Much has happened in the four years since Pope Francis became the chief Shepherd: political parties have changed; dangerous global toys are in the hands of children; the poor are further crushed; universal lies are given credence; capitalism is the bottom line almost everywhere; we have a new leader in our diocese.

We had waited with hope that our good Holy Father would have seen his way to sending us a humble shepherd like himself. Who we received is a child beloved of God as we are, born into a church of Vatican II, one whom we are asked to love and respect, a man-manager ( and I use that sexist term advisedly) who exercises power in a way which is uncomfortable for many, albeit according to his own lights. We are called to welcome him into our communities, no matter what we think of his intentions. Only in dialogue can we move forward in the way of Christ.

There is much written about the church of the Future. What we have is the church of the Now, and it is in living out our potential, ‘life in its fullness’, in the church of the Now that we will find the church of the Future.
We cannot expect to build on present foundations. They will not hold us up, unsteady as they are. We might be advised to go back through history and note the foundations which have been found staunch, and to which the church in all its story and catastrophe has ever returned; foundations such as the person of Christ, the mystery of God, our relationship with the Trinity, our stories, and ‘the love these Christians have for each other.’
What we must not do is rearrange the deck chairs. In the axe action espoused of our leaders, several things are evident: power and pragmatism reign: the nuances and needs of human beings on the faith journey are unheeded; inspirational faithfulness to the Faith comes second to structural plan. In cutting back in the heartless and headless way we have recently seen, these so called leaders have given up any right to authority in the Church’s name.

Thus we are (per)missioned to find our own ways to do church, to meet in each others’ houses; to share food together; to break the Word in a new way; to access Communion anew; to find different ways to encounter God and Christian community. Many of us are already doing that, and being grateful that we have alternative ways of being church which are life-giving, rather than life draining. Even in the best of parishes, we have taken on the model of our leaders. This is basic organisational theory. We are not exempt from that. Unless we take a radical turn, and go deep into the pain and the roots of the pain we are suffering currently, there is no way forward. We have to stay for a time in this desert and be stripped of everything which is not necessary, so that we can ultimately encounter the God of Mystery who alone can be with us in that place, and who can alone heal us, and lead us out of it in God’s time into the church of the Future. Which will be the church of the Now.
​
Pray God we will have the humility and endurance to be there, by firstly being fully here.

A couple of weeks ago  I got distracted by the question: could an archdiocese really be changed by the quiet  settling of a cohort of like-minded priests into supposedly significant positions?  Is that actually happening in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh as the Faith Movement  asserts control, perhaps aided by so much attention being on the reorganisation procedures?   
 
I fear that the Faith Movement is viewed by Archbishop Cushley and its members as being the cornerstone of the church here.  I do hope that the Faith Movement really is a movement of the Spirit for our times. What are our own experiences of the Faith Movement? What do we know?  Do add comments to this blog. 
 
I think my concerns are not that it exists, but that:

• It grows in influence without to my knowledge declaring itself publicly in the Archdiocese; it is not apparent which parishes and posts are occupied by priests in the Faith Movement.
• At both parish and wider scales, its effect seems to be to marginalise the gifted and engaged, both lay and ordained. 
• The FM has at its core certain writings that shape it. These cannot but filter the interpretation of tradition (Vatican II included of course) and scriptures:. Does this give a debilitating uniformity of theology and especially ecclesiology in the Archdiocese?

 
Having pursed this line of thought far enough into a valley of despondency.  I put my headphones on. 
 
On the Web I found the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.   People had gathered from across the country. Lay and ordained were being treated as adult with something to say to each other, for all are baptised in the Spirit.  They has set out to discern from their joint experience and reflections, for it is in community that the Spirit is most evident.  Respectful of, but not bound by past formulations, this Assembly was seeking  to find and express what God was asking of the Church in response to the changes and challenges of the age….    Not all of it was cutting edge, much was simple accounting for leadership and actions in all the dimensions of life of the church – now there is an idea!! 
 
In the sessions of the Assembly reports collated in its Blue Book were being discussed prior to votes on “deliverances” that formalise the conclusions, for example with amendments to these reports. Its interesting to see what this Church gives attention to.  Dominant seemed to be the intersections of the Church with daily living, politics, social life, justice, needs  of the oppressed and poor. 
 
This wasn’t a self-appointed or anyone-appointed elite – but each year different people come from each cluster of parishes (presbytery).  To me that indicates a Church with refreshing confidence in its laity and its clergy, and especially its God.  Perhaps that cycle of people is also why on occasions progress seems slow – so that one group of personalities on one occasion does not set a course for years to come….. it avoids its Brexit moments?
 
