1.
Introduction
There are few pertinent questions that may guide our search
and arouse our interest for further development. What is a parish? How is it related
to the diocese and the universal church? What do you think
your parish stands for? What is your parish known for? How much of a sense of
community is there in your parish? In what ways do you experience
your fellow parishioners as church? As a parishioner, to what degree does
the care and trust, you experience through your parish translate into the rest of
your relationships in life? How does your parish relate to its
neighbouring parishes? The responses one receives in these
questions may probably reveal the depth or model of parish administration in
place in one's parish.
The issue before us reads
Parish Administration
and Accountability: Parameter for evaluating various arms of government in Nigeria. I will
attempt to share my understanding however little about parish
administration and accountability. I may not do justice to the second
part of this assignment. But the materials you may find in the lines that follow may assist
you to do the evaluation yourself. While doing this 1 have tried to express
myself as clearly as I witness and encounter them as a
pastor and in our various Catholic parishes. My approach is
pastoral, reaching out to the least significant members of our parishes. Its aim and objective is to refresh your
memories, to enlighten, educate, deepen our understanding, and to draw
you a step further to Jesus Christ, the Head and sole
administrator of the Church and springboard of parish life. It is
hoped that this work may spur you on not only wanting to be a better
pastor but to search deeper and draw some meaning for yourselves and applying same on
your various and diverse Christian communities - to build up the church.
2. The Catholic Parish
The parish is an important organ
in the life of the Catholic Church. It is, indeed, a
vital element in the overall administrative structure of the Church. In fact it is the
centre where
the
Catholic Church meets the world. For average
Catholics the parish is the focal point of faith, growth and celebration. For
most
Catholics it is what they identify as the "church". And for
many believers at the grass root level,
what happens at Vatican, and what the pope or the bishops do or say is not as
relevant to them as their own faith experiences, the events and the
developments they witness in their own local parishes. The fact is that though
the central offices or headquarters are by no means necessary as well as
significant, they are quite remote to lead them on in their day-to-day
Christian life and witnessing. That may partly explain why some leaders of some
pious and religious associations in the parishes seem to have more listening
voices than their pastors.
When we say
"parish", everybody seems to know what it is all about. But when pushed
further to explain one often meets disappointing responses. This work does not
wish to suffer the same presumption. Let us therefore assist our understanding
by clearing the meaning of the word: parish.
Parish for many Catholics means the area where priest(s) live along with the
central place where the people assemble on Sundays for worship or gather for
fellowship on weekdays. Some others flashing back identify the parish as the
area where the missionaries built some houses for the purposes of worship
(church), education (school) and medication (dispensaries/hospitals). This view
of the term "parish" is glaring when one listens to the parishioners
when they say: ka m gaa
parish (let me go to the parish) or O gara parish (he/she went
to the parish). All this refers only to the parish centre
As early as
the second century of Christianity, the local Christian communities were
already labelled as parishes. The earliest word used for parish was the Greek
noun paroikia, which is derived
from the verb paroikein, which means to
dwell beside (para- beside, oikos - house) Paroikia therefore means neighbourhood.
It refers to "those living near or beside" one another. It refers to
people living in the same neighbourhood. On a secondary level parage refers to
"residents' aliens, settled foreigners, non-native sojourners "11
This is the sense we find it in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
Scriptures. It carries the sense of persons in exile, like the Israelites in
the land of Egypt (Ex. 2:22). It also refers to aliens temporarily
dwelling in a foreign land, such as those who have here no lasting city, but
seek the one that is yet to come: "There is no permanent city for us here
[on earth]", says the author of the letter to the Hebrews, "we are
looking for the one which is yet to be [heaven]" (Heb.13: 14). The Christian
writers employed this secondary sense for the local congregations of believers,
in the
words of James A. Coriden, "It was a spiritual or mystical
notion that described the communities of those whose true homeland was in
heaven, who were only pilgrims here on earth."22 Later
paroikia was transposed to the individual communities/churches
living in the world. The term soon became an accepted word for the individual,
local communities within the larger Church. It then conveyed the sense of a
people, a community, of God's holy people (1 Pet. 2:9-10).
It was not
until the fourth century that paroikia found itself officially in the acts of
early Church Councils employed for that purpose. The Church witnessed a
dramatic rapid growth and spread remarkably after the Peace of Constcmtine
(c.312 AD). It was at this time that Latin joined, and was soon to overtake,
Greek as official language of the Church Hence paroecia, a Latin
rendering of the Greek paroikia, was used to describe the communities.
This Latin word paroecia had a less fixed and a more fluid meaning.
As a matter of fact paroecia and dioceses were interchangeably used for
a long time. Sometimes they referred to a local church led by a presbyter
(elder = priest), and at other times they referred to a cluster of local
churches with a bishop as its head.
It must be
admitted, however, that a uniform use of the term took off from the sixth
century. Then the local communities maintained the descriptive term, parishes,
while die larger groupings of local churches with a defined territory and a
bishop as its head and overseer acquired the administrative title
diocese (or eparches in the Eastern churches). Today the Church
uses parish to mean a subdivision of a
diocese with a clear marked geographical boundary that has its
own pastor (parish priest), and enjoys a certain degree of autonomy under the
jurisdiction of the Local Ordinary - the bishop (cf. CC 374; 515). It is a
community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church
whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor – parochus (a
canonically appointed parish priest).
The structure
"of a parish can be seen from external and internal perspectives.
Externally seen, one may be speaking of the geographical size, the area beyond
which the parish may be said to be crossing boundary. The internal structure of
a parish, on the other hand, does not enjoy a clear-cut description as its
external structure. It is often accepted out of what the people are accustomed
to seeing as normative. It has remained a source of major tensions, frictions,
antagonisms and conflicts in the church. Where there is no problem, it does not
even call to question. 3ut where one meets problems, or frictions in daily
works, then comes the question about whose function it is to handle this or
that. The debate that goes with this is beyond the task of this paper.
Be that as it may, let me quickly note
that every parish is a manifestation of the whole Church. The parish makes the
universal Church visible, tangible, perceptible, and enables it to realise its
goal and mission. In a word the parish represents (re-presents), makes present
the whole Church. The latter is really present especially within the spectrum
of the congregation of the faithful with its pastor around the table of the
Lord on Sundays This is the mind of the Vatican II Council when it states that:
This church of Christ is really
present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful which,
united with their pastors, arc also called churches in the New Testament. For
these arc in fact, in their own localities, the new people called by God, in
the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (sec 1Thcss. 1:5). In them the
faithful are gathered together by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and
the mystery of the Lord's Supper is celebrated "so that, by means of the
flesh and blood of the Lord the whole brotherhood and sisterhood of the body
may be welded together,"... In these communities, though they may often be
small and poor, or dispersed. Christ is present through whose power and
influence the one, holy catholic and apostolic church is constituted.3
In other words the parish is
church in every sense. Christ is fully present there in the word, in the
sacraments, in the fellowship, m grace and in charity. The parish carries
within itself the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the Church of
Christ.
The coming
into being of the local churches (parishes) is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Through baptism the Holy Spirit begets and gathers all those who believe in
Jesus Christ into one People of God. Since parishes are locally situated they
are bound to dialogue with their social environment, with human communities
around them, and therefore must risk religious dialogue and ecumenical
co-operation with non-Christian and other Christian groups respectively.
There are two
main inseparable arms of a parish: the parishioners (the laity) and the pastor
(the parish priest) - the caretaker and steward of the parish under the
directive of the Local Ordinary.
