PARISH ADMINISTRATION

PARISH ADMINISTRATION

Different parish structures

1) Traditional structure

2) Retired structure

3) Model structure

In traditional parishes you find:

A) Sacramental structure

- Only the administration of sacraments is what it matters. No time for preparation.  

- Preach on certain sacraments only

- Bury any dead, anoint any sick

- Opt for saying masses as many as possible

- Take pride in statistics

- No room for none catholics

B - One man structured

- Find there a patriarch around whom everything is centered . A know it all.

- Very sensitive with their priesthood and insistent on titles (Fr). They have people of their own taste to stay around them, and often the “yes” ones.

- They always control the diocese either financially or through certain work they do.

- Always has lots of exaggerated respect for authority and also demands as twice that exaggerated respect for himself.

- Talents of others are abused

- The whole trend seems all right yet deep within are dead

- Sacraments will be seen as personal property instead of God’s gift to the whole church community. A sacrament calls for community participation, adequate preparation and presentation with honour and respect.

RETIRED PARISHES

- hardly do you find anything going on but complaints and providence.

- Pastoral activities are based on reward mentality- no petrol, no safari mass. In the end people think that sacraments are bought. Everybody is on the waiting end. A society of consumers not of producers.

- Such parishes will be identified as BAD

- Identified with the obesity of the clergy

- Identified with lack of availabilities within the parish because there is a lot of holidays and feasts going on.

- Identified by public disgust of people expressed in duty talks, or sometimes empty and exaggerated accusations.

- By such talks as “ no work in this parish”

- By amount of alcohol consumed

- By the way things e.g buildings are falling in pieces.

Shaping and preserving society necessarily involves personal dedication, costly risks and constant struggle. In both traditional and retired parishes the dangers are:

I) Christianity becomes a cargo Christianity. It is like a refrigerator where things are okay but dead.

II) Priesthood would be understood as a privilege not as a call to be bruised by public service.

III) Religion becomes a foreign element

IV) It always leads to a terrible selfishness.

MODEL PARISHES

- Constant struggle to maintain, find out the experience of the early christian community.

- The experience of the mission of Christ himself, every opportunity is used not to repeat what already happened, tries to see the trends and signs of the times.

- Parish where people working there realize their limitations and thus foster the concern and aspirations of others.

- Is a parish of the people and by the people, For everybody becomes involved in its growth.

- The plans are based on the pastoral methods the parish has opted for. Such parishes are identified by:

I) Ongoing formation for all the groups of people and all institutions. This is probably based on adult education. It should be a sort of dialogue form but not monologue, a conscientiousness. A course which makes people come of age.

II) Categorized catechism that of involving catechesis because it is based on adult education.

III) Attempts to form Small Christian Community. Starting humbly as we descend towards God but starting from God highly.

IV) Apostolate based on research and constant survey and the needs of the community, a relative apostolate.

V) Will be also identified with an apostolate which trains for the future.

VI) The priest in such parishes is seen as a facilitator, coordinator, and adviser but not a dictator,