The Parish - Deacon Relationship
(Negotiating Roles in Parish
Ministry)
By: Dcn. Jim Miles
Each time a deacon is ordained or reassigned, the parish to
which he is assigned receives something new; a new resource to be applied; a
new force to build the body of Christ.
The incorporation of the deacon changes things for a number of people,
the Pastor, the staff (professional and volunteer), the deacon and his family,
and the faith community.
Each time a new priest is assigned to a parish in which a
deacon is present, the parish changes.
The deacon’s identity within the faith community must be reaffirmed, and
new directions and goals for the parish will be established.
We all wish to establish a ministry environment of mutual
respect and cooperation in a truly collaborative setting. The process outlined below has been shown,
through the application of successful interpersonal and organizational analysis
techniques, to work effectively to develop just such an environment in a
variety of situations. While some of the
steps listed may be uncomfortable and difficult, the outcome should provide
results that will at least allow us to examine our ministerial options, and
make some informed choices.
The steps recommended will
include;
·
Know Thy Self (Self Assessment)
·
Know Thy Parish (Parish Needs Analysis)
·
Understand the Other Ministers in Your Parish
·
Developing the Contract (Agreement)
·
Negotiating from Understanding (Integrating Your
Ministry)
For those of us who have been working in the same parish for
a long time, our first response to the title might be: "I have already
established myself. I don't need to
'negotiate a role.'" All of those who work in ministry know one basic
axiom: The Church, for all its
historical constancy, is a living organism.
And like all things that have life, it changes. Parishes seem determined to change. They are constantly looking at programs to
facilitate change, to make them more vital, and better able to be the Body of
Christ present to the world.
Know Thy Self
The first step in successfully participating in a
collaborative environment, and indeed in any ministry, is to understand our own
strengths and weaknesses. Through prayer
and discernment we must come to understand, as best we can, what God has called
us to do in his service. Now, take out a
sheet of paper. At the top of the paper,
put down headings for two columns; strengths and weaknesses. Write down those skills and personal
strengths that you believe will support your ministry and those limitations and
weaknesses you will be challenged to overcome.
Those who have had a secular occupation have learned where
some of these strengths may lie. Many
skills developed in the secular work place translate very effectively into a
ministerial avocation. However, knowing
what those skills are and where in ministry they are likely to be useful
requires self-assessment.
All skills developed in the secular work place do not
translate into all areas of ministry. In
fact, some skills and attributes so developed are actually detrimental to
effective ministry. When referring to
skills here, the reference also encompasses the means by which one gets tasks
accomplished.
In most secular organizations, the goals we are to pursue
require a certain level of insensitivity to what individuals not involved with
the task or project feel or think. Those
considerations are theoretically taken into account before the task is
assigned. It is also assumed, in a
business environment, that if a member of the organization or a customer has a
problem with what or how we are doing something, they will engage in a frank
discussion about their objections. Not
so in a ministerial environment. There
is much more humility and less assertiveness displayed. What this means is that a strength in a
secular occupation like "goal orientation," or being "results
driven,” might become a weakness in a ministerial environment. Our style of accomplishing tasks must be
taken into consideration when we assess our strengths and weakness.
As part of this self-assessment we should attempt to
identify skill areas in which we are weak.
An example of a skill area might be something like in-depth knowledge of
the New Catechism of the Catholic Church or
the Code of Canon Law as it pertains to the Sacrament of Marriage. Once these areas are identified it is logical
to try to put together a plan to strengthen them.
As part of assessing one's attributes and limitations, it is
important to keep in mind that balance in life is crucial. Balance in this instance refers to insuring
the time spent with one's family is balanced against the secular job and
ministry. I call this the Family-Job-Ministry (FJM) Balance. If you are married, it is wise to involve
your spouse in this whole assessment process, but especially when trying to
determine where the FJM balance needs to be.
First the spouse will help you understand if you are balancing
appropriately, or if you have gone off in one direction or another to the
detriment of others. Second, your spouse
may see strengths (and weaknesses) in you about which you were unaware.
On your sheet of paper (or a new one if it is needed) put
down a heading called FJM balance. Under
this heading, put down the three major activity areas: Family, Job, and
Ministry. Since, in a normal week, there
are roughly 84 productive hours (12 hours per day times 7 days per week) set up
either daily blocks of 12 hours or the weekly block of 84 hours. It might be easiest to begin by blocking out
your normal work schedule. For
individuals working a regular job this will take up 50 to 60 hours of the
productive time (don't forget commuting time).