Such an Assembly was rightly celebrated with a festival: it was appropriately titled Heart and Soul.  SE Edinburgh Churches Acting Together was invited to share Liberton Kirk’s tent. I had the opportunity to be a part of that –  our given focus of justice and peace is an area so rich for expressing and growing in our unity in Christ.  The festival, like the week itself was an antidote to any sense that the church is not for our times.
 
I’m sure there are other gems to explore, but in that week I gave attention to just two.  Firstly, there was a debate about the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration.  In this debate Palestinians, were being acknowledged as deserving of apology, recognition and support and recompense; some speakers still sought peace without justice, it is true, but their voices are fewer as the truth is seen by visitors to the West Bank.  I write this exactly 50 years after the occupation of the Palestinian and, in the Golan Heights, Syrian territories.  It is a year of Kairos and should be of jubilee…  However Jubilee, the opening up of a new future should have been about 45 years ago, given that 5 years is the international expectation of the length of an occupation.
 
Secondly there was an exploration of new theological approaches to the questions of sexuality and same-sex relationships. There were apologies for discrimination in the past. This was being explored in the context of a carefully worded motion about considering same-sex marriage. 
 
Time and again in the Assembly, people were, as Micah had wanted, caring about the poor, about justice and walking humbly with their God and their notions of God. So much of their attention was turned outwards to the world they wanted to serve.
 
It intrigues me that a) the role of Moderator is changed every year; and that b) local ordained ministers, men and women, are well established as a ministry to serve parishes.  This last is I am excited to see is a theme in the ACTA conference.
 
I asked friends in the Church of Scotland to glance over these thoughts: they laughed that I had put on rose-tinted spectacles along with my headphones, and had at last caught up with the Reformation…
 
Be all this as it may, into this quest for, and outpouring of, the Spirit in the Church of Scotland a prophetic voice from another denomination was invited, Rev Dr Sam Wells from St Martin in the Fields. The full text is here.  I found it to be one of the most energising talks I have heard or read – I am returning to it time and again.  It flew through “the convictions of kingdom communities, the constraints on kingdom communities, and the characteristics of kingdom communities.”  The following especially struck me – but please read the whole talk as these extracts in isolation do not do it justice:
 
On the convictions:
 
“Christmas tells us we meet God not by withdrawing from life, but by immersing ourselves in it.”
 
“Good Friday also embodies a paradox: that at humanity’s lowest moment, at God’s most horrifying moment, humanity is the closest it could ever be to God. …..The right questions are, ‘If I’m oppressed, am I allowing myself to see God with clarity and humanity with mercy? If I’m not oppressed, is it because I’m complicit in perpetrating or overlooking oppression, and if I stopped being so wouldn’t I quickly find myself oppressed too?”
 
“Easter says there is forgiveness – so the past is a gift; and there is everlasting life – the future’s our friend.”
 
“Pentecost proclaims that the work of reconciliation was not only the work of Jesus, incarnate among us, but is the central work of the church in ministry and mission.”
 
On the constraints of Kingdom communities:
 
“The church has made God’s love too narrow with false strictures of its own.”
“The problem isn’t simply occasional thoughtlessness and bad-apple perversity. It’s a whole mind-set that seeks social superiority by making the church a refuge of the worthy, the advantaged, the tasteful and the assured, establishing blue water between it and the soiled, the complex, the untidy and the distressed, and calls that blue water God.”
 
On the characteristics of Kingdom communities:
“That’s what ministry and mission are all about – not condescendingly making welcome alienated strangers, but seeking out the rejected precisely because they are the energy and the life-force that will transform us all. …. If you’re looking for where the future church is coming from, look at what the church and society has so blithely rejected. The life of the church is about constantly recognising the sin of how much we have rejected, and celebrating the grace that God gives us back what we once rejected to become the cornerstone of our lives.”
 
Sam Wells and my rose-tinted view of the Assembly challenge me in ways that resonate with Pope Francis in “Joy of the Gospel” talking of the Church as a field hospital, unafraid of mistakes or of diversity of ideas;  with Sabeel in Palestine-Israel seeking justice rooted in deep commitment to the Gospel, with imagination and courage; and Sant Egidio in Rome, building friendship with the marginalised.
 
