If it ain't broke then why are we trying to fix it?

I've spent a couple of weeks mulling over the pastoral letter from the Bishop and I am no closer to figuring out what it is all about. He initially contextualises his letter within the sphere of the diminishing numbers of priests and cross-references it back to the Pastoral and Property review and the ensuing 'White Paper'. I suppose everybody thought that that particular catalogue of horrors had been filed away and forgotten about; though we must not forget that a number of communities in the diocese have been cruelly culled as a result of the 'rationalisation' which followed the publication of the aforementioned document.

What is quite perplexing is the language in which the Bishop has chosen to couch his 'pastoral' letter. Not the language of a loving father, forced to take tough decisions which hurt him as much as they hurt his children. No, he has borrowed language from the cut-throat world of business. We have 'down-sizing predictions', and new councils (yes, more councils!) with 'key personnel'. I was waiting at any minute for parishioners to be re-Christened as 'stakeholders' (Anyone for B.S. bingo?). Let's just go the whole way and bring in Jarvis to handle the Facilities Management. If this is born of the Holy Spirit then my name is Donald Trump! It is a pure management consultancy - what is worse, it is amateur management consultancy. It is heartening to know that it has the full support of the clergy (subtext, it's going to happen, get used to the idea, and your priest's remit was to obey his bosses, not to consult his flock).

I love the way it is sold as an opportunity for those who wish to get more involved in the life of the church. The Church recently spent a fortune on a survey about church & family life. Didn't you get the message, guys? These days we all work 40-50 hours per week, that is we leave home at one end of the day and we don't see it again until the other end. After that there is the most important job of all, FAMILY!!! In short, we laity are not just sitting here scratching our backsides waiting to be given church responsibilities. Perhaps a good start would have been to do a review of the current division of responsibilities in parishes. You might have been surprised by the contribution of the laity.

I'll let you into a secret, shall I? The rest of God's church is waking up to the fact that small is beautiful. Real strength in church life is built upon the close, supportive relationships formed in small groups or cells. So why are we rejecting this model in favour of the 'bigger is better' route? People are actually less inclined to become involved in a large, impersonal church.

I really am hardpressed to see any advantages in these proposals. The only logical one is this; if the Diocese chooses, at some time in the future, to get rid of a church, they can argue "Well, we're not really disbanding a community because the real community is the Pastoral Area. We're just liquidating surplus building stock."

I would be interested in any comments that you may have, whether you are from this parish or not. Follow the links to download copies of the Bishop's letter and the Pastoral and Property Review.