The Church of the Future: Ever the Same, Yet Different

Sr. Joseph Angela Boone, OSU

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all predict what is best for all concerned for this upcoming millennium? And then again, maybe it wouldn’t? Of course, since we all work for nonprofit organizations, none of us can be prophets. Right?

Before we can talk about the Church of the future, I believe we need to study the Church of the past and of the present.

In looking back over records that I find in the Archives, I find many things of interest. I believe that some of these things will help us to plan for the Church of the third millennium— at least for the first 50 or 60 years.

1938: The Diocese of Owensboro was created by Pope Pius XI on December 9, 1937. Francis R. Cotton was appointed and consecrated the first bishop on February 24, 1938, and was installed on March 8, 1938. There were 56 parishes, 33 churches with resident pastors, and 23 missions with nonresident pastors. We found that there had been 22 parishes or missions that had been closed before the Owensboro diocese was created. Seven of the 56 original parishes were closed after 1937.

The Official Catholic Directory listed the Vicar General and Chancellor as Rev. C.P. Bowling and Vice Chancellor and Secretary as Rev. Gilbert Henninger. There were five consultors listed. The chancery office was located in the St. Paul Church rectory at 609 East Fourth Street.

The Catholic population of 24,059 covered the 32 counties and 12,502 square miles of Western Kentucky. There were no offices listed. There were 40 priests, who often spoke of themselves as the 40 martyrs. In June 1938, Anthony G. Higdon was ordained by Bishop Cotton—the first priest ordained for the Diocese of Owensboro. This took the number of clergy working in the diocese to 41. The diocese took up only one and one-half pages in the Official Catholic Directory. The Directory did list religious women staffing 29 parochial elementary schools, seven high schools and four academies with grade and high schools.

By 1940, the Official Catholic Directory has the Chancery moved to 614 Frederica Street and lists two offices: the Catholic Students Mission Crusade and the Cemetery Office. Remember— we are only two years old. The Catholic population had increased to 27,260. The number of parishes had increased by two to 58, with 33 parishes having resident pastors and 25 with nonresident pastors.

By 1950, there were 37 parishes with resident pastors and 20 missions and 19 chapels with three resident chaplains. The Catholic population had increased to 30,725. The Chancery had relocated to 113 East Third Street. There were 44 parochial elementary schools and three private elementary schools, 16 parochial high schools and three private high schools staffed by 263 religious and 10 lay teachers. The number of seminarians was 35. Four new offices had been created: the Diocesan Tribunal, Administration Council, a Director of Charities, and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Seven committees had been formed: the Eucharistic League, the Holy Name Society, the Missionary Union of the Clergy, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Apostleship of Prayer, the Holy Childhood Association, and the Bishop’s School Bus Committee. All of the listed members on these committees were clergy.

By 1960, the Chancery Office had moved to 4003 Frederica Street. There were 66 parishes, 40 with resident pastors and 26 with nonresident pastors, five chapels with resident chaplains, 19 parochial high schools, three private high schools, 49 parochial elementary schools, and two private elementary schools. These schools were staffed by 311 religious and 43 lay teachers.

The diocese had 62 active priests, four retired priests, 16 religious priests, 7 brothers, and 56 seminarians. These were what we now call " the good old days," with cheap labor in the schools and in the churches. Stipends for religious were less than $600 per year.

Five new offices had been created: the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, a director of the Cana Conference, a director of the Christian Family Movement, a director of the Bureau of Information, and a Diocesan Youth Director.

At that time all directors and committee members listed were clergy.

In 1970, the Chancery Office was still at 4003 Frederica Street. There were 73 parishes, 51 with resident pastors and 22 with nonresident pastors, 25 chapels with nonresident pastors, 34 elementary schools, five parochial high schools and one private high school, 183 religious teaching and 186 lay teachers. Note the shift in the number of schools, and the ratio of religious and lay teachers. The Catholic population had grown to 46,389.