That leaves between 24 and 34 hours per week to be divided between
family and ministry. Next block out time
you need for family activities. Finally,
start listing areas of ministry involvement.
When you run out of time, (your 84 hours) stop. Is there something left out? Do you need to adjust priorities?
As sort of a side note, this assessment, once completed,
should be repeated periodically. The demands
of family, job, and ministry will change depending upon the stage of life you
are in. Activities, which once were
quite acceptable, might become "too much" later in life.
Another practical note here, if you have children, it's
important to insure there is time for what I will call "normal fun." Very often, individuals involved in ministry
spend much of their family time involved in church activities. The parents might feel this is healthy for
their children. After all, what better
place for them to learn values and see their faith demonstrated in action than
at church functions? However, more often
than not, children will rebel against this "boring" regimen of
meetings, prayer, and worship. Some of
this participation is indeed not only healthy but a necessity. Getting out of balance, however, will have a
detrimental affect. The children should
not be brought up in a cloister and expected to enjoy it.
Know thy parish
Now that we understand, in broad terms what we can offer in
both specific service and time, we need to look at the needs of the parish
community we serve.
While this sounds like a fairly straightforward function,
there is an underlying definition that must be mutually understood before addressing
it. That question is: in the eyes of the
Church, what is the role of the local church or parish? I do not
think I can improve upon the words of the Second Vatican Council which, said in
Gaudium Et Spes (The Role of
the Church in the Modern World # 40):
"Coming forth from the eternal Father's
love, founded in time by Christ the Redeemer and made one in the Holy Spirit,
the Church has a saving and an eschatological purpose which can be fully
attained only in the future world. But she is already present in this world,
and is composed of men, that is, of members of the earthly city who have a call to form the family of God's
children during the present history of the human race, and to keep increasing
it until the Lord returns. United on behalf of heavenly values and enriched
by them, this family has been "constituted and structured as a society in
this world" by Christ, and is equipped "by appropriate means for
visible and social union.
Thus the Church, at once "a
visible association and a spiritual community," goes forward together with
humanity and experiences the same earthly lot which the world does. She serves
as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society as it is to be renewed in
Christ and transformed into God's family."
And then again in the Catechism of the Catholic Church we
hear:
2179. "'A parish is a definite community of the
Christian faithful established on a stable basis within a particular church;
the pastoral care of the parish is entrusted to a pastor as its own shepherd
under the authority of the diocesan bishop.'[CIC, can. 515 # 1.] It is the
place where all the faithful can be gathered together for the Sunday
celebration of the Eucharist. The parish initiates the Christian people into
the ordinary expression of the liturgical life: it gathers them together in this
celebration; it teaches Christ's saving doctrine; it practices the charity of
the Lord in good works and brotherly love: You cannot pray at home as at
church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to
God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of
minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the
priests.[St. John Chrysostom, De incomprehensibili 3, 6: PG 48, 725.]"
To put these two statements into a working definition: the
parish is to the people it serves as Christ was to the disciples. It feeds them spiritually, and sends them out
to bring the good news to all people.
There are several questions we need to answer before we
systematically determine where our skills, abilities and call can best be put
to work in the parish setting. The first
question is: "What does the congregation believe is needed to better
provide for the spiritual needs of the parish?" Unless your parish has done a recent survey
or held some sort of open forum to solicit this information, that may be a
difficult question to get answered. If
you have spent a significant amount of time in the parish, however, you may
know how to get a read on this from a representative sample of
parishioners. If you take this approach
be careful to be as objective as possible.
It's easy to talk to a couple of friends and hear what you wanted to
hear.
The next question to ask is: what response is your parish
already making or preparing to make?
Members of the parish pastoral staff, the Pastor, and the Parish
Pastoral Council are the best supplemental sources of information to help you
answer this question. Researching this
particular question should also yield the answers to other important
questions. These include:
·
What financial resources can the parish bring to
bear?
·
What physical or material resources can be used?
·
What human resources are available?
The answers to all of these questions will become important
as you pursue an effective ministry.
Don't be too surprised if you find the answers to be disappointing. Parish budgets and facilities are usually
very limited and the people overworked.
But you need to know what you may have to work with.
A final question to deal with in understanding your parish's
ministerial needs is to look at the community in which it resides. What factors or issues from the community at
large impact the parish? Is there a
large population of needy (i.e. homeless, migrant, or impoverished) in the
immediate area? Is there a large population
of seniors or youth who, while not members of the parish community, look to the
Church for support?