The word
"lay" often invokes the idea of "unskilled", non-professional,
or amateur We hear people say: "I am a layperson in medical science";
"I am only speaking as a layman on this issue"; "I have merely a layman's
knowledge in law, in computer science." In this popular usage, it means
one is an amateur or one has little or smattering idea on the issue at stake as
distinct from a professional. Shortly before 1438 the term lay
was used to mean "non-clerical" or non-professional. It stems from
the Greek word laikos (of the people), which comes from
laos (people). From here comes the word laity, which means
people
In the
Christian parlance, the word "laity" refers to the
"prototype" members of the People of God. Each member has been
divinely called and chosen with a specific calling and mission. They have the
divine mandate to sanctify themselves as well as the world (their proper place)
through their ordinary work and life so that their presence, friendship, and
example can lead others around them to God. Vatican 11 Council uses the term
laity to mean all the faithful except those in holy Orders and
those who belong to a religious state approved by the Church. By the
faithful, it meant all who by baptism are incorporated into Christ,
are constituted the people of God, sharing the priestly, prophetic and kingship
of Christ (cf LC, 31) Be that as it may, it may still take some
years for the non-ordained members of Christ s faithful of Jesus'
family in Nigeria, to assimilate, appreciate and appropriate and apply the term laity
to themselves without much ado or further explanation, exultation and emphasis
from the pulpit
While every
layperson is in constant search for holiness, he/she enjoys the eccles.al right
and privilege to exercise his/her Christian apostolate. By
apostolate, we mean every activity of the Church geared towards
spreading the Reign of Chris, in ever, human heart, thereby leading the entire
world and its activities truly towards Christ to the glory to God the Father
There is indeed diversity of ministry but unity of mission Each lay faithful
should feel the call and urge to bring Christ to the home, to the market
square, farm area; to his/her community and its surroundings (cf. CC, 210). The
specific apostolate, which is common among the lay faithful, is penned down in
their secular walks of life - family, occupation, social
life and public activities.
Various
aspects of parish life and activities are engaged by the laypeople But ecclesial-structural
apostolate makes certain parish life and activities a reserve of just few '
laypeople, and fewer chances still for those who would wish to be involved on
the scale of full-time apostolate. By participating folly and actively in the
world, the laypersons are nowhere lesser members of the Church than the clergy
or religious. As a matter of fact the essential rights and responsibilities of
the Christian flow from baptism, wh.ch to the springboard of all other
sacraments, and it is possessed by all the faithful in the Church an equal
measure.
While the
Church endeavours to assist her members to appreciate their
responsibilities in the Church and in the world, many seem to be
far from understanding. A parishioner was once asked about his understanding of
a layperson within the framework of the Church, his response speaks volumes:
"A layperson is the one, who goes to church every Sunday, genuflects as he
enters the church, kneels for a while, and then sits on the pew facing the
altar picks up his magazine/newspaper, faces down to read, chats with
those beside him, runs commentary as long as the homily lasts, and later puts
his hand in his purse and drop some note in the offertory box,
and finally leaves as soon as the announcement begins” This may
sound funny to say the least. But it is a serious remark that calls for our
attention It bespeaks of passivity, a lack of adore to the sacred, of
obsessive compulsiveness, and of one deprived of initiative' In a word it draws
our attention to the distinction between religious practice and religious
commitment. No, the laypeople are never the extension of the pastor, to carry
out a Christian infiltration of the world. They are in the world, they have
their own specific mission there, that is to imbue and perfect the order of
temporal affairs with the spirit of the Gospel (cf. CC. 225, 898, 909; LG.
31) The Vatican 11 Council in its Decree on the Aposiolale of
the Laity 2, submits
that a Christian "who does not work at [or promote] the growth of the body
(of Christ) to the extent of his possibilities must be considered
useless both to the Church and to himself." There is urgent
need in our Church today to erase the partitions of religion from life and the
tendency to confine religion to Sundays and churches. For the labour to be
fruitful, the laypersons, the parishioners must work collaboratively with their
pastor, who in turn must create, the atmosphere that would enable them freely
and happily engage in collaborative action.
ii. The Parish Priest (Pastor)
The central
visible figure in any Catholic parish is the pastor He is the
number one ' Christian in that community in the eye of the
society and his constituency. He enjoys this privileged position not because he
is endowed with greater wisdom or intelligence, or he is more talented or
gifted or he is more handsome or holier than the rest of the believers in the
Christian community. This special position he occupies amidst other members of
the believing community is rather grounded by virtue of his calling and its
demands. Being a privilege, it is not without some responsibilities since it is
in the sphere of trust that one is given and one receives that honour. As a
priest he is called to holiness of life, life of prayer, sanctifying other
members of God's household; as a pastor he carries with him wounds and burdens
of the people. Like his Lord and Master, he is a priest-victim, the wounded
healer. He is mysteriously interwoven with his bishop - he is called to share
in the priesthood of his bishop His mission is to preach the Gospel, sustain
God's people and celebrate the liturgy above all the Lord's sacrifice... to
share with all mankind the word of God, meditate on the law of Christ, believe
what he reads, teach what he believes and put into practice what he teaches His
teaching should be true nourishment for the people of God By the example of his
life he should be able to attract the followers of Christ so that by his word
and action he may build up the house which is God's Church.
These paraphrased words of inaction in the rite of ordination are very
forceful and informative. Honesty makes us admit that we frequently fall short
of our responsibilities demanded by God's word and the Church. Little wonder
many parishes look quite dull and unappealing. Wherever one finds a living parish
community, one can hardly miss the presence of something sacred. Living as a
community means also growing as a community. For a parish community to be fully
alive it must constantly try to become more and more aware of the many things,
little or big, which need to be attained to, if life in the environment is
going to answer the real human needs of all who are living there. This calls
for continuous effort and a lot of self – sacrifices on
many individual living in that community. A joyless parish community is a pale
shadow of what a parish is called to be; it is a challenge and it is our duty
to rebuild and enliven it. When the pastor sees himself, and the parishioners
experience him as a team leader, and which team does not constitute chosen disciples
of the pastor, then there is the likelihood that a new growth in the parish
life with firm and good structural alignment will emerge.
However, this is a rare situation
in the life of many parishes.
At times it is petered against the parishioners
and at some other time the balance tilts against the parish leaders beginning with
the pastor who plays a central role in the parish life and activities. Often
this situation arises as a result of our diverse vested interested, which more
or less tend to swallow candour and transparency. Vested interest makes us
defend positions not out of conviction or for other’s benefit, but simply
because we fear we are likely to lose much. Vested interest blinds us to have a
fair assessment of our motives. Thus faced with controversial and sensitive
issues we land into equivocation rather than displease some persons.
The parish priest knows that he is not
sent to extra-ordinary people but to the simple ordinary
humans whose needs are no less simple at times. He knows too that his task is
enormous and
sometimes overwhelming. He is
needed in the parish office, he is bound to attend to sick-calls,
give counsel and comfort those m sorrow, attend to the beggar at door,
attend parish, deanery and diocesan meetings, give talks to some
pious groups, assist in the sacramental
union of couples, celebrate the Eucharist, pray the Divine Office, visit the
Blessed Sacrament, have his daily Bible readings and reflections, recite the
Rosary, attend some social gatherings, book-keeping and balancing accounts at
month ends, read books and newspapers/magazines, listen to radio, watch
television, welcome visitors, observe siesta, recreate himself via games, honour
appointments, observe his holidays and exercise his hobbies, bury the dead and
the list goes on He may be a type that wants to be all things to all men and
women, and unfortunately ends up being a burden
to himself and to others as well.
