THE PRIESTLESS PARISH - THE POTTED PLANT SYNDROME

In this post, I look at what many small parishes in the United States face when their existence is tied to affording the services of a minister or priest and keeping  their lights on.  When a parish's congregation shrinks to a size that no longer afford a priest, one begins to ponder how a parish that has existed for over a century and a half like the one I belong to finds itself in such a situation.  Is it a problem with the parish, or a problem with diocese, or is my parish's situation merely symptomatic of what is happening in mainline denominations worldwide? 

THE POTTED PLANT SYNDROME

Having read several sources on how to rejuvenate or revitalize a dying congregation naturally leads to a discussion on the need for change.  Change, however, is mostly talked about in terms of being driven by an outsider; a priest or minister who comes in to shake things up and shake things out, which roughly translates as shaking some people up and shaking some people out.  Not once did these sources consider that the problem many mainline churches are facing is that the model of ecclesial life they perpetuate needs to change; that it is an antiquated, highly controlled, and a largely controlling  hierarchical system that fosters something similar to a codependent relationship between parish and diocese.

The blame for the shrinking congregation is usually related to the fact (and it is a fact) that congregations become very attached and comfortable with the way things have been going for so long that they see no need to change or grow.  They start behaving like a potted plant in the community; sitting there looking pretty and not prone to frequent blooming or expanding their presence beyond the pot they're planted in. Like a potted plant, the parish is content to be watered and fed by the occasional presbyter and will allow some minor pruning, periodically, but is generally adverse to being shaken up or the soil in which  it was originally planted disturbed for fear the roots have become attached to the pot, itself, and if separated from the pot, the plant will suffer and die.

Priests/ministers come and go, but for the most part and throughout much of its history the small but long established parish has remained fairly stable.  Children  grow up and leave, and as time goes by, members move or pass away, increasing the number of vacant pews.  By the time the  parishioners realizes there's a problem, the situation has become critical.  

For the most part, parishioners don't see the crisis building as long as there is a priest or minister standing in front of them blocking their view.  Once the priest leaves or retires and their isn't enough money in the treasury to keep  the way of life they've grown accustomed to going, the picture becomes all too clear, "We're in trouble."

PLACE, PEOPLE, PRAYER BOOK

When the search committee for a priest I serve on began, we presented the members of our congregation a survey to help develop our congregation's profile.  This is a normal thing to do in the Episcopal search process.  The survey is aimed at giving a prospective candidate an idea of how our congregation sees itself and what we're searching for when it comes to a priest.

We developed a very good survey as it turned out because most of the congregants took time to fill it out fully; going so far as to write in the margins to express their ideas and thoughts.  Not only did what they wrote tell us what attracted and interested them about our parish, it also revealed what they weren't concerned about - a priest.

Grant it, sending out a survey that is going to be used to develop a  church's profile for obtaining a rector (priest), one can reasonably assume things like God, Jesus, and priest to be understood.  What was interesting for me is that apart from a few spoon fed answers from which the respondent could choose from, when asked why they attend our church, the choice "I feel closer to God" (the only choice related to God) came in fifth out of seven choices.  Of the over seventy individuals who took the survey and wrote in their own comments, Christ was mentioned only once and God was mentioned three times; one of which was in answer to the question, "Where do you feel God is leading our church" to which the respondent said, "I don't know where God is leading us?"   

The survey demonstrated that what was most import to the vast majority of our congregation was: Place (our historic church building), People (the members in our pews), and Prayer Book (our form of liturgy); in that order.  The only time a priest was mentioned in the written comments was in reference to missing our last priest who retired

The presumption that most respondents weren't thinking there was a need to identify the obvious left me wondering if anyone would have bothered mentioning a priest had we not included questions in our survey regarding a priest. That people wrote extensive comments with little reference to God or Jesus, much less, mention a priest indicates that God, Jesus, and a priest were either being taken for granted or were not in the forefront of their minds as something personally important to mention as a motive to belonging to our particular church.

What place, people, and prayer book, reveal is that members of our congregation appear more concerned about our parish's form rather than its function as a "Christian" church.  The consensus seems to be that we come to this particular place of worship because we like its beauty and history.  We like the people who come here because they're the people we have come to know and like doing "churchy" things with  We love our prayer book; our way of worshipping.  It give us an identity as Episcopalian, if not Christian.  

What appears to be lacking is the connection between form and function; between loving the trappings of parish life and it's relation to the message of Jesus as a way of life.  As far as I can tell, priests in our parish have never been able to knit together the love of the place, its people, and its prayer book as an expression of their love of God or the teachings of Jesus. Perhaps such a connection doesn't exist or the thought of making it never occurred to anyone as it becomes one of those "understood things". [I will explore why "understood things" are  rarely understood in a meaningful way in a future post.]