Mike Mineter

Thanks to Jeff Bagnall for this reflection on a recent Newman Circle meeting in Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Newman Circle had a great meeting on Wednesday 15th February  at which Professor Werner Jeanrod, Master at St Benet’s Hall Oxford, made a presentation to about 60 of us from far and wide, advertised as
New Models of Christian Community: Towards a Post-clericalist Church.
People may have come because of this title, or were regulars at our monthly meetings (see http://www.newman.org.uk/Files/EDINBURGH.pdf ), or perhaps because they new of him when he lectured at Glasgow University, or maybe they knew his recent book, A Theology of Love 2010. He provided us with a handout containing some headings and a quotation from Great Catholic Parishes by William E Simon.
His presentation both began and concluded with reference to ‘expectations’: just what do we expect from God and what do we suppose God expects from us. As this set me thinking I cannot vouch for the accuracy of anything else I might say about his talk. He offered us further binary contrasts between a fixed, ideal church and a pilgrim church - the use of the word church to refer to the hierarchy towards the top of a structure and its use as referring to all the people of God: a distinction between leaders and followers.
This led into examining what a ‘good’ parish community might look like and how each individual parishioner might contribute to this. He still regarded the Eucharist as central, though I was not sure whether by this he meant to focus on the reception of the Real Presence in Communion or on the important gathering of a community giving thanks to God - the word Eucharist could refer to either! He noted different styles of leadership involving collaboration, delegation or at least consultation; but he did always refer to the priest as the pastor.
The community of Christians has at most times in the past struggled as it transformed its mode of organisation and operation both for its members and its relationship ad extra (to others). This was obvious in the early Church when it became ‘established’ in the Roman Empire, also during the reformation which not only resulted in the Protestant denomination but also ina more dogmatic Roman Catholic church; and in recent times there has been the changes indicated by the Second Vatican Council, the different responses to this both by groups within the church community and even by Popes. It is always going to be painful living in the meantime, as one model dies and the birth pangs of a new are felt. So we Catholics and many other Christian denominations are witnessing a decline in Church attendance together with the rise of well educated laity who want to support each other in visioning and executing the expectations of God for them as they see them - free from the ‘civil service’ of the hierarchy of the church. We return to the initial question: what does God expect of us?
In the ‘discussion’ afterwards we heard from someone who attended Fr Flannery’s mass in Ireland (see http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/hundreds-attend-mass-as-tony-flannery-defies-vatican-ban-1.2946938 ); and when someone said to Werner that to opposed the hierarchy might lead to being excommunicated, He replied that excommunication was ineffectual nowadays. Generally people left the meeting well satisfied, but still wondering what, in practice, we laity could do. Yet we look forward to the next meeting at the Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church when its Minister, the Rev. Scott McKenna, will speak under the title of Eucharistic Traditions (7:30 Wednesday 15th March).

This post was updated on 31 July - see the further communication from Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, below. 

At this time when it is so vital to strengthen links with Muslims, as fellow travelers seeking peace and harmony,may I draw to your attention:

First, and with apologies that I can give no more notice, but for folk in range of Edinburgh:

tomorrow, 2-3pm, talk: "Contemporary issues in Muslim political thought"
Dr Emin Poljarevic, Dept. of Theology,  Uppsala University

 "This month has witnessed so many ground-breaking events: Brexit, Nice, the failed coup in Turkey, Baghdad, Kabul, Munich ... Join us this Saturday for our monthly community event as we invite a specialist on social movements in the Middle East & North African region to make sense of the events. Non-Muslims most welcome to join our discussion!"

At Edinburgh Central Mosque, 
 50 Potterrow, Edinburgh, EH8 9BT
http://www.edmosque.org/contacts/


2. Same website,  "Against Extremism"  
http://www.edmosque.org/against-extremism/ 
is worth a read.

3. A press release issued by Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, Imam of the Al Mahdi Wessex Jamaat Community, www.almahdi.org.uk
This is here
Update on 31 July:
The following letter was presented to the Bishop , Portsmouth Diocese, at a mass the same Muslim community attended on 28th July.
http://www.almahdi.org.uk/news/announcements/1121-message-of-condolence-father-jacques-harmel

Its odd how often we get undercover briefings from the Vatican at this time of year - see our Vigil Group blog for ones in 2014 and 2013. This one arrived this morning.

The Vatican has plans for advertising on communion hosts.

The intention is to address financial short-falls. The Vatican Bank been negotiating to have sponsorship from L'Oreal - to say on each host "because you're worth it".

However this is proving controversial. The liturgical commission points out that according to the eucharistic prayers, we are not worthy - we have to strive to become so.

