At a very recent Regional Steering Committee Meeting for the Futures Project, the five parishes involved reported what their parishes had said at their meetings about future models of parishes.  I took comfort that parishioners from other parishes were asking the same questions and posing the same concerns that our parishioners voiced at our meeting.  

We are all concerned that we not move too quickly and implement changes before they are really necessary.  We are all concerned that the parishes that have become touchstones in our lives not loose their identities.  We all believe that to address a situation in which the pastors will be stretched even thinner than they are now, the laity will have to take greater responsibility for the organization and administration of the parish, and the actual doing of ministry.  And we all agree that we need to look to creative solutions in order to adequately address the emerging situation in the Catholic parishes of Cincinnati.   In addition to these, there is also a growing sense that we need to take real steps to identify the reasons for, and find ways to reverse the trend of young Catholics turning away from the practice of the Faith. 

I also heard at meeting of the Steering Committee that our present need involving the future models of parishes are just that, models for the future.  Our goal in this stage of the Futures Project is to choose a model that will provide a plan of operation for when we no longer have one of the pastors to serve the five parishes of our region.  There is no timeline for implementing this plan other than “if and when it is needed.” All five parishes reported that people would be most comfortable with Model A, which preserves all five parishes in their present forms and structures.

The Steering Committee believes that we need to begin working with the other parishes, so as to make that future transition go smoother.  However, we have had disagreements on what this collaboration should look like.  After our recent meeting, I believe we all see that our collaboration should begin small and build slowly.  This would allow all of us the opportunity to grow into a larger sense of Catholic community without the discomfort of having it forced on us.   

Perhaps the easiest way to begin this is to invite the members of the other parishes to join us for certain events and for us to begin accepting invitations to join in theirs.  Many of us attend Mass at other parishes because their Mass time fits better into our schedule.  Already members of our parish participate in Our Lady of the Rosary small faith community groups, and people from other parishes have been part of our Christ Renews His Parish retreats.  We would think nothing of attending a workshop at another parish if we were interested in the topic.  I’m sure there are other examples, but these demonstrate that we are already crossing parish boundaries in positive ways.  Perhaps our stated goal for the present should be to consciously challenge our instincts to protect our parish turf and instead encourage ourselves to begin thinking that our membership in St. Vivian Parish also entitles us to membership privileges in St. Bartholomew, St. James, Our Lady of the Rosary, and St. Matthias, and vice versa.  

Will we ever get to where we are all one parish under one name?  Thankfully, we are many years away from needing to consider even the first steps in such a process.  And I hope we never have to close or merge any parishes.  There is a unique spirit and a unique personality in each of our five parishes.  The Catholic world of Cincinnati would be poorer if we were to lose any of them.  However, if closings or consolidations become inevitable, our present efforts to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of our neighboring parishes will mean that no one feels abandoned and homeless, but rather we will all feel respected and valued even in the midst of painful transition.

Fr. Paul