gathered together into communities to support each other in living and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. Parish communities are the lifeblood of the Catholic Church and anything that damages their well-being is a threat to the Body of Christ.

But recently some dioceses have closed or merged viable parish communities even though they had active lay leadership and important outreach ministries. There is evidence that in some places, high real estate values and abundant parish assets carried too much weight in deciding which parishes to close.

Yet, Church law tells us that the most fundamental right of a parish is the right to existence (c ). Once a community of faith is formed and recognized, it becomes perpetual unless it is legitimately suppressed or stops all activity for 100 years (c120.1). To be suppressed, the impossibility of continued life must be clearly demonstrated. Parishes have a right to exist.

Because of the priest shortage, dioceses throughout the U.S. may be forced to reconfigure parishes well into the foreseeable future. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, 75% of the 18,000 active diocesan priests in the U.S. are over 55 years old, but we are only ordaining about 350 new diocesan priests each year. In 20 years, presuming ordinations remain constant, we could have as few as 11,500 active diocesan priests for our 19,000 parishes. Thankfully, numbers of deacons and lay ecclesial ministers have increased significantly to 14,000 and 30,000 respectively.

In the past 20 years, bishops in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Albany, Saginaw, Seattle, Baltimore and Los Angeles issued pastoral documents aimed at preserving viable parish communities. They chose creative solutions such as entrusting the pastoral care of several parishes to one priest, to a team of priests, or to competent lay ecclesial ministers, deacons and religious. An estimated 600 U.S. parishes are currently entrusted to someone other than a priest, called a parish life coordinator. Alternatives to Closing Parishes

Acts 5:27 tells us: there is no rationing the Spirit. Our God is a God of abundance. The increased availability of lay ecclesial ministers and deacons supplies a rich resource for preserving vibrant, active parishes rather than closing them simply because no priest is available.

BEST PRACTICES FOR PRESERVING VIBRANT PARISHES IN TIME OF FEWER PRIESTS Provided by Future Church

Parishes that are financially viable and have active lay leadership and apostolic outreach should not be closed or merged solely because there is no priest available.

Before closing or merging vital parishes in areas where no priests are available, bishops should use all the latitude canon law provides for empowering lay ecclesial ministers and/or deacons to administer and lead parishes. (Canons and )

Parishioners and lay leaders should be informed, consulted and involved in all decisions about the future of their parish. In collaboration with priests and/or parish life coordinators. Lay leaders on parish councils, parish finance committees and other parish committees or commissions should be empowered to take ownership for the financial stability and gospel witness of their parish community.

Abundant financial assets and the high commercial value of parish real estate should never be primary reasons for closing or merging any parish.

Parish size and demographics should not be the only determinant for reconfiguring. Ethnic diversity and outreach to marginalized groups should weigh equally to size, presuming leadership and financial viability are also present.

Our bishops should encourage vocation awareness for diaconate and lay ministerial ecclesial calls as well as ecclesial calls to the male celibate priesthood.

Dioceses should work toward subsidizing theological and pastoral education for lay ministers at the same level as diaconate education.