These may not only be possibilities for ministry, but will
also affect any ministry within the parish itself. The local non-parish community always affects
the parish culture and resources to a greater or lesser extent.
Take some time and write up your observations and lay them
aside. There is more to be done before
launching a ministry program.
Understand the Other Ministers in Your Parish (Top Down & Bottom
Up)
This is perhaps the most crucial step in the process of
successfully developing a truly collaborative ministry in the parish
environment. Anyone who has been
involved in ministry knows that individuals tend to get very possessive about
areas of ministry in which they are involved.
As deacons, we are taught that one of our principle objectives is to
empower the laity. We are also told that
the graces given in ordination equip us for a specific set of duties. These two imperatives come into conflict if
we find ourselves in situations were the area to which we are either assigned,
or feel called, is already being served by a lay minister or a professional
pastoral staff member.
There are two ways of approaching this search for
understanding. The first is the Top-Down
approach. The second approach is from
the Bottom-Up. The approach you use may
be determined by your relationship with your pastor, and how long you have been
associated with the parish you are serving in.
Let's look at the Top-Down approach first.
Using the Top-Down method, the first step in understanding
the roles and motivations of our peer ministers is to talk to the boss. In the case of parish ministry, this means
the pastor (or is some cases, where there is no priest, the Parish Administrator). The pastor can do several things for
you. First, as the person responsible to
the local ordinary (the Bishop), the pastor may have a set of objectives that
need to be accomplished. If this is the
case, he may have already assigned significant human resources to attend to
these objectives with a pre-set agenda.
If this is the case, it's really important that you find out what these
objectives are and who has been given the task of pursuing results in that
area. In addition to giving you insight
into who is doing what in the parish and why, this discussion will also give
you the "Big Picture" about what the pastor thinks is important. This is absolutely critical.
I like to illustrate the
importance of this big picture take on parish ministry with a story.
It seems there was a man walking down a street in New York
City who came upon a building site. At
the site there was a big sign announcing who the contractor was but nothing to
indicate what was being built there.
Being curious, the man walked into the construction site to
find out what this huge building was going to be. He saw a construction worker laying bricks
and went over to ask him.
"Can
you tell me what you are building?" he asked.
"A
wall," the man replied.
A
little surprised, the visitor clarified, "No, I mean what is this building
going to be?"
The
worker said, "I'm not sure. All I
know is the dimensions of this wall and the kind of brick that's called for and
where the windows are supposed to go."
The
visitor shrugged and walked over to another worker at the site. This man was hanging a massive set of
doors. He asked the same question,
"Can you tell me what you are building?"
"Actually,"
he responded, "I'm just hanging these doors."
The
visitor was getting a little frustrated now but continued, "I can see
that, but can you tell me what this building is going to be?"
"Sorry,"
the worker said, "I was only told to hang these doors."
The
visitor was somewhat dejected at this point but decided to ask one more
worker. He saw a man working on a window
installation. He walked over to the man
and asked him the question, "Can you tell me what you are building?" Fully expecting the worker to state the
obvious, he was taken aback when the man replied with obvious pride.
"I'm
building a cathedral."
The moral of this story is that only the worker who knew
what the building was going to be could make good independent decisions about
the task he was assigned. If, for
instance the man hanging the doors had been sent doors that had bar room
symbols on them, he would not have questioned it; he would have gone ahead and
hung the doors even though they were wrong for the building.
The importance of understanding the big picture cannot be
stressed enough. The pastor can give you
this kind of insight.
The second piece of important information you can get from
the pastor is where, in his opinion, your help is most needed. This may or may not be in an area you
considered to be one of your ministerial gifts or call. There are two things to consider if it turns
out the pastor would like to use you in an area to which you do not feel
called. First, God frequently uses
others to communicate with you. The
pastor may be such a voice. Second, if
you feel strongly that the area being suggested by the pastor is not something
you can or want to do; you know that you will need to overcome his objection
when it comes to actually taking up your ministerial duties.
Whether the pastor has a clear objective for your ministry
or not, he needs to know how you perceive your gift or call. Let him know about your self-assessment (if
the pastor was used as a source of information while you were doing this step
it may not be necessary). Explain how
much time you think you can give to ministry in the parish up front. This will prevent any later disappointment on
his part. He may, after all, have the
idea that you can give more time than is possible for you to give to parish
ministry.