Ten new offices and committees had been added: the Boy Scout Office, Catholic Rural Life Conference, Church Music, Director of Hospitals, Ecumenical Commission, Family Life Bureau, St. Joseph Clerical Aid, Superintendent of Schools, and an Office for Vocations. Again all committee members listed were clergy. A few offices and committees had been dropped. The schools were no longer under the Archdiocese of Louisville.

By 1980, the Chancery Office was still at 4003 Frederica St. Nine new offices or committees had been added, including the Catholic Counseling Service (Joe Castlen), The Cursillo, Diocesan Alcoholics Counseling Service, Couple to Couple League (John and Charlotte Sterrett), the Diocese of Owensboro Refugee Service, Inc., and Marriage Encounter. Newman Centers at the state universities in the diocese had been staffed, and the Sisters Council and a School Board had been created.

Now, with a few exceptions, most directors and committee members were still clergy.

In 1990, the Catholic Pastoral Center moved again, this time to 600 Locust Street. We had 67 active priests ministering in the diocese, seven ministering outside the diocese, and one priest in a foreign mission. With 12 retired priests, this made a total of 87 diocesan priests. There were 18 religious priests working in the diocese. The Catholic population was 53,93678, with 78 parishes and two Newman Centers. There was a big shift in the composition of directors and membership on committees. There were laity in the Tribunal; the Diocesan Pastoral Council had been established and was working well.

Now we come to the Year 2000. The latest Official Catholic Directory lists 63 active priests in the diocese with 3 active outside the diocese, 16 retired or sick, making a total of 82 priests. These 63 active priests are taking care of 79 parishes. There are resident pastors in 53 parishes, (47 diocesan and 6 religious priests), 26 parishes without resident priests, and two Newman Centers—one with a full-time resident pastor and a full time religious, the other with a part-time priest and a part-time religious.

What do these facts tell us? Things have changed, but remain the same. As you can tell from the chart you have before you, the numbers have changed. The populations of these 32 counties increased up to the year 1990; between 1990 and 2000 there was a small decrease, and so it was with the Catholic population. The number of diocesan priests and religious order priests has increased ever so slowly up to the mid-’90s.

The number of laity involved in the works of the Church has increased significantly. There are more lay administrators in parishes. One advantage of the shortage of priests and religious has been the necessity for greater involvement of the laity in the total operation of schools and parishes.

Let’s go back to the ’60s when vocations to religious life saw a big influx. Religious communities enlarged their novitiates; some built new novitiates. Local colleges saw a significant increase in enrollment. I was teaching math at Brescia from 1963 to 1969. We had between 55 and 60 novices and postulants who were attending classes at Brescia. In December 1969, I was appointed General Treasurer of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. I continued to teach part time the next two years. I saw a lot of comings and goings. It seemed that just as fast as the young women and men entered these novitiates, those who had been there a few years left. In our community, we called this the swinging door period. They entered the door, went to college and got a degree, and out the door they went. These individuals made excellent lay teachers, principals, and ministers in schools and parishes. We often said, "our chief export was educators with some formation."

At that time, Mount Saint Joseph had only a few lay employees. Not knowing that they were being paid in cash, I started paying them by check. It was very traumatic for these few employees when they started receiving a check in place of cash. The Mount probably had at most five automobiles and lay people were hired to drive them. Most of the sisters were teaching in schools and living in convents. We depended on the laity to transport us wherever we needed to go. Things changed. In 1970, the salary for religious went from the $600 per year to $1,000 per year, with an increase each year thereafter. Schools merged, and the religious were having to travel from the convent to the schools. Cars became a necessity. By 1970, there were more lay teachers than religious teaching in the schools.

As the doors were swinging out more frequently than in, the median age of our community rose rapidly. The philosophy that there will always be enough new members to care for the sick and elderly members both financially and physically was threatened. We had to hire more lay people. In 1972, Social Security became available for vowed religious. The number of sick and retired sisters had increased. The community decided to take the big step and enroll its members into Social Security and pay the FICA tax for five years of retroactive service. In justice, and to keep good employees, we started providing medical insurance for employees. The Christian Brothers of Romeoville, Ill., had set up a retirement plan for 501(c)(3) entities. Mount Saint Joseph entered this retirement program for its lay employees and paid the past service liability.

