Last year at a SW Deanery meeting in Palestine, Fr. Peter
McGrath (pastor of St. Francis of Tejas in Crockett) mentioned that he had
given his pastoral council members homework: to read a new book on renewing
parish life called Rebuilt by Fr. Michael White and Tom
Corcoran. I thought, “Hmm. . . Homework for the pastoral council. That
sounds like a good idea!” So I looked into the book, got some feedback
from different sources, and decided to order the book for the members of my
pastoral and finance councils in Centerville and Hilltop Lakes. I read
the book over my vacation this past week and wanted to give a personal and
pastoral review to my parishioners.
Rebuilt (Ave Maria Press, 2013)
is a book is about how a priest (Fr. White) and his lay associate (Mr.
Corcoran) have worked since the late 90s in renewing Nativity Parish in the
Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. White describes the history of the parish,
its strengths and weaknesses, and its steady decline — even after he had been
pastor for five years! He speaks of his mistakes – both in diagnosing the
problems as well as solving them – and he speaks of how his vision and approach
completely changed after encountering Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback
Church in CA. Fr. White began to focus on how to make his church
as welcoming as “mega” and Evangelical churches are; he began to put resources
into lively worship music, more preparation into his homilies, and more effort
into developing teams and small groups to facilitate true fellowship and
ministry; he worked to make sure there were age-appropriate services of worship
so that the needs of the whole family got met on Sundays; he made
evangelization and outreach the main priorities for his parish; and money
problems disappeared (fundraisers were no longer needed). The concept he
references often in this book is moving parishioners from being “consumers” (I
like to use the term “pew warmers”) to being “disciples” (a very Biblical
concept). In Rebuilt, he is honest about the challenges,
criticisms and even some failures of implementing these changes. However,
his hard work and vision for his parish have seen remarkable success: a Sunday attendance
that went from 1,400 now to 4,000 (and growing!). God has certainly
blessed him and his parish.
Fr. White has received both praise and criticism from many
different perspectives in the Catholic Church today. (He kinda opened
himself up to that when he and Tom Corcoran decided to publish a book promoting
what worked for Nativity Parish, but I nevertheless admire his courage and
discipline to do so.) Overall, I commend Fr. White’s zeal to incorporate
the good that Evangelicals are doing into the Catholic context (coming from a
Baptist background myself, I can relate); I appreciate his doctrinal and moral orthodoxy
(he does not believe in “watering” down Catholicism); and I could not agree
more about the need for priests to prepare well for Sunday homilies
(and to preach on themes that are continuous). I disagree, though, with a
few points. I do not think contemporary music is as essential to the
liturgical experience as he claims, and I feel he ignores some of the
theological problems that the lyrics (and kind of music) that some hymns/songs
pose to the Catholic faith. (I believe the hymnal is a theological textbook
and should be chosen with serious discernment by the pastor.) I also feel
that it is important to keep the family together at Mass rather than separating
them. Finally, I take issue – not with his concept – but with his use of
the word “ministry.” Traditionally in the Catholic Church, “ministry”
refers to what the ordained do/offer (extraordinary ministry relates to the
sacred liturgy); “apostolate” refers to social outreach and other services
in/of the parish. Sadly, the word “apostolate” has been almost absent
from church vocabulary for several decades, but I believe these distinctions
avoid confusion as regards the role of the clergy and that of the consecrated
religious and lay faithful.
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