CrossCurrents A Catholic Reflects on Faith in Our Times
# 159 Bernard
F. Swain, Ph.D. www.CrossCurrents.us
Calling ÒChristmas
CatholicsÓ
to Active Duty
It happens every year, like clockwork. Where churches are usually half-full, there is
Standing Room Only. Where one Mass is usually enough, there now are two: one
upstairs, one downstairs, often in a church hall generally reserved for
meetings or even bingo.
Every year parishes everywhere see their
largest Mass attendance on Christmas, when many non-church-going families show
up for the annual Christmas pageant, carol saying, in/or midnight Mass.
Pastors and parish staffs know this is a
once-a-year chance to communicate and reach out to those people, and many
priests pitch their preaching to a welcoming message that just might induce
some annual visitors to return more often.
But what looks like a once-a-year
phenomenon is actually MUCH more than that. It is a key to understanding the future of parish life.
My work with parishes seldom focuses on
the annual cycle of routine pastoral services—sacraments, liturgical
seasons and feasts, the school year cycle in education. More often, IÕm working with parishes on
their strategic challenges—that is, on the effort to shape the parishÕs
future.
So over the last five years IÕve developed
a concise but challenging process that guides parish leaders in charting the
new course the parish must navigate to arrive at the future they really
want. The process requires
discipline, commitment, and patience.
Naturally, the results vary from parish to parish, since each parish has
its own unique history, makeup, population, and challenges.
But after five years, itÕs also become
obvious to me that certain general themes are common to those
parishes—and these themes offer great insight into the shape of parish
life, both now and as we move ahead.
The most obvious theme is: most parishes
are losing the Ònumbers gameÓ on three fronts. First, Mass attendance is not
where it should be, and has been falling in many places for more than 30 years.
Second, the amount of money people give is not adequate to parish needs in many
places, so that many needed services and programs are either under-funded or
missing altogether. Third, the number of volunteers is often limited to Òthe
same old faces who do everything around here,Ó which typically leads to cutting
services or over-working volunteers or both.
There are, of course, many parishes where
the ÒnumbersÓ are up—especially parishes were demographic shifts have
brought new, young families moving into the parish in large numbers. If your
parish sees growing numbers at Mass, in financial giving, and in volunteering,
you can be grateful you are living in an exceptional situation. But the more
general reality is that, even where raw numbers are growing because of demographic shifts and growing
populations, the percentages (of
Catholics at Mass, of giving related to income, of people volunteering) are
down.
ItÕs no surprise, then, that most parish
leaders I work with can see that a bright future depends on growth in these
numbers. In an era when hundreds of parishes have closed nation-wide, they know
their parish will survive and thrive only if there are more worshipers at mass,
more money in the basket, and more parishioners volunteering to serve.
With such numbers in mind, pastoral
planners typically target the same priorities. In parish after parish, leaders
call for (1) vibrant liturgies, (2) warmer hospitality, (3) effective adult
formation programs, and (4) a broader spirit of stewardship and ownership.
As IÕve seen these priorities named time
after time, itÕs become obvious to me that they all have a common denominator.
In different ways, they are all based on the same principle—and they all
seek to send the same message: ÒPassive Membership is a Contradiction in
Terms!Ó
This may not sound like much, but in fact
this idea is profoundly Important, Radical, and Challenging.
This idea is Important because it pinpoints the essential problem: too many
Catholics donÕt even understand what it means to be a member of the Church. The very word ÒmemberÓ suggests, of
course, being part of a larger body, and Saint Paul has completed the image for
us. Baptism into the Church makes us, above all, a member of the Body of
Christ—a body in which, Paul tells us, every single member is
indispensable. Any passive member is a member not fulfilling its function in
the body—and the body suffers. The Body of Christ thrives only when all
its members are on full active duty.
The idea is Radical because it totally breaks with the traditional rhyme
scheme for organizing church life. In that scheme, the point of Catholic faith
was Òpie in the sky when you die,Ó
the clergyÕs role was to Òhatch, match, and dispatchÓ —and ordinary members were expected only to Òpray,
pay, and obey.Ó
Under that scheme, many Catholics went to
Mass merely as Òfire insuranceÓ against eternal suffering in Hell, and they
were allowed (or even encouraged) to think that such passive membership was
perfectly acceptable—that simply showing up was enough to make you a
Ògood memberÓ of the Catholic Church (Meanwhile, the priests and sisters did
all the Òreal workÓ of the church).
The new slogan Òpassive membership is a
contradiction in termsÓ not only
abandons the attempt at rhyming, it also turns a 180 on the whole idea of
membership. In a word, it sets a higher standard: a good member is never
passive, is always an Òactive dutyÓ member.
The idea is Challenging because, by inviting Catholics to follow a higher
standard of more active involvement, it might also intimidate or even
intimidate others. This poses a major dilemma, since most Church leaders have
long abandoned aggressive tactics like scolding the ÒChristmas CatholicsÓ for
not coming more often. Few priests pressure engaged couples or parents of
babies-to-be-baptized about their church-going habits. We lived at a time when
anyone approaching the Church is welcomed unconditionally, in hopes that caring
hospitality will bear the fruit of greater interest. No one wants to alienate
them.
So the challenge becomes: how does one
raise the bar on membership without alienating those who are not prepared to
meet a higher standard? How to
convey the message Òpassive membership is a contradiction in termsÓ without pushing out the passive members? For many
parishes, this is the key pastoral challenge of the future.
Perhaps weÕll need to organize a kind of
Òtwo-tierÓ membership, where, a minority of members participate at a level
others donÕt. This exists de facto in most places already of course, but
generally there is no public recognition that such Òactive dutyÓ minorities are
truly functioning members while the others (the ÒreservistsÓ?) are not. Somehow
that will have to change.
One thing is sure: parishes that learn to
recruit a significant fraction of ÒChristmas CatholicsÓ to active duty without alienating the rest will quickly find they are
finally beginning to win the Ònumbers game.Ó That really would be like having
Christmas all year round!
© Bernard F. Swain PhD 2006
Send Your Comments and Questions to bfswain@juno.com
Dr. SwainÕs
opinions do not represent the views of this parish or any other official body.
Bernie Swain has
devoted more than 30 years to adult spiritual formation in dioceses in the US,
Canada, and France. Since 1991 he has maintained a private practice as trainer,
teacher, and consultant to leaders in parishes and other religious
organizations. He holds degrees in theology and political science from Holy
Cross, Harvard, The University of Paris, and The University of Chicago.
His writings include Liberating
Leadership (Harper & Row,
1986) and more than 200 articles in periodicals such as The National Catholic
Reporter, Commonweal, The Miami Herald, The Catholic Free Press, The Pilot,
Harvard Theological Review, and
Liturgy.
A lifelong layperson,
he lives in Boston with his wife and three children. Visit his website at:
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