More staff had to be hired to take care of the infirm, to prepare food, to clean and maintain the buildings and premises. There was a big increase in payroll costs, medical insurance and retirement benefits. Thus an increase in salaries for those working in the Church and schools became necessary.

This scarcity of religious teachers caused an increase in the number of lay teachers. Some of these were single individuals or heads of households. Salaries had to be increased. This exodus of cheap labor from the schools caused many of the parochial schools to close or merge.

Going back to 1938, I found no great sum of money given by the Archdiocese of Louisville to the Diocese of Owensboro when it was created. The first financial report made by Bishop Cotton notes the total assets as $19,710—and $14,000 of that was listed as notes receivable. In 1999-2000, the total operational assets of the diocese were $10,601,800, with total operational expenses of $2,460,623. Investment income pays 23% of the diocesan operational expenses.

The number of laity employed in the diocesan office and in the parishes will continue to increase. The services provided will continue to grow, and inflation will continue to cause a big increase in operational expenses.

WHAT IS NEW ABOUT ALL OF THIS? NOTHING. THE CHURCH IS THE SAME, YET DIFFERENT.

In 1959 the diocese entered into a capital fund raising campaign for the purpose of initiating a revolving fund, which is presently known as the Interparish Deposit Loan Fund. You know the purpose of this fund. It serves the parishes in a very successful way. It is presently funded with deposits of $7,479,508, paying 5% interest, with $3,469,952 loaned out for 6% interest. The parish money on deposit is available with no loss of interest at any time with a signed letter from the pastor and the Finance Committee chairperson. With the increase in construction projects and in order to better predict available funds, the Office of Administration in 1989 set up amortization schedules for the parishes with loans. The policy required that, in order to borrow money for construction or renovation, a parish must have 40% cash in hand. The main purpose of this policy was to assure that the majority of the people in the pews were in agreement with the construction or renovation, not just in words, but in willingness to fund the project.

In 1990, the Diocesan Administration agreed to set up a Charitable Trust Fund, Inc., to replace the St. Joseph Clerical Aid Society. The Charitable Trust Fund, Inc., was established for the benefit of the elderly, sick, and infirm clergy. Before this, because the St. Joseph Clerical Aid Society did not have a qualified retirement plan registered with the Internal Revenue Service, the retired priests were required to pay FICA on the checks that they received. The Charitable Trust Fund was set up with the approval of the Internal Revenue Service; those priests receiving checks from the Charitable Trust Fund, Inc., do not have to pay the FICA Tax. This saves them 15.3% of their monthly retirement check. The Charitable Trust Fund presently has $7,403,998. In 1999, the average cost per month for the clergy using this fund was $2,850. At the May, 2000, board meeting of the Charitable Trust Fund, it was agreed that we needed an actuarial projection using $2,500 per month. This resulted in a projection of $11,720,853 needed in order for the Charitable Trust Fund to be fully funded. So we are still around 4.3 million dollars short in the fund.

Medical Insurance with Blue Cross was initiated for the clergy in 1964. The cost was $40.50 per month. This compares to the cost of today’s insurance of $263.65 per month. In October 1998, the clergy medical insurance coverage was placed with the Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Services. The two years of premiums paid to date are $388,217, with benefits totaling $373,108 (a difference of $15,110). Most insurance companies allow 15% of premium for administrative costs. In this case the administrative costs would be $58,233. With these figures, I expect an increase in premiums come July 1, 2001.

The Health Care Financing Administration estimates that one in three of us will be needing to spend an average of 2.9 years in a long-term nursing care facility. At the present cost of $140 per day, the cost of 2.9 years is approximately $148,190. with an annual growth rate of 5.8 percent. Today’s 40-year-old is facing a long term care expense of $440,000 in forty years.