A careful look on the list of the
pastor's engagements reveals that the pastor is involved in the issues that
concern governance/administration, liturgical/sacral, education/evangelization,
devotional/renewal, social/recreational and welfare/social justice. In a word
the pastor exercises pastoral care, proclaims and preaches the word of God,
dispenses the sacraments, makes the Eucharist the centre of parish life and
activities, strives to know his flock and makes home visitations, promotes the
parish unity and its sense of communion with the diocese and the universal
Church (cf CC 519; 52881, 2, 52981, 2) These are some of the activities the
pastor is bound to face. This is because much has been given to him - much also
would be expected of him. Though some of the activities may be carried out by
laypersons, the pastor must realise he is the ordinary minister of
these functions and on permanent basis for life. The laypersons, however, if
need be, may assume some of the activities only on part-time basis. On the
other hand, if the pastor attempts to live and engage himself fully in the
works of the laypeople, he may run into heavy conflicts in his pastoral
ministry.
In spite of the variations in our
local customs and cultures, there are four vital signs, activities that are
visible in all Catholic parishes. And 1 hold on to say that the strength of
each parish depends on its commitment to these four tasks, namely:
a) Proclamation and formation
- proclaiming and preaching of the Word, handing on the
tradition, educating the parishioners in faith and Christian living, through catechetical programmes,
sacramental instructions,
re-evangelising programmes for the adults,
and schools.
b) Worship and sacramental celebrations
- baptism and confirmation, Sunday/weekday
Eucharistic celebrations, reconciliation of penitents, marriages, anointing of
the sick, burial of the dead, prayer, devotions, fellowship/communion
and missions.
c)
Works of
charity and care - providing for the hungry,
homeless, looking after the orphans, widows, the needy and less privileged
members, and up-building of the community of faith.
d)
Outreach
and social concerns - reach.ng out to the unreached,
evangelising the unchurched and reconciling the alienated or the outcasts and
social cooperation and solidarity with others in what makes way for peace,
mutual existence and healthy development in the human community.4
A parish of this kind will be a home for
all. A Christian community that is committed to and consistent in carrying out
these activities will most likely carry its members along the path that leads
to our heavenly home.
3. The Pastor and the Laity - Shared Responsibility in the
Ministry of Christ
Everywhere people are yearning
for a lively parish, where its members are actively engaged and participating
in most of the liturgical and social functions of the church. Much has been
written about lay participation or collaboration with the laity in the ministry
of the church. The word “minister” as applied to the laity is technically inaccurate
The New Testament, in the mind of most experts, confined the word
"minister" to authoritative proclamation of the Word in order that
those doing activities [casually called
ministries] could be educated and maintained in the truth. That
is to say that a "minister is one appointed to the task and in this
instance the task is that of teaching which sustains them in faith and
knowledge."5 The minister is indeed an official appointee whose
job or ministry centres on promoting good order and the building up of the
community of faith via sound instructions and proclamation of the Word… The
rest are collaborators, splendid and necessary doers of service.
Some call it "lay
involvement", "shared responsibility", "partnership"
or "team ministry" or "collaborative leadership." Other
terms belonging to the collaborative stable include, "collegiality",
"co-responsibility", and "subsidiarity". Each
of these terms has its shortcoming. Each author attempts to draw his/her
support from the Vatican 11 Council documents. All in all the Council Fathers
challenged all Christians with a threefold call: holiness, ministry,
and community Further, the Council lifted and
emphasised an integrative concept - People of God -
within which we are enabled to respond positively to that triple call Through
this new focus, the framework for holiness and ministry accentuates
not on the individual Christian as such but on the people. When the call for
action anchors on the people, when reaching out means embracing the people with
the good news, then our approach to ministry cannot be anything less than
mutual, shared, and collaborative Thus the Council loans its voice and in tone’s
that the laity.
Have been made
sharers in their own way in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ
and play their part in carrying out the mission of the whole Christian people
in the church and in the world. . . It is [their] special vocation to seek the
kingdom of God by engaging in temporal • affairs and directing them according
to God's will.6
The Council
too urged the pastors to follow the example of Jesus the Lord by ministering to
themselves as well as the rest of the faithful. The latter, it maintains,
should eagerly collaborate with pastors and teachers. And so, amid
their -variety all bear true witness to that wonderful unity in the body of
Christ: this very diversity of graces, of ministries and of works gathers the children
of God into one, for "all these things are the work of the one and the
same Spirit" (1Cor 12:11).7
John Paul II,
while addressing a group of American bishops on their annual visit to Rome in
July 1993 holds that collaborative ministry, "when completely
faithful to the church's sacramental doctrine, provides a sure foundation for
building communities which are internally reconciled, and the spiritual
energies of which are positively harnessed for the new evangelization.” 8
The central concern of the foregoing
statements is that parishioners should share responsibility for the care and
the future of their parishes as opposed to leaving the whole affair to the
priests alone… Such mutual sharing of responsibility does not play down the
unique place of the ordained minister of the believing community. It rather
enhances and enlightens his burden and paves the way for the gospel.
Co-labouring is equally not identical
with delegation or consultation, for the latter presumes that the parish
renewal is ultimately the specific role of the priest. This kind of parish
renewal "needs as its leader a pastor who has a deep experience of the
living Christ", notes John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation
Kccles.a in America, missionary spirit, a father's heart, who is
capable of fostering spiritual life, preaching the Gospel and promoting cooperation”9
The non-Catholic Christians in Nigeria
have often described the Catholics and with particular emphasis on the laity,
as "sleeping giants" We may argue against them in some other ways,
but we may not argue against this label if we are honest to ourselves. The word
"giant" does not only refer to numbers but also to potentials - to energy,
to resourcefulness, to giftedness, to commitment, and to hope. These are the
"giants" which parish renewal is meant to reawaken and to recapture
from further sleeping and their subsequent sinking into moribund. The hope of
the church lies in having parishioners who are readily available to take care
of their parishes in collaboration with their pastor.
Co-labouring, therefore, in the words of
Loughland Sofield and Carroll Juliano, "is the identification, release and
union of the gifts of all baptised persons."10 Thus shared
responsibility means working, and bringing our diverse gifts, together. And we
can only work together if we have a common purpose in mind. This explains why
shared responsibility is essentially an attitude of mind. Admittedly, the main
evidence that such an attitude of mind actually exists will be seen in the
practical organization and life of the church. It is also true, argues
Kevin T. Kelly, that one's personal appreciation and
understanding of what collaboration really means will only develop and deepen
to the extent that one begins to live and work collaboratively.11
That is why prior to collaboration there has to be a kind of inner conversion
for all. Genuine conversion, indeed; disposes us to reform our attitude of mind,
our structures, organisations and personal relationships.
The basis for
collaborative ministry is the belief that every baptised person is gifted and
is called to minister for Christ within and outside the community of faith. Put
briefly, the sacraments of initiation (Baptism-Confirmation-Eucharist)
and our mutual giftedness are what undergird the mutual relationship between
the ordained and non-ordained ministers. By integrating the sacraments of
initiation into the fundamental structure of the Church, the Council provides
us one of the key elements to understand and appreciate the Church itself and
the various ministries embedded in it. It also attempts to underscore the
recovery of the ' basis of ministry from that of the exclusively ordained to
that of all the baptised, male and female it reduces the sharp division that
put the clerics at one side and the lay people on the other side
"Ministry, then, is not a choice for the Christian, but a privilege and
obligation.