Our contact says "Although L'Oreal has the better theology, the future of this plan is unclear"

Bishops Synod on the Family


As we watch the Synod, amid much controversy of the Church's stance on the divorced and remarried receiving the Eucharist, the attitude toward homosexuality, and whether to make room for the advancement of the role of women in the Church, there are numerous signs of hope for Church Reform. 

What can you do while the Synod is in session?

Sign this petition joining with other international reform organizations who have sent anAppeal outlining the fundamental problems experienced by Catholic families throughout the world:

• The social and economic problems of the family should be widely discussed by the Synod, particularly those affecting the most vulnerable, children and women.
• Regarding the divorced and remarried and their admission to the Eucharist, the practice of the early Church should be adopted, as it is done in the Orthodox Church.
• Concerning the Motu Proprio (Apostolic letter) of Pope Francis on the canonical process of nullity of marriage we agree with and welcome the simplification of the procedure, but question the concept of annulment as such.
• Homosexual individuals and same-sex couples should be considered as full members of the Church with every right and every duty.
• 'Humanae Vitae' has not been accepted by the majority of the People of God; couples following their conscience must be respected.
• The Synod should send a clear and public message of repentance to the survivors of clerical sex abuse and their families.
• However much we hope for solutions to these many problems from the presently constituted Synod, we assert that a major flaw of the synod is its clericalized nature and especially the non-representation of the many Catholic family forms we experience in our contemporary world.

Pope Francis asks the bishops to remain open to movement of Spirit  
In his opening remarks, Pope Francis asks the Bishops to remain open minded as he reminds them that the Synod is a place where "the Spirit speaks by means of every person's tongue, who lets himself be guided by the God who always surprises, the God who reveals himself to little ones, who hides from the knowing and intelligent; the God who created the law and the Sabbath for man and not vice versa; by the God, who leaves the 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep; the God who is always greater than our logic and our calculations."

...and here is a way to make your voice heard at the Synod - www.PopeFrancisCanYouHearUs.org ​

1. An account of a talk by Fr Mark Latcovich
2. Discussion
3. Subsequent reflections
4. Resources
5. Over to you! Click on "comments" above right (or at the bottom of the page) to add your thoughts.
 
Preface
Mgr Gerry Hand published an account of the same event in Open House. His article is here.
He also led an evening on Nov 4th, 2015 taking these ideas forward - see notes here.

Introduction
This article is a collation of the notes and reflections of fifteen of the people who travelled from Edinburgh and the Lothians, to Dunfermline on the evening of Monday, July 20th 2015. We joined a gathering of around 150 people... It had a heady combination of graciousness, frustration and anger. Although in Scotland on vacation from his post as rector of St.Mary and Borromeo Seminary in Ohio, Fr Mark Latcovich accepted an invitation to meet with people to talk about parish reorganisation from a USA perspective. The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Dunfermline, and their deanery hospitably opened the evening to a wider audience. The word gracious can also be used for Fr Mark's response to a Corrywreckan-like swirl of comments that could have persisted until morning.

The frustration and anger felt by some was not focussed on Fr Mark's words. In part it was due to the fact that someone has to travel 3500 miles in order that a gathering about parish reorganisation, with participants from across cluster boundaries, be held in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. In part it was because people were hearing of good practice, valid assumptions and canon laws that seemed as yet to have little recognition in events here. In part it was a consequence of the absence of clarity about what on earth is going on the the Archdiocese. (What is the process, at what time-scale, of which the cluster meetings later in the year are an element?) All this made for a complex and thought provoking evening.

The evening achieved the objective stated by Fr Mark: that he might help to prime the discussions beginning in our Archdiocese, by reflecting on the Church in his home area – but not by commenting on our circumstances. This article outlines the content of Fr Mark's talk, the discussion that followed, and the subsequent thoughts arising in reflection among us. Finally, attention is drawn to the resources and annotated bibliography provided by Fr Mark.

Outline of Talk
Among statements that Fr Mark assumed his audience accepted were:

• Roman Catholicism entails us being in communion with Rome via the Bishop (Its not a congregational model). The local issues are therefore also seen in a much wider perspective (canon law 96).
  
  
• We are called through baptism to share in priesthood, to evangelise and sanctify.
  
  
• We need to distinguish parish and church. The former refers to a people entrusted to a pastor; the latter to a building. (See catechism and canon law 515.1). The church might close, but the parish persists, reconstituted.
  
