The Catholic Diocese of One Spirit - a Statement to Establish the Communities of Tomorrow by Bishop Jim Burch

Bishop Jim Burch resides in N.VA. Please respond to him directly if you are interested in reading the other parts of this presentation. Also, respond to him with your feedback. He is looking forward to the conversation.
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org

PART 5 - The Catholic Diocese of One Spirit - a Statement to Establish the Communities of Tomorrow

But none of what we have talked aboutdoing to make the church more vibrant and responsive to the needs of people today will "reconstitute," in new form, the parish/local church as it exists today. That structure is in its death throes, and will not last in its present form. The "parish" of the future will be remarkably different from what is taken as a given today.

A couple of years ago I had lunch with a Roman Catholic pastor of a large suburban parish, himself very conservative and a member of Opus Dei. After we warmed up, he admitted something to me that I never expected. This was a man who had started a suburban parish from scratch, had a new $5 million plant, had 3,000 - 4,000 parishioners, and who took in $25,000 - $35,000 per week. By "objective" standards he was a huge "success." Yet he told me, "We (and I knew he meant other Opus Dei, conservative RC pastors) know that this is all over." The "this" he was referring to was the parish as it exists today. "50 years from now, parishes won't be anything like this at all," he said. So - a shock - even our conservative friends know it, but won't usually say it out loud.

Pick the best and the biggest parish (Catholic) or local church (Protestant) you can think of. Usually, the big ones are 4,000 -6,000 parishioners. At most, they will have about 25,000 members. Yet they will draw on a population of 500,000 or more! So even the "best" (i.e., "biggest") of the local churches will only attract a minority of the population from their market area. There is abundant evidence that even the most "successful" of churches only can get a small sliver of the people they try to attract. In the early 21^st Century, an estimated 20% of Protestants and an estimated 25% of Catholics are actually in church on any given Sunday. This structure is over.

Here is what the spiritual community of the future will look like, I think. I am MOST interested in your ideas, suggestions, additions, corrections, prognosticating, vision. Let's get busy working on this now.

1. Very few annual large liturgies will be held for the general population ... perhaps Christmas, Good Friday and Easter, Pentecost and Thanksgiving. Sunday services will not be as large as they are today, for fewer and fewer people will attend. The large special services will be held in the existing churches of today, in new multi-purpose buildings, or in public rented venues. People of mixed Christian/Catholic denominations will gather together, irrespective of minor differences. Because these will be relatively e rare and voluntary, and because they will be prepared well and not so often available as today's every-Sunday-liturgy, they will be well attended, if fact, bulging at the seams. Pastors will also have learned that they have to do it well or they will lose out to those who do.

2. Parish real estate that survives (and much will) will re-form itself as a community focal point, with functions to help and encourage those within its reach, no matter what faith they might be. Through newly-emerged social media will they effectively begin reaching those they always sought to reach

3. Small Communities of Faith will still exist, but they will remain almost as rare as today, and not too much more popular than today. As today, they will comprise from 5 to 20 people usually (50 on major holidays will be considered a big achievement), and top out at the rare community of 100 people. Those who attend will be strong in their attachment, but natural attrition will occur and replacements hard to find on a constant basis.

4. Home Eucharists will be everywhere. Very short and informal liturgies, in the colloquialisms and language of the people present, will be used widely by Christians at almost every meal where "two or three" or more gather. There will be the breaking of the bread and the blessing of the wine, and the sharing to remember Jesus present. Families and their guests will grow comfortable with this spiritual remembrance, and there will be various paragraph-or-two "lessons" available from many sources to make each short liturgy interesting, new and meaningful. The head(s) of the household will lead these Eucharists. The larger parish, which will only see most of these people on rare large feasts (described above), will encourage these family/friend gatherings through email and blog contact. These gatherings will feel a part of the larger parish in this way, if at all.

5. Reading of the Scriptures in Small Home/Friendship Groups. This will occur, particularly when the New New Testament gets rolling (more on this in the future). The New Testament was written to be read out loud in a group and discussed. This will happen, because the New New Testament speaks more clearly and powerfully than even its beautiful predecessor.

6. Special Occasion Excursions will be organized by the parish ministry. Parish ministry may or may not be associated with a building. There will be gatherings at parks for specific age groups, at pools in the summer, along walking trails, picnics at beautiful locations, ski trips, weekends at the ocean or the lake, group meditations waist-deep in the surf, visits to national public monuments and discussions to follow, and a myriad of experiences organized by leaders of children's groups, teen groups, young singles, married couples with and without children, older people, retirees, etc. These will be organized for the fun and the learning and the opportunity to talk together about some spiritual-related topic, carefully thought out and presented by the ministerial organizers. These will be fun and they will be enriching at the same time. It this way, a great majority of people will greatly be attracted to them.