Beyond
the individual call for ministry, there is a call as a people. This corporate
call implies the necessity for individuals to discover ways to join their gifts
with the gifts of others for the building up of the kingdom."12
This is the secret behind the new
emphasis on the ancient scriptural paradigm we call Collaboration. The
precision of this statement is this shared responsibility, co-labouring, is not
born out of necessity or permission but simply by baptismal privilege and right
It is unrelated to shortage or booming of priestly vocation It stands on its
own right - the right and privilege of all the baptised Mistake not about it,
collaboration in leadership or ministry is not an emergency solution. It is not
a stopgap measure or a last-ditch effort It is not even a technique, a means to
an end. Its justification is far from being the most effective way of dealing
with the situation. It exists, not because it works, or not because it might
work, rather because it is right on its stand. It belongs to the essence of
being a Christian whose call to evangelise is not optional. This point needs
emphasis in all our parishes and Schools of Evangelisation.
No doubt, pragmatic needs might have
facilitated the introduction of extraordinary ministers of communion and
collaborative ministry debate in some parts of Europe and America, but it is
clear from our arguments so far, that collaboration does not rest on pragmatic
motives.13
It becomes a warning signal to the
Church in Nigeria. The Church in Nigeria must not wait until such needs arise
before we bridge up the missing link in our pastoral ministry. The truth must
be grasped; in the community of faith there is nothing like lack of gifts or
callings A person's call to ministry is a direct response to the charisms God
has bestowed on that person, and ministry should flow from those charisms We
are all called to minister for Christ. A child does it in a child's way and an
adult in an adult's way. Paul seems to be saying the same thing when he writes:
when I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a
child; now as an adult I employed all the senses and maturity of an adult and
rooted them in hope, faith and love (cf. 1Cor 13:11-13).
When we co-labour in ministry we simply
bring together our various gifts for the effective cause of Christ and the
gospel. The goal of collaboration therefore is to discover ways to identify,
release, utilise and unify the various gifts of all the baptised.14
This challenge has been articulated and affirmed by the 1985 Extraordinary
Synod of Bishops of America. The Synod exhorted all the faithful to
"participation and co-responsibility at all levels.” 15
It has to be emphasised that
collaborative ministry goes beyond the mere selection and incorporation of a
specific group from the laity It extends beyond the border of programs that add
lectors, altar boys/girls, men/women of order, leaders of various associations
and communion helpers to the sacramental and liturgical functions.
Collaborative ministry is not the privilege of selected or elected group of the
parish community. Implementation of collaborative ministry calls for concerted
efforts to enable all Christians, all in every parish
to respond to their baptismal call and engage in ministry with other members in
the Christian community.
What bothers one in this respect within
the parishes in Nigeria is that some of the activities and involvements of the
non-ordained faithful is circumspectively, and at times suspiciously, viewed as
a privilege, which only the pastor has a right to give or to withdraw It
appears such pastors have not fully grasped the implications of the sacraments
of initiation in the first place, and secondly they have failed to understand
what is meant by shared responsibility and as a result fail to appreciate its
value. Their prejudice probably stems from hanging rigidly on the hierarchical
model of ministry. Some others are very much obsessed with endless discussions
and authoring works on collaboration but are afraid to risk a trial. Another
groups are rather ambivalent in their attitude. While they believe in the value
of collaboration, they make some attempt, but lack the courage to hold on to
long-term commitment as a result of some obstacles and difficulties. All seems
to be saying, we should. We want to, we can, but lack the final
courage to submit and dive in, we will.
All this points to a major challenge
confronting today's Church namely, the challenge to translate the ideals of
collaboration into concrete daily life. How can people of diverse ideas,
culture, education, lay and ordained, women and men, work harmoniously towards
a mutual goal of proclaiming the good news and thus extending the reign of God
in people's hearts?
The Church in Nigeria inherited a
tradition whereby ministry is viewed as the sole responsibility of the
professionals (the clergy and religious) who functioned more or less as loners.
Some pastors have indirectly hindered the chances of spreading the gospel by
conveying an attitude of "I can do it all alone" or by not lacking in
want of the use of aggressive pronouns while referring to the Church – “I will
never live to see this happen in my church, my
parish", "never again in this parish of mine" “of this
nonsense in my parish", some priests say.
The level of
enlightenment about collaborative ministry among the Catholic Christians
(ordained, religious and the laity) in Nigeria is still low. Little wonder here
and there we hear from the pulpit the painful and divisive sledgehammer
pronouncements that paint some members bad for carrying out what in their
thinking are unorthodox teachings and gathering. There is virtually no rest in
the area until the group are summarily dismissed and labelled as non-conformity
members of the community In this situation, the pastor, as Francis Morrissey
observes, seems to have forgotten that his primary function is to enable and
animate the whole parish community to assume its role of carrying out the
pastoral responsibilities of the Church.'6 Here more than ever the
need for positive exposure to the Church's needs through continues education
and adaptation from all sides becomes imperative.
There may be deeper reasons other than
want of theological education that motivate some pastors to deny the non-ordained
faithful their ministerial rights If we accuse the laity of lacking high
theological foundation, then it becomes imperative for dioceses to provide
solid, professional formation and training suitable for the effective discharge
of their rightful duty. To be fair, this chance already exists in some dioceses
in Nigeria Some of the dioceses run and operate already pastoral centre’s,
catechetical schools and schools of evangelization that are open for all
categories of Christians - the laity, religious and priests. The training may
last for one month to two years depending on one's theological knowledge and
background. It revolves around the core aspects of theological, spiritual, socio-cultural
and pastoral skills, Church history and catechesis. The objective is to recruit
and fill up the parishes with volunteers; people who are prepared to generously
offer their time and talent in the service of the gospel and the Church.
The truth, however, is that many pastors
are unwilling to encourage their flock towards that direction. They are hunted
probably by fear of finance, or as one priest explained, that after training
these people some of them do not bring their knowledge to bear with the parish
programs. There are already instances whereby some of them return from training,
they turned (sometimes cunningly) to work against the Church and they have no
rest until they open their own church. I personally have witnessed this last
view, and it can be painful and disappointingly embarrassing. But a close look
would show that it is not something new to the Church in her 2011 years of
experience. What about the Lord Jesus himself Did not some of his close friends
betray and abandon him'' Surely the history of the Church leaves before us a
litany of many of her illustrious children that turned against, her In spite of
that the Church, guided and led by the Holy Spirit, still lives and moves on in
the footsteps of her Bridegroom in the understanding that abuse does not
prevent the use That there are many car accidents on our roads does not prevent
other cars from risking the route unharmed.
The fact is that lay ministers (both in
the restrictive officially appointed sense and in the popular lay-volunteer
sense) are gradually increasing in many parishes. Many of them seem to
understand their boundary and are ready to collaborate with many parish
programs. Some of them, in respect of peace and harmony, are just waiting for
some green light from their pastor and parish council. In many instances, their
collaboration with the ordained ministers has paved the way for more
involvement among the parishioners in parish life, and more awareness in being
church.
This work does not promise an easy
transition since many pastors are not trained to appreciate the value of collaborative
ministry. The latter is near to impossible, and so may remain only as a fine
concept, if it lacks explicit, intentional efforts from all sides to promote
and foster its development. Our willingness to forge ahead amidst inevitable
conflicts, frustrations and difficulties until collaboration bec9mes
an operational norm will yield rich harvest that would pave the way for the
reign of God.