  

The main driver for change in parish organisation that was mentioned by Fr Mark was demographical. The distribution of population has changed in many areas of the USA in the last 40 years, especially in urban settings. The question that arose in consequence was of how to assess whether parishes with reduced Roman Catholic populations should persist as presently constituted, each with its own church. This led to the word “vibrancy” being used as a way to capture key aspects of what should be found in sustainable parishes. It embraces dimensions such as:

• strong community
  
  
• worship, especially on Sunday
  
  
• evangelising – new people come in.
  
  
• people learning, teaching, and seeing truths
  
  
• activities where people gather
  
  
• reaching out to the poor, those with no place to go
  
  
• developing leadership: lay, religious, volunteers...
  
  
• having good stewardship of 3 Ts: time, talent, treasure
  
  

In such assessments of vibrancy, the resources from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia were especially recommended (see below).

Several studies have gathered experiences that Fr Mark passed on to us. Effective discernment, prior to deciding about the future of a church or parish, typically has included

• prayer,
  
  
• spiritual formation and
  
  
• good communication throughout (keeping everyone informed; making it easy to be up to date)
  
  
• awarenesses including
  
  
  • of the missionary option – see Joy of the Gospel, paragraph 27: an impulse capable of transforming everything
    
    
  • that structures have always changed through Church history – but the people are the Church. The future is not scary! Possible closing is about moving, not obliteration.
    
    

A bishop has the canonical right to suppress or close a parish by his office, however canon law outlines the procedures he must use which include consultation with the presbyterate and laity.  An effective process of consultation. discernment and planning has been seen to have these elements:

• A Bishop setting a broad plan – such as requiring parishes to do a vibrancy assessment
  
  
• consultation involving presbyterial councils (priests - canon law 495.1) and pastoral councils
  
  

• “town hall” meetings with publicity [to give everyone a voice in open discussion, and to inform vision and planning]
  
  
• planning then happens from the grass roots, locally encouraged by and in consultation with the Bishop, with a wider perspective than that one parish
  
  
• local [cluster] discussion, assessment, planning, pastoral mapping including asking: what ministries can be shared across parishes?
  
  
• “appreciative inquiry” in which a parish would celebrate its history, their giftedness in the years they have been there.
  
  

  If it is decided to close parishes/churches then:

• the process of closure is exact and in canon law
  
  
• people and resources need care and accounting for (canon law 1214). This includes their emotional and psychological energies.
  
  

Some examples were given. In Cleveland a process had begun in 2007 that led to closure of 13 of 133 parishes. Another 12 parishes, told to close their churches, exercised their right to appeal to Rome. The Bishop was told to reopen the parishes, or else appeal this decision to Rome. The parishes reopened. Another example was of 3 parishes that merged with sensitivity and effectiveness as evidenced by evangelisation and growth.. A higher percentage of churches in New York is closing, due to demographic change. [additional links on this: http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-catholics-brace-for-fresh-wave-of-parish-mergers-1423594957 and http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/09/nyregion/new-york-archdiocese-will-close-7-more-churches.html?_r=0 ]

One American parish priest noticed three groups of people to be taken into account and talked with: a) the 30% who are affiliated: “in the know”, come and are involved; b) the semi-active who come 2 or 3 times a year, aren't alert to the bulletin for example, but who become very active if closure is discussed... and who, if closure does not happen, still don't come; c) those on the periphery. Each group has an identity through association with the parish.

If closure does happen then the process is akin to the stages known in grieving including denial, anger, bargaining, depression, then acceptance that God is still with us and that new opportunities will open.

Discussion
We had long statements, rather than questions.

One issue raised by a couple of people was that in our Archdiocese the reorganisation is “driven by the shortage of priests, and a cost-cutting exercise as if we were Starbucks”. Fr Mark responded by mentioning the healthy number of people in the Cleveland seminary, 67 and called us all to encourage young men to become priests. An interjection “and young women?” led Fr Mark to say how a young woman had founded a new order with 21 in the community. Fr Mark said how some archdioceses had recognised that they were not using the laity enough: positions of lay pastoral coordinators were established. Parishes with lay coordinators are in a structure in communion with and with support from, the Bishop. They enable priests to focus on their specific calling.    [See canon law 515.2, the bibliography, and additional links in “from the USA” on this page]

Another spoke of the need for a vision in our Archdiocese – so we were not just re-cutting what we have - ans asked ow do we open communication with an Archbishop not engaging with us?! Fr Mark suggested begin at parish level with the “vibrancy” question, then invite the Archbishop to a listening session with all parishes in the deanery [cluster].