The Catholic Foundation of Western Kentucky, Inc., was started in 1986 but had not been very active. Tom Lilly was hired as Stewardship Director in 1991, and since then the Foundation has become very active. Among other things, Tom has initiated an annuity program (worth $381,942 as of June 2000). Presently we have 15 individuals receiving quarterly annuity checks. The annuity check is based on the age of the annuitant when his/her money is placed into the Foundation. These annuities are paying between 9% and 12% for anyone 75 years old or over. These annuities give the donor a good tax write-off, since it will be several years before the donor recoups in annuities the dollars contributed. Several priests have annuities in this fund. Tom has planned and carried out the Disciples Response Fund each year since 1993. Sixty-five percent of this collection goes into the diocesan operating income: 30 percent for seminary education; 18.75 percent for religious education; 11.25 percent for outreach; and five percent for the poor and indigent. Fifteen percent goes into a grant pool, and 10 percent of the income from each parish goes into an endowment fund for that parish. As of June, 2000, the total parish endowment from the Disciples Response Fund was $329,497. Eight parishes have placed extra funds in their parish endowment account. Three parishes have their cemetery funds in the Foundation. They receive interest income as they need it. Five schools have started an endowment and placed their funds in the Catholic Foundation of Western Kentucky. Four of these schools are receiving income from their endowments. Three parishes are receiving quarterly payments on their endowments. The total value of the Foundation assets as of June 30, 2000 was $9,340,680.

What does all of that have to with the CHURCH OF THE FUTURE? It will not be the end of the Church as we know it, but it will be a Church that is growing to include the whole mystical Body of Christ. There will be more services added to each parish ministry. The divorce rate is 50 percent—what can we do to slow or lessen this? It will take more staff to handle the ministerial needs, and it will cost more to operate and maintain a parish. Salaries will have to be higher to meet the needs of the employees.

WHAT IS NEW ABOUT ALL OF THIS? NOTHING. THE CHURCH IS THE SAME YET DIFFERENT.

We know that God gave us two commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Look at how many books of rules, regulations, and laws have been written to explain the simple truths of how we can love God and how we are to love our neighbors.

St. Paul says our attitude must be that of Christ (Phil 2:5). Our ministry will be a continuous learning of how we can learn and practice the "attitude of Christ " as it is relevant to all of God’s people.

If Christ walked among us today, his basic message would be the same as it was in his own day. But the words and images he used, the challenges he raised, would be different.

As Church, our ministry shall be ONE yet different for each of us. We each have different talents and methods or modes of operations. There are many services necessary for the operation of any organization. It reminds me of a SYMPHONY. Many instruments are played in a symphony. Some instruments are more critical or have a greater impact or prominence than others, but all are important. Some even get their scores changed to reflect the needs of the composition. To quote St. Angela Merici, our foundress: "Be adaptable, do something differently, give a creative response to the need of the times." Those needs are not always clearly defined. Only a few things are set in concrete and never changing. Even the Holy Days of Obligation can be changed. We have had changes in Church rules in the past and there will be many others in the future.

If we look at the pattern over the past 63 years, we notice a trend. Have we planned these changes, or did they just happen? With today’s technology, it is easier to study patterns and make predictions. Will we plan for the first 25, 50, or 100 years of the third millennium, or will we just let it happen? Things are changing rapidly.

In 1963, when I was teaching math at Brescia, I read that more math had been created in the past 50 years than all of previous history. I would venture to say that there has been more technology created, invented, or discovered these past 50 years than in all of history. Where will it go? We already have beepers, cell phones, pagers, fax machines, e-mails, Internet access, Web pages, and more new developments every day. What a change! Are we serving our Church better with all of these modern conveniences? Are we really more available with our ministry to the people in our parishes?

I have read about computer chips that are available for parents to use to keep up with the whereabouts of their teenage children. You can imagine that no YOUTH is wanting to be that CONTROLLED by his/her parents. They will come up with a method or some invention to thwart that technology. Isn’t it challenges that have led to the creation of a lot of inventions?

Will we look at the needs of the time and adjust to those needs, or will we hide our heads in the sand and act like the needs will go away without our doing anything about them? All of us have the universal call to holiness. You as priests have a greater responsibility due to your call as shepherds, prophets, and teachers.