I remember a year or so ago, one of the large churches in Washington, DC - probably worth $10 million in replacement value - decided they wanted to invigorate their church. Much needed it was, as there was no congregation, a board of three members, and they stayed alive by renting out for weddings and yoga classes. They started an informal conversation with me and would call from time to time to test their ideas. One time they called and said they had a great idea: they were going to begin Vespers every Sunday at 5 pm. When there was a deadly silence on my end, they asked what I thought. I said it would never work. "What would you do?" they asked. "Call it Happy Hour" I responded. (I meant it.)

7. Special Occasion Liturgies will be a constant, as long as they are done well (most are not now) and not straight-jacketed by imposed rituals from afar: weddings, funerals and baptisms. These may or may not be in the church building. No matter. These are the occasions people want to celebrate the spiritual reality of their momentous life passage. They will come for joyful and meaningful celebrations, but not for lifeless rituals overlaid by rules and regulations. The parish or other organized structure for ministerial staff will have to be ready for lots of these milestone-type liturgies once this structure becomes more accepted.

8. Connection of the Community by email and blog. This will be the way a self-realized group stays connected with each other. These groups/parishes of the future may or may not be geographic. They can be organized around current churches, new building-less churches, neighborhood associations, senior clubs, sports clubs, travel clubs, even large families or other natural groupings. They will be local groups, and they will be widespread, based on similar interests.

9. Spiritual Television and radio shows will become more available in entertaining and educational format. Not the piety and overlaid sauce of EWTN, but in positive, contemporary theology, dressed up in song, staging, inter-active participation, Q&A and other traits of what society does in this contemporary world. This, I believe, will be the way most people in the times to come, get their spiritual "classes," how they learn about their faith. Obviously, theological slicing and dicing will not move the masses. Only thoughtfully presented, least-common-denominator presentations will work. This is not a criticism of the process to come. It will not be "watered-down." Presentations that actually sink into people, which motivate them to be better and to change their lives toward becoming their best selves, are the presentations that are life-changing, not theological weed-whacking. What are we about here with this Christ-life, after all?

This is the formula for saving a lot of existing parishes/local churches, which are very quickly becoming anachronisms.

However, you may also notice that a community of the sort described above does NOT NEED a physical building. In fact, it may find the going a lot easier without that baggage. Large annual liturgical celebrations can take place in beautiful rented buildings, manor homes, hotels, parks or any appropriate place. In the summer warm months, they could be under roofed-pavilions at local parks. The priest pastor would encourage small communities of faith and vouch for their choices for ordination. He or she would likewise encourage home Eucharists and organize the exploratory trips sponsored by the parish leadership ministries. He or she would be the main point of contact for weddings, funerals and baptisms. The community would be joined through the parish blog and emails.

Such communities would belong to a diocese, not necessarily geographic, perhaps of like-minded people of similar spiritual persuasion (as is the Catholic Diocese of One Spirit today). Liturgies can be sent out by the diocese for use or alteration by the communities through the priest who serves them.

This is a model for community NOW. Through the Catholic Diocese of One Spirit, it is not a structure that has to be waited for. We want to implement this as a model immediately, and encourage any who want to be a part of a church like this.

I ask for your input: shall we add this to our agenda of our diocese? It would not replace anything, but would be in addition to what we are already doing. Should other organizations also use a model like this?

PLEASE GET BACK TO ME AND GIVE YOU YOUR THOUGHTS - WHETHER YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE, WHAT ADDITIONS OR OBSERVATIONS YOU MAY HAVE. THIS IS QUITE IMPORTANT. LET'S MAKE IT A DIOCESEAN-WIDE DELIBERATION! IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER OF OUR DIOCESE, PLEASE ALSO JOIN IN. THIS IS NOT JUST FOR US. WHAT MODEL(S) SHALL WE HAVE READY FOR THE DAWN OF THE NEW CHRISTIAN ERA FORMING AS WE READ?

Part 1 previously observed that - other than for a minority of people - the historical structure of "church" is collapsing all around us. Part 2 then observed that the new face of the Church is all about us.

Part 3 recorded that several important theologians have believed that the Vatican is in schism for dismantling the Second Vatican Council ("ecumenical councils trump popes").

Part 4 built on the first three sections and looked at where we are now in this new phase of opening the Church to its new dawn.

Many blessings,

Jim

Bishop James H. Burch

The Catholic Diocese of One Spirit

703-818-8080

Jim@JamesHBurch.com

BishopJim@OneSpiritCatholic.org

www.OneSpiritCatholic.org