Later reflection
Reflections among the 15 folk from Edinburgh and the Lothians indicate some of the ways in which Fr Mark achieved his stated aim of promoting discussion:

• We should be giving our Parish Councils a more important place in our parishes and they should reflect all aspects of Parish life (finance and fabric & planning decisions as well as fund-raising, along with the usual liturgical matters etc. )
  
  
• We should be assessing how vibrant our parish is: can in sustain itself, is it free from debt, do we have ongoing lay training and support?
  
  
• It was obvious from Fr Mark's talk that lay people played a prominent part in the 3 year consultations that took place. We should be expecting no less in time or consultation for decisions in our own Archdiocese.
  
  
• The large turn out was a reflection of the concerns of the laity about the future of our Archdiocese.
  
  
• This event was for many the first opportunity for people to verbalise their frustration about what has happened in our Archdiocese.
  
  
• The importance of lay formation and lay ministry – given the clerical centralism of our Archdiocese, we are sadly far away from making lay parish coordinators routine. It highlights the extent to which that portrayed as crisis is in fact opportunity – a Spirit-led opportunity for growth.
  
  
• It was frustrating that we lacked the time to explore the role of parish lay coordinator.
  
  
• This change process began in the US some 40 years ago (1970 was mentioned in the talk), We are only beginning to talk about it now and in that time the Church has changed. I feel we learned a few very useful pointers for the future from Fr Mark’s talk. In particular for pastoral Mapping involving:
  - What does Parish mean to people?
  - The need to be sensitive and listening to each other
  - We need a change of mindset and to be more open about our views
  - We need to be aware of feelings of people who have been in a Parish for a lifetime and who are anxious about what will happen (“It can’t be happening”)

         - Where are we going? A feeling of Anger!
        - What are the problems, issues and opportunities
        - The need to develop leadership
        - Find Lay volunteers
        - Finding the people in our communities with talents and what they have to offer
        - Engaging and encouraging people to get involved
        - What can we learn from neighbouring parishes, how they run the parish?

• “By telling us about the 67 seminarians I think Fr Mark was suggesting that vibrant communities produce more candidates for the priesthood. This is something which I think Archbishop Cushley believes profoundly. Personally, I think vibrant communities produce their own forms of ministry - this is an essential part of what makes them vibrant”.
  Fr Mark did also refer to new forms of ministry with pastoral lay ministers, but in our Archdiocese those exercising power do seem only to be seeking more priests.
  
  
• Links to Appreciative Inquiry as applied in Scotland are here::
  http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/engage/HowToGuide/AppreciativeEnquiry
  and follow on from http://www.imaginechicago.org,  Here, Chicago high school students showed that once the questions and structure are right, then its a process that can readily be used without huge prior experience.
  
  
• "We should not forget the day held in Edinburgh on March 14" - Sharing vision - the future of Church.
  That was perhaps akin to a Town Hall meeting, with elements including lay-led theological reflection, prayer, seeking vision by building on the positive to identify what is essential, a focus on listening, a mix of small group and open floor ... the sort of pattern we might envisage in future meetings?
  
  

Among questions that arose for us were:

• about `town hall` meetings – would these be for us cluster or wider meetings to discuss the way forward for our Archdiocese? Might they be needed at an early stage to encourage vision, given the way so many parishes and lay people have not had adequate formation since Vatican II? Aren't these meetings a way to evangelise ourselves in the lead up to reorganisation? “Joy of the Gospel” is a wonderful resource here!
  
  
• How do we establish communication with an Archbishop who does not yet communicate with us?
  
  
• How do we need to assimilate our own history in the last ten years? – not least since Now Is The Favourable Time – while observing that this was more a structure for the Archdiocese than a vision.
  
  
• How do we forge a vision we share?! (“We Have found the Messiah” might encourage thought, but it does not express a vision we can all accept.) A stronger vision would raise us from the fearful anxiety that seems prevalent.
  
  

Finally thanks again to Fr Mark and our hosts. As one email put it: “I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to attend the meeting and hope there will be more opportunities to express our views and hopes for the future.”

Final words from Fr Latcovich, by email:
"I had a marvellous holiday and enjoyed meeting the people from various parishes.  The fact that people came and wanted to talk suggests a wonderful level of vibrancy and a continuing need for dialogue.  

"Below is  a list of several documents from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that you may find helpful as an aid for a parish to reflect on regarding the domains of parish life and vibrancy

Resources

Archdiocese of Philadelphia, “Guided by Faith Workbook: Cluster Pastoral Planning Process, September 1997.” Accessible at http://archphila.org/pastplan/ (accessed October 20, 2014).