In a parish set-up the pastor, no doubt,
is a key-motivating factor to persuade people .to help others. The problem for
many a pastor is how to get started. In my personal encounter ' I notice that
some parishes are more successful in drawing volunteers than others. This
hanged on the policies and characteristics of those parishes and their pastors.
Such parishes usually give the volunteers adequate information about those they
are being sent to. Put briefly, they are given pretty good job
descriptions, which the volunteers are willing to follow. They
are further prov.ded with the concrete ways on how to go about it. It is like
saying: Here is What you can Jo, and not, ,,, what
you can Jo\ They also made prayer and Bible study and sharing as
the focal point of raising the volunteers' consciousness and sustaining their
motivation. So far I have demonstrated the imperative need of collaboration in
parish administration. Enough of theoretical bids; let us now go on to try how
one could get started.
4. Getting Co-labourers
The following principles for shared and
collaborative ministry are born out of my few years of pastoral experience at
Mater Misericordiae Parish, Afikpo (1990 - 199.S) I intend to
propose them here to assist those who may find it difficult to get started This
may inspire you to find a better way of going about it in your own way in your
own peculiar situation and territory. Even though the goal of collaborative
ministry is to get every member of the parish involved in the Lord's vineyard,
for practical reasons begin with a small group who later may help infect
others. Note too that collaborative ministry is not one of hurriedness, but of
time and patience rooted in love. The crucial question is: how, do you get
people involved and keep them being involved? The question, I suppose, is
simply asking about the recruiting, caring, and feeding of volunteers. The
following guidelines may be of great help to both the pastor and the
volunteers.
I propose here a principle I consider to
be of a wide, long-term, remote process. Even though a parish in Nigeria may be
filled with university/poly-technique graduates or PhDs, it may surprise one to
discover that their knowledge of their faith and Church is disappointingly
quite minimal. In fact, average Catholic parishioners appear to have minimal
understanding about what they believe. The truth is that every Sunday one is in
the midst of, and worshipping with, a religiously preliterate congregation.
My first two years in
-Mater Misericordiae Parish (1992 — 1993) were spent in teaching
and explaining the faith. (That is what I am doing in my present pastoral
engagement). First, I took advantage of the Sunday Congregation, which is the
largest single captive group that is readily available on weekly basis.
Sometimes I used homily time, sometimes just before the final blessing at every
Sunday worship to inject some important messages - all within the time frame of
our Sunday liturgy. Later I began Bible class on Sunday evenings with a small
group, which now has grown to a very large fruitful tree that has gained a
diocesan recognition. Much room was offered to the people to express themselves
and to ask questions even though we did not supply all the much-expected
answers. Gradually the people began to have a sense of their baptismal dignity,
a sense of being church, and awareness of their role in the congregational
worship, a sense of mystery, and a sense of God's Presence. Active
participation, a sense of responsibility and aliveness were felt. In a short
time the entire parish members were infected to the point that the last Sunday
of the month was set aside as outreach Sunday to our lapsed Catholic members.
The entire parish members (children and adults) were fully represented and the
people look forward to this outreach day. It was a fruitful venture. However,
not everyone was converted or reconverted. We were not discouraged. In any
case, the unconverted were never treated to feel less
Catholics, less parishioners. More impressive for me is this courage of the
Church going out to meet the people in their very situation and not waiting
always like a monument for the people to come to her. That is a kind of ancient
paradigm of the Church in her bid to evangelise.
The apostle Paul, who once faced similar
situation, inspired this first principle, when he asked: "But how are they
to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to
believe in one of whom "they have never heard? And how are they to hear
without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they
are sent9' It may ' still follow to add: And how are they to he sent unless
they are trained? Faith, Paul further says, comes from hearing -
the word of Christ (cf. Rom.10. 14-15, 17). Any good training requires, and is
supported by, some form of reinforcement.
ii. Reinforcement
In order to reinforce the
people's sense of community, small centers’ were opened whereby people from the
same area have possibility of meeting any convenient day and time within the
week. They assemble to pray and share the Bible together and discuss some
issues of their interest. They also visit one another. If a member is absent in
any gathering including Sunday worship we had volunteers who, within the week,
visit him/her to find out whether all is in order. I also do casual visits to
the parishioners at their homes. They are often more open to speak out their
personal problems on such occasions than when they have a reason to come to the
so-called office hours. Twice a year we had parish seminars, which today have
been taken over by laity week and bible week The
Pentecost Week is now a parish affair We gather every evening to pray, reawaken
and rediscover the place of the Holy Spirit in our lite This spiritual exercise
usually ends with Agape or Loves Feast organized by and for the parishioners.
The central point of all these spiritual exercises is simply to heal the inner
conflicting issues buried in our individual hearts and to sharpen the
sensitivity of our assured security in God as Father, through Jesus Christ and
in the Holy Spirit. The unity we find in the One and only God fosters our
congregational participation and we are thereby more united. They are proud to
identify with the parish, and fondly say: "Mater Parish is my
Church", to a chance visitor. Put in another way, the people are in touch
with reality, touching the depth of one another's heart because they are
immersed in God.
Organisational
problem was quickly anticipated as participants swell up. Members were divided
up in groups of twenty (though this number is already a crowed, we were able to
manage the situation) in their favoured ministries with a group leader attached
to each Special attention is equally given to the leaders of the different
ministries and associations in the parish. There are times
when the well runs dry17 in our spiritual journey.
This is more apparent among those who spent most of their time in giving out.
Such people are more often than not victims of burnout. They need to re-tank or
refuel in order not to lose their spiritual luster and fervour. We tried to
resolve it through a monthly leaders' recollection or spiritual conference or
retreat lasting for a day or two days. In truth, one could observe that leaders
are hungry and thirsty for spiritual direction and rejuvenation
This principle stems from the following
passage of the Scripture "The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him
all that they had done and taught. He said to them, 'Come away to a lonely
place all by yourselves and rest awhile.” For many were coming and going, and
they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a lonely
place by themselves" (Mk. 6:30-31). One effect of thinning down into
groups is to know ourselves much better. Is that not the wisdom behind the
Church's creation of many pious associations found in different parishes?
iii. Getting
to Know You
It is an obvious fact that some people
prefer to remain anonymous in any association. They like to hide and be lost in
the crowd. This is no less true among Christians of whatever denomination. But
the situation is blatantly clear among Catholics. The Catholic experience in Nigeria
is that churches are filled to the brim in most churches every Sunday. In such
parishes the pastor faces a crowd of anonymous parishioners. What is hardly
reflected is the great deal of talents that go untapped and unused simply
because we let people blend into the background as anonymous members. In
Mater Misericordiae Parish 1 tried the following ways to get
people known, recognised, and involved.
The parish had
seven stations not excluding the -parish centre. Each station had a station
leader and group of leaders. Each year they organise a
parish-wide census. They went to every house of their members in
their respective stations. They were required to collect the following personal
data: names, ages, sacraments received, sex (male/female), marital status (single/married),
parish status (registered/not registered), lapsed/drop out, statutory body (CMO,
CWO, or CYON) - here we were careful not to discriminate the "Single
parents- We were also counting the number" of attendants at every Mass or
Station Service without a priest.
Another kind of census was rather a survey
of opinions about everything ranging from Mass schedule to quality of the
homilies, music/songs, catechism classes, parish organisations, parish
programs, financial strength and others.
