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Regarding Boats in the Harbour.

Sunday, June 23, 2019 4:34

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Regarding Boats in the Harbour.

I am a priest who works in a parish, and one who looks for ways to help make that work relevant and worthwhile. Sometimes the skies are grey and other times the sun shines with a beautiful light!

The parish is the setting for the work that I do on a daily basis. In the parish I make my home. From my home I am to go out and engage with the gospel, and so engage with the world. The world I was ordained into back in 1992 was a different world to today. I was a curate or assistant priest for five years and then a parish priest for the next 22 years. I have had a retired priest living with me for the last six years, he is 87 and he tells me of a world that was very different back when he was ordained in 1957!

The parish structure has not been changed for many years, even though the world we live in has changed dramatically. Am I able to serve the church as a priest with the present structure of parish life? I would say yes, because I have been doing so for ths length of time. How willing would I be to embrace change, even if it meant the gospel being more effectively proclaimed? I was ordained to serve the Gospel of Christ, the Church, the People of God, so I should be willingly to acccept changes in structure…

Falling numbers of priests, nose diving congregations, full schools but empty pews, baptisms becoming stamps to get in the schools, catholic teaching being ridiculed in public life and a “cafe” or pick and choose approach to what people believe, make being a priest an increasing stressful and difficult vocation to embrace! I am often tired, worn out too, my experience is not untypical. I am though delighted to be a priest, I am humbled by my vocation, my trust is always in Christ, and for the most part my smile is authentic!

I feel that if I am not prudent as a pastor, the parish can become a little like a members club, inward looking, abiding by the rules, but not being challenged by the rules themselves, serving the parish’s own continuation and taking eyes of the real goal, which is surely the good news of the gospel.

I feel that in a place like the Coventry Deanery, where we have thirteen parishes in a relatively small area, things could look very different and the church could be a stronger presence in the local community.

When I supply, or go out to one of the parishes for a Mass or event, it does not take me a great deal of time to get from one parish to another. These parishes have priests who are doing what they can to maintain and proclaim the gospel. Here, they do their best to be the effective pastor, the evangeliser, the solver of problems, the sign of sanctity, the man for all, the companion on the journey, the dispenser of the sacraments. The demand can be sometimes overwhelming, the response to the demands of work positively human, it takes its toll physically, mentally, and spiritually. Some questions that affect me are:

Do I have the finances to get the work done? Do I have enough people helping out? Why is it the case that it is the same few people who help all the time? Why do some people take the parish church for granted, using it when they require it, but rarely visiting at other times? How do I strengthen ecumenical relationships, or build youth networks, or become concerned about the poor or needy, when I have so much to do to keep the buildings afloat? Why do I feel guilty taking a holiday or a day off? If I don’t do it…who will? The congregation is getting older and thinner in numbers yet I am expecting so much of them. What will all this look like in five or even ten years?

We all need affirmation, support, structures around us that enhance our work rather than inhibit it. On my own I do my best, and with my parishioners we seek to serve. If nothing changes, we will continue doing what we can.

At the Council of Clergy meeting last week I was impressed by the presentations given on the pastoral plan and the finances of the diocese. A real eye opener about the reality behind the mission of the gospel! The graph for the dip in Mass going was scary, the graph for the number of working priests we will have in the diocese in a few years to come, equally worrying.

A couple of points I would like to reflect upon from the presentation.

A point was raised about the fishing boats being in the harbour when they could be out on the open seas. It made me think. The fishing boats are any number of realities, I would see them in this analogy as perhaps the parishes.

There is a time in history when the boat has to return to the harbour for repairs, to be upgraded, to get a bit of a makeover perhaps. To enable it to go back out to the open seas confident it won’t sink because of lack of care and attention shown. The boats that have been in the harbour won’t sink when they return to the seas, because the repairs done are essential maintenance.

Some boats might prefer to avoid the harbour and stay out at sea, struggling with the winds and carrying on, despite the sails being shredded or the holes in the timber leaking water, by not coming into harbour they may find that they do not have the tools to stay at sea.

If the parish is the boat, then the harbour is vital for the good repair and upkeep the boat deserves. It may mean that one boat comes out of service to be replaced by a bigger boat with a slightly larger crew looking after it. It could mean that the latest technology could be employed to make the boat more seaworthy.