THE SPECTRE OF EVANGELISM

Undoubtedly some might think we need to get with the program - be more Christian - forsake the things of this world; like the pot we've become root-bound in, deny our cliquish satisfaction with our form of "churchiness," risk killing off attached roots in order to form new ones, and spread out like an uncontrollable weed.  After all, there is biblical precedent for entertaining such a viewpoint.  It sounds right, doesn't it?

It may sound right, but the problem is it doesn't feel right because its not who we are nor where we're at presently.  So, I'm not going there and here's why:

When  our diocese's Minister for Transition had a live video chat with our search committee about revitalizing our congregation, he brought up the need to engage in community evangelism - spreading the Gospel - at least that's what is means in most denominations.  I can only imagine what he saw in the faces of  those present - the confused look of a small herd of deer staring in the headlights of an on-coming car.  Evangelism?  Really?  He received an immediate, but honest response, "We're not good at that sort of thing."

We live in a community that is well-churched, close to twenty different congregations in a community of roughly fifteen thousand.  Just who are we supposed to evangelize?  Just who are we suppose to convert and from what?

Let's face it, those interested in church are in a church.  Those not interested in a church have their reasons for not being interested in a church, which most likely has to do with their experiences of being in one.  It is likely that a good number of those who don't attend services regularly will identify with a particular denomination they don't care about but will say they belong to, if for no other reason than to avoid being evangelized.

What the Minister for Transition also suggested is that being small allows us to reinvent who we are.  I'm not sure what that means either, but its more intriguing than evangelizing  a community that largely identifies as church-affiliated.  He also made the observation that church's are prone to demographic trends.

In other words, seeking a younger priest will likely lead to a attracting a younger crowd.  If a congregation seeks a more established priest, this will likely maintain the type of congregation we currently have, older but more established.  If we seek a half-time priest, we will likely stick with seeking half-time priests for the foreseeable future, and so on.

What strikes me in this demographic illustration is that priests have done very little to grow the congregation since my family joined this congregation twenty-five years ago. I am not blaming or faulting them, but if that has been the trend, what makes us think that getting a priest full-time or half-time, younger or older will change that in the two to five years we have to turn things around before our reserves run out?

 "REALITY IS OUR FRIEND"

Our bishop made a very relevant observation when we began this search process.  He said, "Reality is our friend."  I like that.  

If reality is our friend, let's begin by being honest.  There is no denying that engaging in an evangelism process within a community that has a smorgasbord of churches for people to choose from is more about bringing "church-able" people in so we can afford a priest who will grow the church so we can afford to keep a priest.

This may sound cynical, but it's not.  It's reality, and its a reality that is not very appealing because it takes on the appearance of a circular circular argument and we'll likely end up where we're at right now:

What do we need to remain viable as a parish?
                          We need a priest.
How do we get a priest we can't afford?
                           We will evangelize.
What  if that doesn't work?
                           We won't get a priest and remain viable.
What do we need to remain viable as a parish?
                           We need a priest who can evangelize.
         
In addition to its lack of appeal, is the fact that it is not the change we're seeking nor is it a change that we can accommodate at the present time.

If reality is our friend, then we must start with what is real about who we are and where we're at, place, people, and prayer book.  What our congregation needs is to knit these to the teachings of Jesus.  It is only when we fully embrace who we are and understand what that means and understand connection  between place, people, prayer book and the message of Jesus that evangelism will occur naturally.

Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm

THE PRIESTLESS PARISH - LUXURIES WE CAN'T AFFORD

Note:  Christianity is entering a post-Christian era. This has caused some concern among church-attending Christians as the number of attendees are dropping in smaller parishes; particularly, in the United States of America where financial support is totally dependents upon a church's membership. The following posts will address various factor affecting the small parish as a call to make sweeping changes to the structure of organized religion both here in the United State and world-wide.

THE PARISH

By definition a parish is an administrative term used by Christian denominations to define an area that has a church and a priest or a pastor.   Increasingly, however, such parishes consist of fewer parishioners.  In the United States, Christian parishes or congregations are self-supporting and rely on the parish's membership for financial viability.  Affording full-time clergy is no longer possible for most small parishes; particularly, in countries like the United States.  

Added to that is a dwindling amount of ordained clergy.  Even if a small parish could afford a full-time pastor or priest, the likelihood of attracting a newly ordained or attracting one from a well established parish is becoming a near impossibility.  The most a small parish can hope for is either finding a priest who is covering several parishes or finding a half-time or quarter-time priest.

I began writing this post a year ago last August when the small Episcopal parish I belong to was on the verge of losing our three-quarters time rector to retirement; a priest who had served us for over seventeen years.   Since his retirement, I have been serving on our parish's search committee trying to discern how to proceed.

Like many small parishes that comprise an aging population and have become reliant on interest from invested reserve funds to make ends meet, our little parish no longer can generate enough income from its pledges and offerings to afford a full-time or a half-time priest without digging into investment principal and risk rapid depletion of that monetary source.  We're not alone in this situation. 