In every first Sunday of the month,
newcomers were formally introduced and prayed over before the final blessing
and dismissal. They were requested to make a step forward to the front of the
altar and introduce their names and their residential addresses Thereafter the
whole congregation led by the pastor stretched out their-hands and prayed over
them Then the choir sang -a welcome song for them, and members dance to embrace
them as a sign of hearty welcome to the congregation.
Churching (child's presentation) is also
another important element that cements the community. Ideally infant baptism
should be carried out on a Sunday. But because of the many crowded programs, we
do this on a certain day in a month in line with the established norm of the
parish. Then the Sunday that follows the parents come along with the newly-
baptised child and present it formally to the entire congregation. The pastor
takes up the child, places it on the altar (according to our local custom),
shows it to the congregation hands it over to the parents and blesses the
child, its parents and all who accompanied them to the altar. This principle is
built from the Lord's saying: "I have called you by your name; you are
mine...because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you"
(Is. 43:1, 4). Jesus encourages us to allow the little children to come to him
for unto such belonged the Kingdom of God. "I give them eternal
life", Jesus declared, "they will never be lost and no one will ever
steal them from my hand" (Lk 18:16; Jn. 10 28)
iv. A Tax-free Church - An Alternative?
In a world where money is all-in, where
money is considered 'as a supreme value,
as the only relevant language, a
non-salaried pastor working in a rural area and who depends solely on the
trickles from the offertory collection for his upkeep is bound to face a great temptation.
The Church is great, and greatness must be financed The Church as an
institution that operates within human society can hardly stand without some
form of financial support The experience of the Church in Nigeria is that the
dioceses, even so the parishes have many different ways of strengthening their
financial capacity At the parish level, the main fund- raising activities
include launching, bazaar, and some, church levies ( A M C/A C I ., building
levy, diocesan levy and other allied levies). The issue of launching and bazaar
comes from the free offers of the church members. Nevertheless,
levy, in whatever form it takes, is a mandatory and compulsory offer. In almost
all the churches, contribution through "levy" has remained a source
of useless anxiety, stress, frustration and controversy. The reason, 1 think,
is that people view levy as a form of tax, and humans by nature abhor taxation
In our new parish - Mater Misericordiae
Parish, Afikpo - we were confronted with many issues that needed urgent
financial attention. We were about constructing a house for our daily and
weekly gathering for prayer, fellowship, worship and meetings. However, I waved
off the urgency and began first to educate the people on the possibility of
making financial contribution with minimal tears. I was unable to convince most
of the parish councillors and their constituencies who had been programmed to-
think that there are no other ways to raise fund except by compulsory levy. 1
pleaded with them to allow me to experiment, and if I failed to deliver I would
bow down to their wish.
I explained
why we need a place for our regular assembly and meetings, which necessarily
must not be a building. 1 further explained our relationship with the church
building and why the option for the latter was preferred to ordinary open field
or under the shed of a tree. The enlightenment period took some months. We
arrived at the conclusion of making the first Sunday of the month as Church
Building Donation Sunday. What we realised on the first trial Sunday was
unparallel to what we could have gotten via compulsory levy in one year. Some
people freely donated building materials, which we needed more than money. Some
others offered us their skill in building, their time, energy and presence -
all free of charge. In three years we started using the church building for
worship, rejoicing with God and with one another in our collective alleluia.
The force of the Lord's injunction that we should give
without charge began to bear itself out (Mtt. 10:8).
v. Respect and Appreciate the Donors' Intention
A
follow-up to the foregoing principle is that the parish leaders should respect
the good intentions of donors. Usually when people discover
that what they donated is being diverted to some other directions, no matter
how nice they may appear, they certainly will feel cheated and
exploited. Consequently, they would respond in some most embarrassing ways.
They may pass vote of no confidence on those responsible. The pastor may shout
several times from the pulpit only to discover that, he had dropped his voice
on deaf ears. A transparent honesty and accountability are among the qualities
of good leadership. The leadership of Mater Misericordiae Parish exercised
these "qualities and were always appreciative of every effort from the
people no matter how little.
vi. Make Personal Contacts
Often people hardly come out to
volunteer unless you recognise them by writing or announcing their name with a
specific task or responsibility. Indeed to ask for volunteers is simply to meet
old friends. Usually people are loyal, willing, able, and generous; in short
very strong backbone. However, the danger is precisely because the same people
volunteer and offer competent-services, others shrink and back off. The latter
feel ill-qualified and incompetent to measure up to the standard already set up
by old hands. Conversely, when, the pastor takes the initiative and invite some
members, who never had volunteered for some parish programs to the parish
house, the result will call for a repetition Among the Igbo parishioners, as at
the time of writing this work, the mystique of the priest's name, despite .bad
press, still holds sway, and the people, both old and new functionaries, are
reluctant to say "no" to being involved. In any case good leaders
have the potentiality of empowering those they are leading, lifting them up and
encouraging them to lead
vii. Empower the People via the
"Isiji" Dance
In Edda, a town in Igbo, one of the
stages of initiation into manhood is what they call Isiji. It is an
aspect of the process of seasonal training into manhood spanning from late
August to early November lasting for between 3 and 9 years in the days of yore.
It is a kind of socialisation process whereby the candidates are schooled into
all aspects of the people's life as a body - their history, culture, religion,
polity, economy, judiciary, and military strength. Each season is usually
crowned with "Ukpo" or "Umuneke" or' "Isiji"
festival dance. Interesting here is that the training is mostly in the hands of
initiates by initiates. There are, however, specified elders who serve as their
guardfly. The longer one is there the less one is-engaged. One
shares out one's authority and duties to the junior ones until one finally disengages
oneself from the group via one's last Isiji dance.
This ancient tradition of the Edda
people teaches us the principle that when you have trained a group or the
entire congregation in the ways of doing something and have led them for a
while, allow other people to take your position, while you take the front seat
(pew). Later move to .he middle pew, and still later to the hack
pew, and finally, out the front or rear door. Then you have done your Isiji dance. The people now owned it and
owned it well and movingly. Thus you have empowered the
people. Once the people have learnt there is no need to hold on, much less to
control. They are now in a position to make their own decisions. They will
invite you when they need you. Encourage their effort no matter how little.
They will reduce much of your pastoral duties. This is the principle I employed
when we started Bible class in Mater Misericordiae Parish that finally became a
large society in the parish as mentioned already. This principle is particularly
relevant m a system like ours where parish priests are not immune from transfer.
Viii. Happy Endings
Those in leadership position may at
times be at cross-purposes. It can b quite dismaying that a
volunteer wants a change or leave his post for good but feels it may be seen as
a betrayal to the parish priest who, he/she thinks still needs his/her service.