If, at this point, the pastor does indeed have an assignment
in mind for you, and it is something that is in keeping with your own perceived
gifts and call, make sure you find out from him who exactly you will be working
with from the parish pastoral staff. If
you will report directly to him, establish what information he wants from you
and when he wants to receive it. It is
also critical that you find out if there is a mandate or finite results
expected, and a time line for these results.
Some important questions you will want to get answered include:
·
Who is doing work in this ministry area now?
·
Who has worked in this area in the past? (They
may, even if they have not been active for a while, believe this is still their
area of ministry.)
·
Is there a Professional Pastoral Staff member
assigned to this area of ministry?
·
What are the pastor’s expectations of this staff
member?
·
What results are expected from this area of
ministry?
·
How will results be measured (if finite results
are expected)?
·
When/how often will meetings be held to give
mutual feedback?
·
How will these ministry efforts be coordinated
with other areas of ministry in the parish? (This can be important. If there is a staff member or lay person in
an area of parish ministry upon whom you will depend for support or
information, you need to know who and how.)
·
What Commissions, Councils, or parish
organizations will you be working with? (i.e. Worship Commission, Knights of
Columbus, Parish Pastoral Council)
Please don't take this list as being complete, there may be
other questions that need to be answered depending upon the parish situation.
Once you get the answers to the relevant questions from the
list above, it may be necessary to get one final piece of information from the
pastor. This one is critical and
frequently overlooked: How will those already working in the ministry area to
which you are being attached/assigned be notified of your involvement? Too often a meeting with the pastor results
in an assignment and no one takes the time to let the people already involved
in that ministry area know you are coming.
The results can be disastrous.
In these cases, the deacon, viewed by some professional lay
ministers and religious as being, at best, a gifted (or not so gifted) amateur,
can walk in looking like a prima donna intent on usurping the task or call in which they have been
working. Remember, the diaconate is
still in its infancy and some of our forerunners were not as well prepared as
they might have been. If there are
religious or professional lay ministers in your parish, it’s a good idea to try
to determine if they have had previous experience with the diaconate and if so,
what kind of experience that was. (Oh, don't expect to get a frank answer if
you approach this question with them directly.
They are trained ministers and as such will generally avoid any overtly
negative responses.)
In order to avoid the sticky scenario painted above, it is
suggested that you meet with the pastor to determine the best way to insert
yourself into this ministry function. A
simple notification from the pastor to the staff may be sufficient. However, a better way may be for you to
approach the individual(s) involved and allow them to respond to your offer of
assistance. If you get a positive and
welcoming response, then you can become involved with the pastors
blessing. If not, and if the pastor
still wants you in that role, at least you will know you have some negative
attitudes to overcome and you will
understand from the onset that, from the perspective of your peers or
co-workers, they have no input about your presence or participation.
The ultimate goal in this step is to develop an
understanding of your ministry involvement with the pastor and any professional
pastoral staff or lay ministers. The Top-Down
approach was just discussed above. That
is when you start with the pastor and work down to the existing ministry teams. There is also a Bottom-Up approach. Basically, this means you start by evaluating
what you have determined to be your strengths in the self-evaluation and the
parish evaluation looking for intersections between the two. Once you have determined what you believe is
an area where you have strength and the parish has an apparent need, go to the
individuals already involved and determine if you help would be welcomed. Once you have determined that you can either
empower a lay ministry team or get the support of a professional lay minister
(as opposed to being viewed as an interloper or a usurper) , you can then go to
the pastor with a proposed ministry the ground work already having been laid.
The major draw back to this Bottom-Up method is that you
may, if the pastor is not aware of what you are doing, be establishing
expectations in a ministry team or yourself that will not be realized because
the pastor has other plans for you.
Regardless of which method you decide to use, the important
outcome is that you arrive at an understanding of what kind of environment you
will be entering as you pursue your ministry.
Developing the
Contract (Agreement)
Once the work of evaluating personal gifts and call, looking
at parish needs, and understanding the people involved is done, the next step
is to develop an agreement with your pastor (or Parish Administrator). This is important for several reasons. It insures that what you have agreed to do
for the parish based upon your conversations with the pastor and pastoral staff
is, in fact, what they thought as well.