     Aimed at the spiritual renewal of the Catholic faithful despite the declining number of diocesan and religious priests, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued the first of many pastoral plans for all existing parishes. This diocesan plan is a very helpful and practical tool for pastors and parish leaders who wish to examine the vitality of their parishes while being involved in the merger process. Parish leaders who do not have much experience in the areas of merging or closing of parishes will greatly benefit from this step by step guidance plan.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia, “Characteristics Found in Vital Parishes, Spring 2003.” Accessible at http://archphila.org/pastplan/ (accessed October 20, 2014).

      People in leadership positions who work for culturally and economically diverse Catholic parishes will find this plan to be an indispensable parish evaluation tool that covers essential areas of parish life and ministry. Catholic parishes are encouraged to live in accordance with their missions, as well as a clear vision for the future. Parish pastoral councils will greatly benefit from this practical and easy to use tool, especially in the process of developing specific goals for the future of the church community. While developing a pastoral plan for the future, the seven fundamental areas of parish life must be taken into consideration.   The fundamental areas are worship, Christian community, evangelization, teaching, service, leadership, and stewardship.  

Archdiocese of Philadelphia, “Call to Conversion and Holiness, In-Depth Evaluation of Parish Life, Fall 2011.” Accessible at http://archphila.org/pastplan/ (accessed October 20, 2014).

      Presented here is one of the best available evaluation tools regarding various aspects of parish life. Parish church communities of today have been significantly affected by the drastic changes in the demographics of the Catholic population and the continuous decline in the numbers of available priests. With the dwindling financial resources and the number of parishioners involved in the life of their church communities, some parishes need to take an honest look at their missions and vitality. This plan serves as an excellent resource providing a step by step guide for pastors and parish leaders faced with matters concerning parish planning and parish evaluation.  

Annotated bibliography - click here

Additional References

Canon law: http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_INDEX.HTM (Note the subtitles include the numbers of paragraphs)

Catechism: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

See this Vigil Group web page,  including resources under "from the USA "

Forward Together in Hope " a three-year journey of renewal across the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

Peter Simmons is one of the founders of the Vigil Group.  In Spring 2012 the group was set up to pray for renewal of ourselves and the Church, and take other actions based on that prayer and reflection.  Two years earlier, in that spirit, Peter had written to Pope Benedict, and we have encouraged Peter to let us post the text of the letter. It is attached here.

It develops themes that include:

• the abuse crisis and its relationship to power within the structures of a Church called to be a Servant.
• how this resonates with the way laity experiences the institutional church – namely one of being subject to power, not of liberation.
  
• how the institutional church's attitudes emerge in notions of priesthood
  
• how we are all called to move beyond how we are formed by our own backgrounds, to change by the grace of the Spirit.
• how priests living and working in the Vatican have particular challenges to overcome.
  
• the need for renewal in the hierarchy, and in the selection and formation of priests
  

We live in interesting times! The need for prayer for renewal of ourselves and all the Church, which Peter's letter assumes, only grows more evident as we begin to forge vision for reorganisation of our structures. Some of Peter's thoughts that in 2010 would have seemed challenging and critical are mild compared to what Pope Francis has said and written since.  Some anticipated what the Holy Father has done. Some are still provocative and/or visionary..... what do you think?!

(Click on the word “Comments” at top or bottom of this to read others' responses,and to add your own.)

Dominant themes tonight:
After praying with next Sunday's Gospel, we mused briefly and critically upon the mantra "No priest no Eucharist, no Eucharist no church."  We have had Eucharist on demand for decades.  We briefly pondered this question: to what extent has this led to a merely cultural Catholicism of belonging and Mass going?

A more fundamental question that challenges everyone of us is: how can we do Church better?!
* need for communities of people with faith not religion.
* need for a mystical church - with people who grow towards the heart of God, know God is closer to them than they are to themselves,  a mystical church that unites cosmology and care for the poor - informed by good scriptural scholarship
* need for growth into mystery not assent to the idol of a diminished and bounded version of orthodoxy
* need for dialogue between laity and those seeking to exercise authority

We need discernment in order to respond to challenges and need - including the challenge posed by the  depressingly  authoritarian and centralising  trajectory of our archdiocesan leadership...

We began comparing what was done in West Kilbride (link below) with the process underway in our Archdiocese. Here we are told there will be a single meeting of the Archbishop with each cluster to review resources and talents.  This has uncommunicated goals  and unclear wider  context. (Is this the only such meeting, or a first step in a long process?)  Saved from depression by running out of time, we had glanced at St Bride's website enough to observe that contrasts lay in West Kilbride having an open and balanced structure for its process.  Prayer, discernment engaging the community, external facilitation, listening were among characteristics we would  like to become apparent here also. 