On the other hand, the parish priest, all the while, is in agony in want of new
blood in the job but does not know how to graciously ask this volunteer to
leave for good. One step out of this situation is to develop a tradition
whereby no one may serve in a leadership position in most ministries for more than three years. (By “most ministries” is
meant that there are obviously some require continuity because of
specialization or there are not enough people around). This freeing principle,
People are given a sense of a beginning and ending. Some may return to
membership, while some others are absorbed into other ministries. Other than
the one they had served before. Other becomes valued alumnae or alumni, who
fill in when there is a gap. This is already a laid down working guideline in
the Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki, which some pastors overlook to their
embarrassment and discomfort.
viii. Respect Co-labourers
The
background of this principle lies in the understanding that, and regard for volunteers
as adults, and they should be treated as such. Unfortunately, some pastors in
Nigeria treat their co-labours (volunteers and paid staff) as if there were
their houseboys or housemaids. They hardly speak with but almost speak to the
volunteers or paid staff working with them in the parish. Even when they
(volunteers) with all respect make a demand of some working materials, the
response they often meet is no less than the sound of a thunder that makes them
shrink back in fear. Such attitude cannot but retards the positive development
of the parish. We should not forget that the parish volunteers are invaluable
working force of the parish. In point of fact, when people know that their needs and
dignity are respected, they are more likely to respond in a manner that would bring honour
to the parish.
ix. Volunteer Thank-You-Day
Choose a suitable time of the year, probably after
the busy Christmas or Easter season shortly before or by the first meeting of
the parish council in January or any other convenient time and invite the entire parish volunteers (members of the parish
council heads and secretaries of various statutory bodies and pious
associations) to a get-together. A labourer deserves his wages, says Jesus (cf.
Mtt. 10:10). The volunteers are the least to ask for a pay even though it is
hard to get a free service nowadays. There is no-gain-saying that to gather
them at specified time of the year just to smile, laugh and chat with one
another amidst light refreshment and music, and towards the end express one's
gratitude for their healthy collaboration for the cause of the gospel all
through the year, will certainly make a big difference. Those who have tried it
know the abundant fruits it brings in return. We are encouraged to cultivate
Paul's profound attitude: “In everything, give thanks" (1Thess. 4:18).
x. In and Out - Not In or Out
This last principle is a cautionary measure. Some
pastors have succeeded in establishing and turning their parishes as healing centres.
Clear is that they have inadvertently turned their parishes into service
stations. The parish is there to "save souls", yes. It is an island
of grace, yes. Thus people turn out in mass from all walks of life not only to
be serviced but also to find refuge from our wicked and horrendous world.
True to say there are more than sufficient daily
horrors and indignities in our world, but the truth also is that this very
world is God-filled, God-infested, and God-led. It is obvious that our world of
work and family and netghbourhood is the fitting place of lay witnessing and
spirituality. Pastors involved in hea.ing ministry must be wary to avoid
fostering a sanctuary mentality among the lay people. Granted that the
laypeople are invaluable and necessary availability in different areas of
parish ministry and programs, no one should think that parish
involvement
is the limit of their mission, and thereby felt they have satisfied then proper
and genuine vocation. Their function in the parish is not an "in or
out" finality to borrow William J. Bausch expression, but an "in and out" process. That is
to say people are expected to come to the parish for fellowship, for worship,
to focus on their proper calling beyond the parish as spouses, workers,
students, and citizens. Their assistance in the parish is supposed not be seen
as an end in itself, but as a means for all to find courage and strength to go
out and evangelise, to leaven, to be salt of the earth and light of the world,
to bear witness, to bring Jesus the Lord to the marketplace, to business centers,
and to uncover and celebrate grace in what life offers us daily.
The primary and ordinary role of the
laity is their commitment to their families, works and communities. They need
further persuasion to understand that time spent with family, friends,
colleagues, social clubs/committee of friends and in the village/community meetings
is equally genuine ministry. The force of this statement runs thus in no way shall
the parish ministry for priests and religious be measured for the lay people.
For the former it is a full-time commitment, and for the latter it is still a
part-time. No one should be made to feel guilty for not having enough time to
maintain full-time ministry in the world, and at the same time maintain
full-time ministry in the Church as well as in the family Ail in all, what
matters is not the amount of time given to a particular ministry one is
engaged,, but the commitment and dedication one shows in it.
The above principles, even where they
are religiously observed, however, do not guarantee shared responsibility a
smooth sailing venture. Some obstacles must be faced and won over, namely
competitiveness, parochialism, arrogance, and burnout; hostility, unwillingness
to deal with conflict, unwillingness to deal with loss, learned helplessness,
and failure to integrate sexually.
5. The Church's Goods and Accountability
We have already touched some aspects on this issue. What follows is simply to spell them out and
offer some useful insights, which some pastors very often overlook. Some
priests are willing to get rid of the administration, but they are afraid to
let go the purse string. A treatment on parish administration may be
incomplete, if it does not touch on the management of temporalities of the
parish. Money is said to be the root of all evil, but hardly will any society
of organization strive without some form of financial backing. The
church/parish needs money to run its
multiple projects.
Some parish priests are astute in money
yielding projects or programmes but are weak in financial management. In many
of our parishes in Nigeria, one may witness useful projects - physical
structures for different purposes. The priest in-charge will readily tell you
how much- he has put into such a project but unfortunately one may be
embarrassed to discover that he has
no single record of the details. Keeping records is among the imperative
actions of a pastor. The parish inventories should be checked and updated on
regular bases. The diocesan and parish finance committees must be up and doing
in this regard. The following may serve as
a guide:
1.
Extra-ordinary'
temporal goods - Land acquired; alienated
property like Contracts.
2.
Ordinary temporal
goods - Domestic durable property - Beds,
Forms, Generator, Refrigerator, Seats, TV, Kitchen utensils, cutleries, etc
3.
Finance
-Cash at Hand, Cash in bank; Name of Bank, Type of Account - Savings, Fixed
deposits, Current, Shares
4. Sacramental
and Pastoral - Parish Mass Box and its content. Vestments, Altar
Cloths, Items for Benediction, the Tabernacle, Sacramentary and Lectionaries, Church
pews and ambos.
5. Miscellaneous
Property - Items bought or received in the name of the parish
that may not be classified in any of the above - Type-writers,
computers and accessor.es, internet/TV satellite dish, photocopy machines,
-telephones, wall clock. Window blinds, Rugs etc.
Following my diocesan directive, each
parish must open two accounts:
Mission Account
- Here the parish priest enters the income and expenditure as they affect Daily
and Sunday collections, AMC (ACF), Mass Stipends, Stole Fees,
"Tithes", etc., food and drinks, gas/fuel, telephone calls, internet
browsing, charity, wages, make-ups,
dresses, other
needs,
per month
Parish
Account - Here the priest records
proceeds from harvest-bazaar- thanksgiving, donations, loans, levies, and
building projects, other major projects, Salaries, vehicle repairs, etc.
Some Essential
Documents Necessary to Run a Parish and Mission Accounts:
i. Bishop's Authorization
Letter to open a Mission Account - Here the
parish priest is the sole signatory to the account.
ii. Bishop's Authorization Letter
to open a Parish Account - Here the parish finance committee (three in number)
would be signatories to the account.
iii. Bishop's Authorization
Letter for a change of signatory/signatories
where applicable
Request for a
copy after the bank had finished processing it. Make a copy available to the diocesan
finance committee. It is clear that some priests have opened
account meant for a parish in their' own name. With the death of such parish
priests it becomes near to ' impossible for the diocesan finance committee to
recover the parish money from the bank. The bishop's authorization letter makes
it easier for the diocese or parish to reclaim its account irrespective of
whether there is a change or absence of the previous parish priest.
Bank Documents
All bank
documents pertaining to the above accounts (Mission and Parish Accounts) must
be safely kept and made available when need be. These include:
- Cheque
booklets
- Passbook
- Deposits
- Passbook
- Withdrawals
- Other
relevant bank documents - Fixed Deposits, Shares/Investments
Surely
we all are not accounting experts. We need not to be. Just buy a big tick cover
exercise note book. Share it into two; one section for recording your daily
incomes, and the other for the daily expenditures. At the end of the month you balance the
two arms. May be once or twice a year the diocesan finance committee with the
mandate of the Local Ordinary may oversee the keeping of these financial
records (the print-out account, not the account book).
