www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Door is open, Nun appointed "Parish Life Director" ?

I was going to joke and say, well, mine is. But that wouldn't be true at all. It's definitely a cooperative/complimentary arrangement.

It sounds like the article (and some of the quotes in it) really puffed up the role of the sister, who really sounds like an administrator and who is supposed to be freeing the priest up to fulfill the roles only he can fulfill in the parish.

At least, let's hope that's what's going on.

Miller,

I was kind of joking around. I know of a young woman who has a degree of some sort from Stubenville who has been doing youth ministry for about 7 years or so. Her full time job is a parish youth minister. She also does talks on chastity for the Latin diocese of Pittsburgh at local schools. Her parish has like 70 kids.

In contrast, I do some youth ministry, when I can get all of my 3-5 teens together, and it's all on a purely voluntary level. But I never knew, until meeting this aforementioned young woman, that lay people can get PAID to do what I've always considered a voluntary type thing. However, she's got a pretty big job.

My previous parish, with thousands of children registered, had a middle school and a high school youth leader (both full-time, paid positions) to minister to the all of 50-100 kids who showed up at most each week. They also had large volunteer groups to work with the children at every level. On top of this, they had a Director of Religious Education, an RCIA director, several secretaries, several priests, a couple psychologists, a couple deacons (one employed full-time at the church, one not), some attached religious, and goodness knows what else all as paid full-time positions. The only program I found to be better than when done by volunteers was the counseling. The RCIA director also had a full plate and was always working. Though I did not find the program to be very good, she did earn her salary with how much work she did.

Despite all these people who were paid, I almost never saw any of the priests and found it difficult to get in to see any of them even about the jobs only they could do. (Well, except for the heretical and now defrocked, excommunicated priest who had no personal secretary but was always active and involved and able to get in to see at the drop of a hat. Needless to say, he was extremely popular despite [or perhaps also due to] is heresies.) It is sad, really. People are really craving for more and where they are getting it is from those who are passionate about what they believe in--the heretics. We need more priests who are passionate about the faith!

I have no doubt that parish priests are overworked and spread thin. This format could work just fine when applied appropriately. The problem is that it won't be. It will be used to promote an agenda and pull people further from the church.

Hi,

Yes!

And that is exactly the way the model should work: A cooperative/complementary arrangement between clergy and laity that would not only allow each to do its own part of the work, but also enable the parish to survive in the eventuality of not having a priest available on a permanent, full-time basis.

Hmmm....

Parish Life Directors are more than the much more popular Parish Administrators. In fact, a parish may have both positions filled in by two lay persons.

Parish Administators are operatives, people who you go to with a "to do" list, hoping they can help you to get those things done.

Parish Life Directors may do that, but as the title implies, their position is more directive than operative. The Parish Life Director is able and expected to set the course, not just turn the wheel.

Of course, this is done within their own jurisdiction, which is ample, but not comprehensive.

Parish Administrators deal mostly with temporal resources and logistics. Parish Life Directors have a more pastoral role, involving themselve in social ministries, cathechesis, liturgy, etc.

Well, as with everything, this model of parish can be abused and we already have some unsucessful attempts to implement it.

However, we also have some pretty successful ones and, if anything, this whole thing has shed new light on the value of our priests, and has enabled our parish communities not take better care of their priests, but also to care more about them.

I think that's good.

Shalom,
Memo

I'm sorry, but when I read things like this, I question the point of attempting reunification of East and West. I, for one, want no part of any of this. It seems like the Latin Church is drifting ever farther away from the Apostolic Faith, and entering into the realm of Protestantism.

Alexandr

Let me rephrase that. It seems like a portion of the Latin Church is drifting ever farther away from the Apostolic Faith, and entering into the realm of Protestantism. Sometimes it is hard to believe that certain liberal diocese and Pope Benedict are in the same Church!

Alexandr

I almost wrote in my above response the irony of the juxtaposition of the situation in the RCC and in the Episcopalian church. It seems we could just trade out parishes!