Some of us have witnessed a tendency among some people to use money as a weapon to thwart change. But it is only for those changes that I don’t like. Contributing money to the Church or institutions is very often influenced by changes, especially changes in the traditions that we have grown up with—those traditions that we loved, that we enjoyed and have fond memories of. Each one of us can give some very specific examples of things that we had as a child that we really liked or hated. When those traditions that we disliked were changed, we didn’t hear any grumbling. (For example, relaxation of fasting rules before Communion, women not being required to wear hats in Church, Sunday liturgy being available on Saturday evenings, etc.) It is when the traditions, rules, and services that we held in our hearts as being the staple of our salvation were changed, that it was a threat to our FAITH. The Church was going to the devil or being led by the devil. The big problem is, as I see it, that we are not all of us are on the same page when it comes to likes and dislikes. So, until something is declared an article of faith, it can be changed. A manmade rule is just that.

Remember the story of Galileo, the astronomer, who was summoned to Rome by the Inquisition to stand trial for "grave suspicion of heresy." In 1633, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. This was swiftly commuted to permanent house arrest. It seemed that the philosophy professors first persuaded theologians to link Galileo’s science with heresy. Pope John Paul II opened an investigation into the astronomer’s condemnation, calling for its reversal in 1979. In October 1992, a papal commission acknowledged the Vatican’s error. The reason I mention this is to note that it took 359 years for a mistake to be acknowledged by the Church and made public. There are other possible decisions that philosophers and theologians make that could be reversed in years to come.

What are the debatable items?

We are in a constant state of change. If we are never willing to change and accept new ideas, we will fail. We have to be willing to change and accept changes.

The October 2000 issue of the St. Anthony Messenger includes an article by William H. Shannon, which I would like to quote. He says that "to understand the Church of the third millennium, it helps to have an understanding of the Church of the first and second millennia." The first millennium was considered to be that of the bishop. Ignatius of Antioch said, "Where the bishop is, there is the Church." The second millennium was of the papacy. "In the 11th century… papal power became absolute and monarchical."

Shannon predicts that "this third millennium will be the millennium of the baptized." He goes on to say: "Baptism is not a single event that happened in a moment of time and is all over. Baptism is not an event but a process that began at the font. Our Baptism is now." He states that there is no greater Christian dignity than that of being a baptized person.

"The Church is the communion of those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus," Shannon continues. It is "not to be seen as divided into clergy and laity, with the clergy always in the posts of command." "By this I mean that Baptism is more important than Holy Orders. When I think of Church, I think, first of all, that all members of the Church are equal, because all have been baptized into Christ." "Some are chosen out of that equality to serve the rest of the members in various ways. This means the Sacrament of Holy Orders, but also includes nonordained ministries."

Cardinal Leo Suenens, the homilist at a Mass after John XXIII’s death, said: "The greatest day in the life of Pope John XXIII was not the day he became pope, not the day he was ordained a bishop, not the day he was ordained a priest. The greatest day in the life of Pope John XXIII was the day he was baptized into Christ Jesus."

Our apostolate or ministry includes anyone and everyone who does anything to further the mission of Jesus Christ—and that includes everyone from the trash collectors, dishwashers, cooks, secretaries, altar servers, bookkeepers, technologists, administrators, pastors, bishops, cardinals, to the Holy Father. All are instruments players in the Symphony of the Church. We are all instruments or servants of our sisters and brothers, and to minister well, to have a full symphony, we have to be in dialogue with the WHOLE community of the Church. All instruments have to be tuned and work in harmony.

With Vatican II, things began to change. Lumen Gentium # 33 speaks of the role of the laity as "a sharing in the salvific mission of the Church. Through Baptism and Confirmation all are appointed to this Apostolate by the Lord himself." We are each given an instrument to play in this Symphony.

In the Jubilee Mass dedicated to the laity on November 26, 2000, Pope John Paul II emphasized the importance of studying the council documents. "With the council the hour of the laity in Church truly struck," he said. "Today more than ever, dear brothers and sisters, your apostolate is indispensable in order for the Gospel to be light, salt, and yeast of a new humanity." Among the challenges to be faced, the Pope listed the advance of biotechnology, economic underdevelopment in vast areas of the world, and widespread hunger and warfare.