Similar
exercises are expected from those who run schools or other financial institutions.
The frequency of the reports
is-left to the discretion of the Local Ordinary
6. Building a Culture of Trust:
The Church has
no army or policemen or any enforcement agents to make us act according to the
wish of the church. The only enforcement agent that is clear to me is our individual
consciences. We may decide to thwart the diocesan good intentions and plans for
our collective "and individual benefits. Accurate recordings enable us to
balance the scale of our spendthrift tendencies. The viability and non-viability
of at parish may be measured by its monthly and annual incomes. Even the
strength of a parish cannot evade its monetary dimension. What we need here is
simply being frank and honest to ourselves. Candour and transparency, according
to Faley J. Roland, get lost in vested interests, as earlier said We defend
positions not out of conviction but because we have too much to lose. We do not
assess our motives as we should.18 Many of us have not been fair to
our parishes in areas of money and property. We have betrayed the hope and
trust that is laid upon us in the sphere of naira and kobo. The Sunday or daily
collection box has become the financial security of some of the people living
with us. There is need for all us to change. There is need, one day, for us to
stand out before our parishioners to announce to them our collective happy
fault. This is possible if we have the courage to change.
7. The Courage to Change:
Surely we all
had developed styles of keeping our financial records. It
requires a little bit of humility to alter the mind-set. There is nothing one
does in the parish that qualifies one to act as a lone-ranger. The mandate we
all share is not a private affair. To be sent means to follow, return and
report back, every now and again,, to the one who sent you. One must be guided
by the diocesan norms and policy. Otherwise one may find oneself playing nice
and beautiful but outside the line. S
The common
political slogan everywhere is "change". Some changes are going on in
our society and rapidly too. The Church, living in the society, cannot pretend
to be unaffected. Change in the parish invariably entails change in the role of
the pastor, even if he chooses to respond or not. A non-response corresponds to
a response, a decision to remain aloof to the new. Those who seem unaware of
how much their parish is changing seem correspondingly unaware of how far their
own ministry increasingly serves the traditional needs of the traditional
parishioners, at the expense of new needs and neglect of new opportunities In
all truth, a self-sufficient priest stands the risk of being an
inefficient pastor
Watch
out, he who drinks alone may probably be an alcoholic.
In the parish,
as elsewhere, control of money is an important factor Only a free people could
be truly responsible people. Unless the laity took their responsibilities, the
priest could not discharge his. Unless the priest also delegated some of his
authority, the responsibilities that the lay people are taking on may not be
considered a true responsibility.
It is
important that people see that you know where you are going. It is a leadership
.role. But it is more important to take hold of our responsibility to animate
the people to take up their responsibility, to allow priests to return to the
basics of the priesthood. There is untapped seam of goodwill and ability that
needs to be tapped. Priests come and go in a community via death or transfer.
We should weigh some of our expressions: so it is not my parish,
but our
parish! This may be an uncomfortable situation for priests who are accustomed
to
stamping their authority on everything, however unimportant. But
exercise of humility stands a good therapy for them to conquer their pride and
arrogance "Our help, indeed, is in the name of the Lord, who
made heaven and earth (Ps 124:8).
Bibliography
Bauch. J. William: The Total
Parish Manual.
Everything to Empower Your Faith Community,
Mystic: Twenty-Third Publications. 1994.
Diocese of Abakaliki:
Proceedings of a Workshop on the Solidarity of the Preshyterium in Abakaliki
Diocese, (3-5 March. 1997).
C.B.C.N: Guidelines for the Healing
Ministry in the Catholic Church of Nigeria, Catholic Secretariat: Lagos. 1997.
Collins, John: Are
All Ministers? Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press. 1993.
Coriden. A. James. The
Parish in Catholic Tradition, History, Theology and Canon Law,
New York: Paulist Press, 1997.
Extraordinary Synod of Bishops: "Message
to the People of God", in: Origins, 15:27 (Dec.
19, 1985).
Green, H. Thomas:
When the Well Runs Dry, Philippines: St. Paul Publications. 1991.
Grill. James: "Burnout: A Growing
Threat in Ministry", in: Human Development, 1:1 (summer 1980).
Harrington. Donal: Parish Renewal. Vol.1.
Dublin: The Columba Press, 1997.
Kelly, T. Kevin:
From a Parish Base. Essays in Mora/ and Pastoral Theology, London:
Darton. Longman and Todd Ltd., 1999.
Morris. Francis. "Pastors and
Parishioners According to the New Code of Canon Law, in: Pastoral
Life, 32:5 (1996).
Nouwen. J. M. Henri: In the Name
of Jesus. Reflections (mChnstian Leadership, New York: The Crossroad Publishing
Company. 1991.
Nouwen, J. M. Henri: The Wounded Healer,
New York: Image Books. 1972.
Sheen, J. Fulton: Those Mysterious Priests,
India: St. Pauls. 2006.
Zulehner, M. Paul: Das
Gottesgeruchtt. Bausteine fur eine Kirche derZukunJi. Dusseldorf:
Patmos Vcrlag.1989.
Zulehner. M. Paul:, Gottnahe und
Menschennahe", in: Thema Kirche, (10:2000),8-9- Diisseldorf: Patmos
Verlag. 1989.
REFERENCES
1.
Coriden, A. James: The Parish in Catholic Tradition. History. Theology
and Canon Law New York Paulist Press. 1997, 19.
2.
Ibid.
3.
SC 42.
4.
Corriden A. James, Op Cit., 39.
5.
Cf. John Collins: Are All Ministers? Collegeville,
Minn: Liturgical Press. 1993. James Tunsstead Burtchael: from Synagogue to Church. Public Services and Offices in the Earliest Christian
Communities.
New York: Cambridge University Press,
1992 in: William J.
Bausch: The Total Parish Manual, 21.
However, in this work we use it casually when applied to the non-ordained
people.
6.
L.G: n. 31.
7.
LG.n32
8.
Quoted in: Bausch. J. William: The Total Parish
Manual, 20.
9.
John Paul II: Apostolic Ecclesia
in America, n. 41
10. Sofiield, Loughla. Ind n and
Juliano Carroll: Collaborative Ministry Skills and Guideline,Notr
Dame Ave Maria Press. 1987, 11
11. Kelly, T. Kevin: from a parish Base. Essays in Moral and Pastoral Theology, London:
Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 1999, 57
12.
Ibid 20-21.
13. Harrington. Donal: Parish
Renewal,
vol.], Dublin: The Columba Press. 1997. 103.
14.
Ibid. 16.
55 Extraordinary Synod of
Bishops (1985). "A Message lo People of God", in: Origin: 15:27 (Dec 19, 1985).
56 Morris. Francis:
"Pastors and Parishioners According to the New Code of Canon Law",
in: Pastoral Life, 32:5 (1996), 2-11.
57 Being a title work by Green
H. Thomas When the Well runs Dry Philippines:
St. Publications. 1979.
18. Roland, J.
Faley,
Footprints on the Mountain..., Philippines: St. Paul's, 1996, p.259.
19. Ryan, Desmond. The Catholic Parish. Institutional Discipline…, London.
Sheed and Ward. 1998. p. 158
PARISH ADMINISTRATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY: PARAMETER FOR EVALUATING VARIOUS ARMS OF GOVERNMENT IN NIGERIA
PAPER
PRESENTED AT THE THEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE ORGANISED THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF
OKIGWE