It should establish:
·
Goals and objectives or, if concrete goals are
not part of the ministry area, specific levels of responsibility
·
A clear statement of scope (for each area of
involvement)
·
Time commitments
·
A feedback mechanism (meeting schedule or review
period)
Not included in the list above is any commitment to
liturgical involvement (i.e. assisting at mass, preaching, paraliturgies such
as Stations of the Cross and other prayer services, weddings, and
funerals). Assuming faculties have been
given for all of these areas, time (including prep time), involvement, and
schedules should be included in your agreement.
Many dioceses have forms developed specifically for the
purpose of recording this information.
If such forms exist in your diocese, make sure to use them. If they do not, create one of your own. Once it is filled out, give a copy to your
Pastor and keep one. Each time your
ministry changes, a new one should be filled out. An annual self-evaluation is also a good
thing to do. It helps us formulate
continuing education plans.
Negotiating from Understanding (Integrating Your Ministry)
Now that ministry areas have been agreed to, it is necessary
to establish the ministry in your parish.
Regardless of the ministry or the ministry environment (hostile or
welcoming) the deacon (and deacon's spouse in some cases) must focus on the
servant Christ, upon which the diaconate is modeled. I use a piece of scripture to help get my
mind set on the right path: (Phil 2, 5-11)
"Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not deem equality with God
something to be grasped at.
Rather, he emptied himself
and took the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men.
He was known to be of human estate,
and it was thus that he humbled himself,
obediently accepting even death,
death on a cross!
Because of this,
God highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
above every other name,
So that at Jesus' name
every knee must bend
in the heavens, on the earth,
and under the earth,
and every tongue proclaim
to the glory of God the Father:
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!"
The Kenotic (emptying) Hymn from Philippians needs to direct
our mindset. If we approach our parish
ministry from an attitude of humility and true service we are not likely to be
perceived as a threat.
What must not happen is to approach an existing ministry as
if we are the expert and those who have been ministering in the area should bow
to our great wisdom and knowledge. Even
if we are the most qualified individual involved, if we approach ministry with
this attitude, we will alienate those we were sent to empower or support.
There are a few principles we can draw from our Savior that
will help up successfully enter a ministry area effectively. The first of these is a focus on the ultimate
goal, the greater glory of God the Father.
If we can avoid the petty "I" centered goals we will always be
moving in the right direction.
The second principle is Christ's humility. Recall that even when he performed miracles,
he attributed the results, not to himself, but to either the faith of the
individual or to the Father directly. If
we can adopt that attitude as well, we will stay away from pride and not be
trapped into the possessiveness that seems to be so prevalent in ministry.
Next we must remember how the Lord attacked problems and
obstacles. He never attacked people only
the underlying problem or attitude. His
focus was on the mission and he attacked structures that were interfering with
that mission - not individuals. Ours
must be the same approach. His love for
all people was clear to all those he met.
His tenacious pursuit of justice in systems (whether they were religious
systems or civil systems) reminded those who opposed him that he was not a meek
push-over. Meek and humble are not
synonymous.
The fourth principle we take from Christ is constant
prayer. Jesus spoke with and listened to
the Father constantly. It was his way
of keeping his focus squarely on the Kingdom of God. It is very clear that, for Christ the man,
this was a source of strength and stamina.
We must remain as focused as he was through prayer.
Finally, we must not become disheartened by failure when we
are seeking even short term results.
Christ, from his own perspective as man, must have thought he failed to
accomplish the Father's will. After all,
after three years of ministry, he had only 12 ardent followers. One of these betrayed him and the other 11
scattered when he was arrested. In his
crucifixion, he redefined the concept of success.
When all of these principles are melded into a leadership
style, we come to what could be termed as "Leadership from
Below". We are, as deacons, called
to be a bridge between the laity and the other members of the church
hierarchy. Our priests and bishop
provide leadership from above. More top
down leadership is generally not necessary.
What was envisioned in the Vatican II Council was a means by which the
Gospel could be pushed down to those who have been marginalized. What better place for the deacon to start
than with those already evangelized but in need of empowerment?
Conclusion
Now that successful integration into parish ministry has occurred,
there is one more important point to remember.
Keep your pastor and peers informed.
Even the most proficient ministers get crossways to some people some
times. It is important that those with
whom you minister do not get blind-sided by an individual or issue. The most important skill needed for
successful parish ministry is communication.
Keep the lines open.
In conclusion, if the steps outlined above are followed;
assess your own strengths and weaknesses, determine your parish needs, understand
the people you will be working with develop and communicate a formal agreement,
and serve the people humbly; your ministry should blossom and be fruitful. Make prayer your companion and Christ your
model.