What are we as Church in this new millennium plan to do about this? It is the clergy’s responsibility to collaborate with the laity and to train and lead them in the moral aspects of all of the changes that exist now and that will come to fruition in the years to come.

As we look forward to the future. we see a Church of the people, by the people, and for the people. I envision a Church just a wee bit different than it is today. It will still be imperfect. There will be more laity involved making decisions, more laity being responsible for the fiscal affairs of the parishes and the local Church, more laity being catechists, pastoral ministers and administrators.

The ordained will be spending more time taking care of the sacramental ministry of more people. Instead of having seven sacraments for 50 percent of the people, we may have seven sacraments for a 100 percent of the people. The ordained will be traveling more miles—by bicycles, or perhaps by helicopters. The ordained will have to be available in more locations.

The Church will be more visible in cyberspace. More homes will be in touch with their parishes via Web pages and e-mail. The diocese may have its own satellite. We will all become more technologically friendly. Instructions prior to reception of the sacraments will be found online, as well as marriage instructions, instructions for Baptisms, Penance, First Eucharist, and RCIA. There will be more teaching online for adult education. Theologians, pastors, and ministers will have to become experts in computer technology.

The seminaries will have to adapt their living situations and curriculum for older, married, divorced, physically handicapped, as well as younger seminarians. These seminarians will have had varied life experiences; some will be ministers of other Churches who have converted to Catholicism. Some will have children and may even have living wives. All will be learning Spanish and learning about other cultures. They will be learning how to be collaborative.

Have you noticed how our English language has changed? Have you tried reading some of the computer books and magazine that tell you how and what to do? The BITS, BYTES, DOT COMS, DOT ED, and other funny words. Here is just a sample.

When you start converting bits into bytes, there are a lot of bits that have to be transmitted to impart even a little information. To give you some idea of what is involved, one byte of data generally requires between eight and 12 bits, depending on the format used. Strictly speaking, a byte is eight bits of data, but when you transmit data, extra bits are added for error-checking and to indicate the start and end of data.

Doesn’t this make reading the Bible a breeze? The interpretation and the living out of the message is still difficult, just like the interpretation of bits, bytes, modems, and dot coms.

With the advances in medical science, there will be harder and more challenging life decisions regarding what medical procedures are morally necessary. What will be the philosophy and the moral teachings on euthanasia, assisted suicide, abortion? When will a person be considered DEAD? (I certainly don’t mean at this point of this presentation.) What will be the Church’s moral teachings on cloning?

Things change, but they seem to stay the same.

CARA, The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, has issued the following statistics:

The number of lay parish ministers has increased 35% since 1992.

The number of parish priests has declined 12% between 1972 and 1997.

Of all parish ministers, 82% are female.

The median age of the Owensboro diocesan clergy is 51 years. We have 26% over 70 years of age and 22% over 75 years of age. Of that group of 17 over 75, we still have six in assigned active ministry. Most of the other 12 are filling in on weekends as substitutes. Will the clergy of the new millennium be as dedicated and willing to work and travel great distances as some are doing now? What will be the attitude toward work?

Very recently Father Dale Cieslick, archivist for the Archdiocese of Louisville, sent several boxes of materials relating to parishes in this diocese to our Archives. These boxes contained letters which—if they had not been dated—you would guess had been recently written. But they were dated April 1880. There were letters from parishioners, some signed and some anonymous, writing to Bishop McCloskey, complaining about the pastor of their parish. " He was mercenary, begging for masses and even telling the people to have masses read for their animals, giving masses away for half price, correcting people from the pulpit. Not calling names, but everyone knew which parishioners were being talked about." There were complaints about the priest’s salary. Doesn’t that all ring a familiar note? Ever the same yet different.

The Church will continue to have its "watchdogs." They will be observing all that we do, knowing that they have the RIGHT answers and the solution to all of the problems of the world, if only we would listen to them. Or if only the bishop/pastor would do as they think he should. Then all of the problems of the world would be solved. Again, it seems that the solutions can only happen when it is someone else’s responsibility to DO something—when it is not for me to change, but to hold on to things as they were when I learned them in school, or before Vatican II came along and changed everything.

