Not so long ago, neighborhood and nationality were everything when it came to church membership. Either your street address or your ethnic identity tied you to a particular parish; it was what determined, pretty much automatically, whether you would be baptized, married, and buried at the church of St. Luke or St. Ladislaus. Nothing was a matter of choice. If you were stuck wit (...)
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WHY PARISH SHOPPING IS GOOD FOR THE CHURCH
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Thank you for such wise words. You would think it would be self-evident to the clergy and hierarchy but their blinders and need for power blind them. The fact that you must remain anonymous says so much about the present condition of the church. As a member of the older generation who is searching for a church and good liturgy, your columns are a ray of hope. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for your words of wisdom. I'm have been searching because my pastor is continually complaining about people in the parish who leave mass early, don't dress up to his standards, or who chew gum. Once he stopped in the middle of mass to give a long diatribe about how we don't understand the right way to hold our hands during the Our Father (do you think God cares?). It is very annoying to have such a judgemental person continually bringing up people's short comings. Eleven years of this has finally become the "straw that broke the camel's back."
Choice of parishes has much to recommend it but perhaps some reservations are in order. Parish shopping can offer a great escape from 'those people' and can reinforce the not so very tolerant notion that 'our' sensitilities are, after all, the 'sensible' ones.
Martin Marty and Bill Bishop offer a contrasting voice:
http://divinity.uchicago.edu/martycenter/publications/sightings/archive_...
If I can offer two observations. A number of years ago I was speaking with a person who told me (as if it was the most normal thing in the world) that she had not only parish-shopped but made appointments to "interview" my pastor along with several others. Given he was very much an old-school monsignor, I was flabbergasted that there was not a nuclear meltdown. Maybe he was so shocked he thought it was a "candid camera" episode, but I still chuckle thinking about it.
Second, yes today’s parishioners are not mere consumers but educated congregants, That is in large part due to the fact that Catholicism among the American working class is in a free-fall.
Of course no one in the chancery tracks the migration of loyal catholics from parish to parish. Neither do they respond in any sensible way to the dozens of letters of complaint they receive from knowledgeable and educated parishioners. Why is it that parishioners must abandon ship while a completely incapable and inhospitable priest remains in place? Could it be the severe shortage of clergy driving desperate bishops to accept totally unacceptable pastors?
Though I agree with Father that sometimes parish pastors, priests and ministry workers are not as welcoming as they could be, and that registering in a different parish could “send the right message” to the offending parish, there was a cavalier tone in this article that struck the wrong cord.
I think the better part is to do the heavy lifting required to make your own parish better. The idea that your parish in always on probation, one false move away losing you to Saint Nicer-Gentler-Kinder militates against the idea that we are one body, one commonweal.
The term “church shopping” itself is off-putting. And in many cases it’s probably more accurately described as doctrine shopping.