Pastor's Page: January 16, 2011
The Parish of the 21st Century
Since the conclusion of the second Vatican Council in 1965, with its highly collaborative meeting of the world's bishops, a model of collaboration in the local parish has emerged. For 50 years, quite a number of pastoral leaders have reflected on developing parish ministry on the local level. The Council, with its emphasis on the sacrament of baptism as the sacrament of ministry, has had a profound effect on the development of parish life. Parish staffs or teams work closely with pastoral councils and parish finance committees to bring out the full potential of the local parish. Models have been created that produce effective structures to efficiently administrate a parish and grow the parish spiritually, liturgically and in faith formation and outreach to the poor. Pastoral thinkers have developed ways to more fully involved laity in parish life and the work of the gospel.
When I was ordained in 1973, there was very little in the training I received that prepared me for a participatory and interactive model of leadership in the parish. I studied group dynamics and group process as part of my training in seminary, and then because of the demands of parish ministry, returned to school for more advanced studies in pastoral counseling. I needed the skills to deal with shared responsibility and mutual ministry. If a pastor is to be seen as first among equals and not a telling pastor who simply sees to it that his wishes are carried out, then the pastor needs to develop skills to arrive at a consensus and learn how to listen and manage conflict, give feedback and evaluate performance.
Pastors before the second Vatican Council felt generally that they knew what was best for the parish and simply saw to it that things was carried out. People got into the habit of saying "Just tell us what to do Father, and we will do it." This style of pastoring keeps people immature and prevents their taking ownership of the parish. They take no initiative on their own.
The ‘telling style’ is efficient and tasks are accomplished as the pastor tells people what to do, and it is clear that the pastor runs the parish. The style works best when there is chaos and confusion in the parish and a strong hand is needed to put order back into the community. But it does keep people in a child-parent relationship and parishioners do not take on their responsibility as adult baptized proclaimers of the gospel. They do not take ownership of their own parish and their responsibility to develop their faith community.
Parishioners who have been educated in the collaborative model of the second Vatican Council, do not accept a telling pastor as their leader. They may try to encourage the pastor to move toward a more collaborative style. If they succeed in doing so, they will continue in leadership positions. If they are unsuccessful, they will leave the pastor "in charge" and become uninvolved or even leave the parish for another community. Eventually, only the yes people surround this kind of pastor.
Peace and Love,
Father Bruce
Next week: Other Styles of Pastoring A Parish
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