As a diocese we have much to be proud of: advances in ecumenism, the signing of the ACCORD during the Jubilee 2000 Pentecost Sunday Celebration, the Renew process, the small Christian communities that are in the making. The Owensboro Diocese reports a higher rate of people attending Sunday liturgies than any other diocese in the United States.

We are going to accept and deal with more ideas suggestions, recommendation, challenges, struggles that we don’t like, things that we don’t want to hear. We will still drag our feet. Whatever changes come in the Church, it will move slowly. We hardly notice that the icebergs are moving, but they are.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN THE FUTURE?

With the increase in membership in our parishes, and the shortage of ordained priests, the Church might accept the services of the ordained married clergy.

More lay administrators in parishes will be doing banking, bookkeeping, and purchasing online. There will be more automatic ways of paying of invoices and receiving funds. Some parishes are already using automatic transfers from checking accounts to the Church’s account for their weekly contributions. We are already submitting W-2's on computer disk, paying our payroll taxes via phone transfer.

There will be more rules and regulations on diocesan financial reporting. You may have read the resolution that the USCC passed at its meeting in October, 2000. Each suffragan bishop is asked to send a letter to his metropolitan archbishop containing the following:

1. The names and professional titles of the members of his diocesan finance council.

2. The date on which the finance council has met during the preceding fiscal year and since the end of that fiscal year.

3. A statement signed by the finance council members and the finance officer stating that they have met, reviewed, and discussed the audited financial statements of the diocese and the management letter, if any, for that fiscal year and have reviewed the management letter and the recommendations made by the auditors.

The metropolitan archbishop will provide this same letter to the senior suffragan bishop in the province.

We will see bigger parking lots in the making to accommodate the extra vehicles, helicopters and small planes, as there will be fewer liturgies. We will see more lay pastoral associates.

Small Christian groups will become more popular for those who want to share community.

More religious education and training will be done via the Internet and television classes.

More Sunday liturgies will be televised to accommodate the growing number of elderly and handicapped. (The elderly are the fastest growing segment of our society.)

There will be more active participation in the liturgies either as ministers or from the pews.

From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the laity have been an integral part. Peter’s mother-in-law was cured of her infirmity in order to wait on Jesus and his apostles.

Paul’s letter to the Romans speaks of Phoebe, a deaconess in the early Church. When did women stop being deaconesses?

My hope is that the Church will be PRO-ACTIVE and not REACTIVE. That we will have dreams and visions, that there will be a rethinking of the moral teachings of the Church.

Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, said that the quest for common ground among the world’s religions is a search "for unity and not some kind of uniformity." "What we are looking for," he said, "is a unity in the essential elements of what we understand as the faith of the Church."

There will be times when we will have to be de-programmed, i.e., we will have to give up what has been stored in our memory, and we will have to start again with fresh commands from the beginning if we want to make progress.

Have we as Church not had experiences where we have to turn off what has been input, clean the slate, and start anew. It is not that the commands and rules of yesterday were bad when they were made, but there are new commands that take their place. The original command was important and necessary at that time, but it is now no longer a viable command. We do not have all of the answers, but worse yet, we don’t even have the questions that need to be asked.

Things change, but ever the same.

Roofs will still leak, cars will still get stalled, we will still have flat tires, kids will still cry during the liturgies and homilies, telephones won’t work, or get answered. We may still have to show some identification at banks, airports, and stores. We may still have capital punishment. We hope that we can get that changed. There may still be abortions performed, legally or illegally. Employees will still not do the job that we think we hired them to do. Ever the same yet different. With the shortage of ordained ministers, we need to see not the end of Church as we know it, but we need to see the beginning of a Church yet to become.

Christ is the same, YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. Things are changing, but ever the same.

The only thing that has not changed since the founding of the diocese is the number of counties and the same 12,502 Square miles enclosed in these counties. We have no guarantee that this will remain in the third millennium. I see a CATHEDRAL in the Western part of the diocese.

Thanks for your attention.

Continuing Education for Clergy, Diocese of Owensboro

© 2001, by the authors, all rights reserved.