Minister's Question Time - why churches should have annual meetings - Brief Article

Commonweal, March 8, 2002 by Mary Margaret Carberry

Corporations have them. Trade and professional associations have them. Even bishops have them. (In fact, they have two of them.) Annual meetings, that is. So why don't parishes have them?

"God forbid!" I can almost hear many a reverend pastor's groaning response. But why? Is every pastor confident that he truly has his finger on the pulse of the parish he is both supposed to lead and serve? Of course, he has some feeling for the thoughts and attitudes of those holy eager beavers who volunteer without much prodding, who staff the kaleidoscopic assortment of ministries, and who make time for the services they provide.

But out there in the pews on Sundays, and often weekdays too, there are dozens more folks who appreciate the gift of faith--the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the fact that their parish church is there for their attendance at Mass and open for their succor when times are bad--but who nonetheless have questions about some of the parish's goings-on. They are Catholics who wonder as they wander through their everyday lives about some of the things that to them seem odd or out of sync with their basic concepts of faith, church, and parish.

Unarguably, every parish has a few stern, hard-nosed individuals who don't mind--who even enjoy--hitting Father Joe with a difficult-to-take comment or a challenging-to-answer question as he stands on the front steps after Mass on a Sunday morning. But there are many more pewfolks of great good will who sincerely wish that they understood more about some of the liturgical innovations thrust upon them. Or they would like to know more about how the parish budget is formulated--since they're the ones expected to meet it. And just what constitutes that mysterious "miscellaneous" in the neat, one-page financial report?

Others may be puzzled about how the parish council works. As nonmembers, are they entitled to offer suggestions for consideration? Can they attend the deliberations on a topic that interests them? And how will they know if it's on the agenda?

Some may simply want an opportunity to demonstrate support and to generate some applause for pastoral jobs well done. While some unfriendly jabs might be avoided without such an annual meeting, pastors may never get a satisfying glimpse of the extent of parish approval if they don't offer the open-forum opportunity.

From another perspective, wouldn't most thinking pastors welcome an opportunity to hear more about their parishioners' genuine concerns? Aren't there things a pastor would like to discuss in a more open atmosphere, and with time for response and the exchange of ideas that obviously can't grace the Sunday homily?

Is it really true, for instance, as the pastor has heard from a brave few, that a majority of the older parishioners would like to have noneucharistic church services conclude with Benediction? He is not really up on style trends, but would it really offend the women of the parish if he requested that they and their daughters not wear miniskirts to Sunday Mass? Or at least not to wear them, or spaghetti straps, when carrying up the gifts?

A general parish meeting could be a fountain of fine ideas and not at all as vexing as some of the reverends might shudder to contemplate. Subjects for discussion, in addition to those close to the pastor's heart, could be solicited in advance. A flexible general agenda could be planned and a reasonable time limit set. Half an hour of open-forum remarks might be scheduled as a grand finale, leaving food for thought and potential follow-up for everyone. Wouldn't it be helpful for parishioners to achieve a sense of how concerned their pastor is about working harmoniously with them, and how they themselves fit into the overall parish picture?

I would guess that it might take at least two or three years for a parish annual meeting plan to "take." But what's that in relation to eternity? The initial meeting should no doubt be billed as experimental. Then, unless it proved an absolute flop, there should be a second meeting to consider follow-through and to gauge any results, plus overall parish satisfaction with the idea. Then the question of really making it an annual event could be decided--perhaps even with a vote taken at the Sunday Masses to give everyone appropriate input.

With more and more resistance to that old-time "Father knows best" regimen of pastoring, might not the parish annual meeting provide a sturdy bridge for creating understanding between shepherds and flocks? Could it be a productive tension-breaker whose time has come?

Mary Margaret Carberry, a former editor and public-relations specialist, lives in Flossmoor, Illinois.