We observed how many clergy have not had the opportunities that congregations have made for themselves over the last 60 years: the recent world-wide gathering of the Good Shepherd sisters came to mind as an example - with the talks from Br Pinto being linked below, also.

We brought all the above into prayer with Eph 3.

Some resources that came to the minds of participants included:

 St Bride's Church, West Kilbride: follow link on the menu bar to "embracing change" for accounts of parish and North Ayrshire Deanery initiatives, including:
    Embracing change - a process of preparation - with external facilitators
    Deanery event - 29 June 2014

Br Philip Pinto,cfc
Presentations to the Good Shepherd Sisters - Congregational Chapter 2015
PP1
PP2
PP3
PP4
PP5
PP6

Finally, three quotes to encourage you to read this - also from Br Pinto  - and the above:

1. "I do not believe that we are living any more in a time of transition. That is too tame a word to describe the upheavals taking place. I believe we are in a time of chaos and more than ever we need to be aware of the action of the Spirit hovering over the waters and calling forth life.”
...
A time of chaos demands risking. The only real ‘sin’ in such a time is that of inactivity, of waiting for the dust to settle before we do anything. The call today is to risk acting to the best of our ability, knowing that only this will allow the future to unfold".


2. "A religious movement is born out of a moment of radical insight. But all too often this movement is domesticated and trapped in a system of beliefs and regulations that produces an event to be celebrated rather than an experience to be lived anew. That is why Carl Jung said, “organized religion is a defence against having the religious experience.”
...

3. "It is not that there is no sin, but that when God looks at us, God does not first notice sin! Our images of God keep us chained and locked up in superstition and fear".

The response dated 15 May of Archbishop Cushley to the account of the 14th March day ("Sharing vision - the future of Church") is linked from here

The response acknowledged receipt, but has neither recognition of value in that day nor sign that the account sent was actually read.   The day was not an exercise for the Archbishop, but sending an account seemed to its participants to be timely and helpful given the need to discern the way forwards in the Archdiocese.   It  was certainly a day in which the faith of those present was voiced, and the aspects of Church that help and obstruct that faith were discerned (e.g. obstructions including a lack of dialogue, and a lack of a sense of partnership with those in roles of leadership...).

Its a one-dimensional view to look at the time spent on that day (110 people there for up to  5 hours each ) and the collation of the day  by a group of people giving a total of a further ~100 hours effort afterwards.  That effort is worth celebrating and acknowledging.  A more significant figure is that people came from 20 parishes.  In planning the day it had been  hoped that this event would quickly be eclipsed by formal initiatives to forge vision across the Archdiocese, led by the Archbishop - yet such formal Archdiocesan (or deanery) events are not envisaged.  The Archbishop presumably has the vision he wants, if not one shared by his flock.  For the dangers of this read comments recorded in the account of the day... and a recent  report of statements by Pope Francis, from the VaticanInsider, No to pastors who speak and act but do not listen.   14 March was not seeking to express a strategy for the Archdiocese (that was the role of NITFT some ten years ago) but respectful dialogue would have seemed an appropriate response.

The value of the 14 March event remains in what was experienced, heard, said and also written down.  As dialogue between leadership and others fails to be established in the Archdiocese, with letters expressing concerns being responded to with much the same text we received for this account, it becomes all the more important that participants and others interested remember and assimilate the value of 14 March and also  the other letters and articles, some drawing attention to contrasting experiences in other archdioceses.

It is no doubt difficult for the Archbishop to read and respond to all correspondence on the reorganisation.  Yet there are now oft-expressed  concerns that are being ignored. The growing anxiety is this: if it is only clergy with identical notions of ecclesiology who are being heard now, then why should it be different in 3 months time?

Even in practical terms, gathering views from people across parishes as happened on March 14th would have been thought to help make correspondence and assimilation of ideas from across the archdiocese more tractable, so it is doubly disappointing that the account of 14 March was not received in the spirit in which it was offered.

Its seems that in the Autumn single meetings per cluster with the Archbishop are currently intended.  How this fits into the total reorganisation process is very unclear.  These meetings need to be merely the opening to a richer, slower process with prayer, discernment, organisation and dialogue.  Unless we act quickly,  and again without the Archbishop's initiative, we will come to these meetings not only lacking the necessary deanery and  archdiocesan structures and communication but also lacking  preparation, and with no further development of a shared vision in the intervening months.

Mike Mineter 30 June 2015.