Over the past three years, Bishop James P. Powers has led our diocese in the launch of a culture-changing initiative called “Maintenance to Mission.” The Catholic Herald has highlighted many aspects of this in previous articles.
One element of that initiative that began in fall 2023 was what the diocese has described as “recalibrating maintenance for mission.” The word “calibrate” has a few definitions, but the one being invoked here is “to adjust precisely for a particular function.”
As mainstream American culture moves further and further away from the Christendom era of history into an increasingly secular age, it is crucial that we ensure that everything we do as a church is oriented toward a missionary mindset, instead of a maintenance mindset.
This means that we must examine all of the structures and programming that we currently do and assess whether these things still make sense in our radically different cultural moment. Toward this end, Bishop Powers has asked all of us to honestly ask ourselves, “Are we doing all this for our own personal preference or for spreading the kingdom of God to those around us?”
As part of this recalibration effort, leaders from every parish across the diocese gathered at the deanery level and then the diocesan level to begin discerning how to start this recalibrating work in our local communities.
It became clear from those meetings that there is a grassroots desire across the diocese to see our parishes not only survive, but find a pathway forward to abundant life in a new era of mission in our diocese. There is a strong desire from parishioners to grow in faith and understanding and to invite back those who have walked away from the practice of the faith. The complacency Bishop Powers mentions in his pastoral letter is starting to break down. To use his words, we are starting to see a glimpse of an “overflow of the love of God that we have personally received, pouring itself out in a desire for that love to be received by those around us” (5).
Despite the first fruits we are seeing, we must not downplay the magnitude of what we are talking about. It is a huge deal to shift from maintaining our buildings and programs of the past 50 years to leaning out to build a genuine culture of mission. The only way to genuinely proceed in this endeavor is with tremendous faith and confidence in the provision of God; which is to say, with a profound spiritual renewal. Bishop Powers continues in his letter, “spiritual renewal will secondarily lead to institutional renewal, but I hope and pray that it will also lead us to a healthy detachment from our structures and schedules and to a prioritization on the person of Jesus and the mission of making him known and loved” (5).
If we are excitedly working toward this renewal, how do we make sure we do it in a way that is faithful to who we are as Catholics? In this regard, we have the great blessing of canon law and diocesan policy to keep us from departing from church doctrine and discipline. An important task for the diocese’s recalibration is clarifying how our parishes, clusters and diocesan offices can pursue missionary transformation within healthy bounds. The bishop’s planning committee has spent the past several months doing that work and will be publishing some updated guidelines in January.
The planning committee has also spent many hours looking at data, evaluating maintenance models and discerning the needs of our people. Even though on paper it is clear that some parishes may have served their most productive years already and now have aging buildings and an older generation of parishioners, Bishop Powers believes wherever local communities are willing to go on mission, there is the potential for sustainability. Our focus is not on closing parishes or drastically reorganizing clusters. Our focus is on cultural change through operational change.
Accordingly, we are looking at administrative roles and responsibilities of clergy and laity and adjusting, within the boundaries of canon law for mission. We may see programs run differently or go away. We may see less Mass time, so our Masses can have more lay ministers available and so the Mass can truly be vibrant, holy and lifegiving – truly celebrating the mystery of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. We also may see laity and deacons become more involved in the administration of our parishes so our priests can be increasingly available to shepherd their people on mission.
As mentioned in these articles, moving forward on mission will be hard for some of us. It is a different focus. We will see more people practicing the faith with a stronger intensity and desire. Some of our parishes have minimal activity right now – few people attending Masses, very few sacraments occurring, and few, if any, evangelization opportunities. This can be disheartening and worrisome for the future of a parish.
For the cultural shift we are talking about to take place, we need to more fully move from seeing the church as a church (our building) to a Church (the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, the People of God). We can and ought to love our parish homes, but we need to love them in a free way that acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church, and he may have a different future for us than we had expected or hoped for.
Can we come together in different church buildings in adjusted Mass schedules, experiencing faith with more people? If this is the Lord’s will for us, we certainly can! We need to pray to the Holy Spirit before the Blessed Sacrament that we are truly doing God’s will. Sometimes we confuse our own personal desires with that of the will of God. Would the Lord wish to see us struggle and practice our faith alone? He has called us to follow him in intentional community. For some of us that might mean coming together more often with neighboring communities or even merging.
Having reviewed the current parish data and listened attentively to discussions from deanery meetings, Bishop Powers has decided not to close parishes at this time. He believes every parish can embrace the mission of evangelization, even though it will take time and it will be hard.
However, there will be options for parishes that experience very few people attending Mass and minimal to no activity within its church buildings. Those options will be explained in Bishop’s announcements in January of 2025.
Until then, what can we do?
So, for right now, what are parishes called to do.
The No. 1 thing is to entrust ourselves, our parishes, and our diocesan church to the Lordship of Jesus – especially praying before Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, asking the Holy Spirit to renew our church.
1. Everyone should read, study and reflect on Bishop’s pastoral letter, utilizing the study guide on the diocesan website.
2. Parishes should utilize the Parish Discipleship Pathway resource found, again, on the diocesan website, to begin mapping out for their people a clear path to missionary discipleship.
3. Parish evangelization teams should be attending vision formation gatherings and workshops offered throughout the year.
4. Parishes leaders (clergy, school principals, catechetical leaders) should invest in their Cenacles – small group prayer and faith groups. Parishes are invited to begin local Cenacles or other small group ministry as well.
We know in our hearts it is time to change our culture. Bishop Powers helped us realize this with his Pastoral Letter. Thank you to everyone who has committed to moving our parishes on mission. As our diocesan patron, St. Augustine, said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord.” May we channel the restlessness we experience in these pivotal days toward deeper devotion to our Lord and courage to follow him whether he leads.