I think that in a place like Coventry we have thirteen parishes, of these, three have more than one church to serve. All the parishes operate with individual captains of their boats, sailing out on the high seas, engaged with the world. Each does the best job it can, given the personnel it has, the size and condition of the boat, the goodwill of the crew. These thirteen boats might need to come into the harbour to get a refit, a fresh look at the methods of fishing, a makeover, it might mean some of the boats and crews coming together to invest in a bigger boat that can fit them all and give them the tools to cope with the rough seas, bringing in more fish.

What would this mean for Coventry? Maybe it would mean rethinking parish structures, maybe it might mean not thirteen parishes, some struggling to keep heads above water, but two pastoral areas. North and south, or east and west, maybe. Seven parishes could merge into one area, and the other six parishes merge into the other area. Parishes do try to work together already, and when they do, it can be worthwhile indeed.

Churches would still remain as communities, still being served by priests and people, the gospel still to be proclaimed. Instead of the number of priests we have now, nine or ten could remain, four or five in each area house. Two presbyteries could be chosen to enlarge and make into a home for the five priests, in one and five or so in the other, each would have a common kitchen, dining room, and other shared rooms, but private quarters too.

Another presbytery could be chosen to be adapted into the office house for each of the two pastoral area’s, employing not one, but maybe two or three secretaries. Here the RCIA or other deanery meetings could be housed. The sale of some presbyteries might help fund the changes!

Masses during the week would be spread out amongst the parish churches. On some days a lay led prayer service could take place, not as a stop gap measure but as a way of the community praying together and looking outwards.

People in a parish who feel the one parish office is too far away can meet a priest during the week, when Mass is celebrated in that church, or on a Sunday. Members of the laity can take the lead in coordinating parish events. Cars, public transport, telephones, email, make the area we live in more accessible than ever. Funerals, baptisms, weddings, the care of the sick would take on a collective responsibility by those priests, deacons and laity, who make up the two areas. Careful thought, planning and communication would be essential for any changes to take place.

The harbour becomes the Catholic community of Coventry, coming together to preserve and enhance the vocation we all have been given, to live out or faith and embrace it fully. And together going out to bring the gospel to others, strengthened by the new structures of support that have been put in place.

These are just thoughts. There is no one fit all situation to the solution of falling numbers of priests and falling numbers of the laity.

I have spoken to other priests about potential changes and some say it sounds good, as long as they can keep their parish as it is, and nothing changes for them! No one likes change, and we shy from change for changes sake, any change can frighten or make people defensive. The choice for me is to change existing structures and allow the gospel a stronger chance to live and seek ways of doing this, or to allow things to stay the same and preside over the death of the local church.

I sometimes think having been a parish priest on my own for twenty-two years, would I be able to live with other priests and work closely together in this way? Can I give up my settled existence? Would I help or hinder the mission when I am so used to being on my own! There are so many things to consider and pray about too! There are pros and cons here, and I would hope the support and stability gained, would settle down the complexities of human relationships!

The other quote that made me think concerned the experience of one who has worked for the diocese for many years. There was one person in the finance office a few years ago, doing the work that ten people are doing now, doing his best but having to encroach on days off to get jobs done. And he admitted the job could not be adequately done, despite his best efforts, and good will, and kindness to the job. Having more people in the office, though more expensive, makes a great difference and he would not go back…

I hear about isolation in the life experience of priests, who live not very far from other priests. The nature of our work can lead us to concentrate on our own patch and we work hard above and beyond to get the job done. If we were to stop and think about coming together somehow, would it make a difference to our morale, to health and our wellbeing?

An effort can be made in supporting each other in real terms. Coming together in a real sense can help in sharing the workload, in spreading the gospel message more effectively. When we feel the support of a strong working environment and solid structures, it can inspire confidence. We need structures that give support.

Do we need a radical overhaul in the harbour of our working practice and conditions, so as to help us all, priests and laity alike?

I pray for, and entrust to Jesus, Mary and the saints, those in the diocese who are going to be steering the pastoral plan forwards.

Source: http://humblepiety.blogspot.com/2019/06/regarding-boats-in-harbour.html

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