LUXURIES WE CAN'T AFFORD

Ordained clergy are becoming a luxury many small parishes cannot afford.  I know something about luxuries small congregations cannot afford because I'm one of them.  I'm my church's organist.  I've been the organist at my church for the past twenty years.  For about half that time I received a small stipend of appreciation to keep me tethered to the organ bench.

When it became apparent that our parish was beginning to struggle financially, I was among the first to say I'd offer my services freely and have done so since that time.  I have never regretted doing so and rather enjoy the sense of having lost the tether.  In my part of the country, most organists probably are in  the same situation.  I also suspect organists are a rarer specimen in a church's ecosystem than clergy.  Fewer people are taking up the King of Instruments nowadays.

The trend is that priests and other ordained clergy are headed in the same direction of ecclesial extinction as organists.   Seminaries are closing as fast as organ programs in university music departments.  The mainline church environment is changing fast; where the term "climate change" has taken on a whole new meaning as small congregations are losing body heat due to membership decline and are dying from demographic hypothermia.

Traditionally, the answer to these problems has always been "Get a priest or minister; one way or the other: full-time, part-time or an occasional supply priest/minister. It doesn't matter. Just get one!"

The dependency on ordained clergy in mainline denominations as the mains source of leadership remains extremely high; even as the number of ordained clergy are declining as a result of their aging out and the fact that younger people are showing less interest in entering traditional Holy Orders or ordination. 

In my neck of the woods, there are few Episcopal churches to draw from; thus, not an abundance of Episcopal clergy to spread around. We do have the option of appealing to the clergy from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for assistance, but, at present, this has not been seriously considered  Besides, the ELCA is facing the same problems with regard to supplying pastors as the Episcopal Church is having with supplying priest.  Being in the Dakotas is not a big draw to those ordained clergy who can pick and choose parishes that are more financially lucrative and more stable than ours.

Some might question, "Where's your faith, man?  God will provide."   As a person called to discern where God is leading our parish, I have no doubt God will provide. The question is what is God providing and where are we headed?

For me, the current moment is an opportunity to ponder the possibilities this juncture in our parish's life offers.   A host of "what if" questions emerge as time goes on.  Our parish's limited financial and human resources puts on equal footing two diametrically opposed questions: "What if we don't get a priest?" with "What if we do?" 

It is one thing to close the doors of a church because a small parish really can't afford to pay for the upkeep. It's quite different thing to say that if or because we can't afford a priest or minister we will be losing our church and cease being a parish.    It seems to me, at least, that now is the time to think differently about the role of our congregation in community life before those become our only options.

* * * * * * * * * * 

All Christian denominations are hierarchal in structure; from those claiming to be independent to those long established and identified as catholic and orthodox.  There is no way to avoid the human proclivity to order things by rank.  The longer an institution exists the more prone to order its structure along hierarchal lines.  

Organized Christianity has been around for over two thousand years.  Two thousand years of organizing and reorganizing the structure of the Church has seen the Church evolve from a seemingly subversive movement that defied imperial rule to becoming an imperial realm in its own right, known as Christendom.  It has evolved from a being a church hiding out in catacombs to a church that builds basilicas and cathedrals throughout the world. 

Everything on this planet is subject to change.  This includes the Church, as a whole.   The weight of its varied structures and its inability throughout the centuries to deal with changes brought about by scientific understanding and social development which have challenged its traditional ways is forcing it to buckle under its own weight and shrink.

The loss of influence that  Christianity has on culture, government, politics, and society in general is like watching a glacier melt quickly into a multitude of easily forded streams.  This is acutely and readily observed at the local level, where the local church no longer holds the importance in maintaining a sense of civil order it once had; where membership in a mainline denomination is no longer a prerequisite for attaining or maintaining social status.  It is the small parish, like an endangered species in a rainforest, that demonstrates an environmental shift in the political and social climate in which these parishes exist by their increasing disappearance.

* * * * * * * * * *

As my small Episcopal parish is coping with the reality that it may not be able to afford the luxury of a full-time rector (priest) for the long run, it nevertheless has opted to search for one in the hope of that doing so will result in finding a priest who will either be so dynamic a leader who increases the size of our small flock or who will so inspire our small flock to bring others into our small church from our community.  It seems that few have really considered the ramifications of such an undertaking or have no other alternatives in mind but to think in such terms.  

In filling out a questionnaire that our diocese has requested we do to draw candidate consideration, I ran across one of the question that gave me pause, "How are you (our small parish) preparing for the Church of the future?" 

I found that such an interesting question that it begs several questions. For instance, one question that immediately came to mind was,"What has the dioceses been doing to prepare small parishes like ours to prepare for the situation we are now facing?"   Apart from dwindling our resources on a full-time or part-time priest that may or may not increase our parish's viability, "What other models of leadership and parish viability exist that we can explore?"

Pondering such questions and the dwindling situations the small parish or congregation finds itself in will be the focus of future posts. 


Until next time, stay faithful.

Norm