Abbey-Roads2

Lay ministry. 

In the middle of the New Springtime  will become a label I will  begin to use for anomalies  that occurr which seem to contradict the reform of the reform.   Stuff that happens in the Church which suggests ‘business as usual’ rather than a return to tradition.  (I know a reform doesn’t take place over night, but some stuff that happens seems to be for the long term, as if to forestall any chance at reform.) 

California Catholic Daily  has a piece on the recent commissioning of lay pastoral associates by Cardinal Mahoney in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  (Sept. 9)

In a ceremony, Sept. 9, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony formally commissioned three lay women and one deacon as parish pastoral associates.

Pastoral associates, said the Sept. 15 Tidings, the archdiocesan newspaper, are “professional ministers who share with their pastors the overall care of the parish.”

They are, usually, full-time members of the parish staff and “accountable to the pastor.” They differ from Parish Life Directors who are male or female lay or religious, or deacons, who administer parishes without a resident pastor. - California Catholic Daily 

So what do pastoral associates do?

Naturally they assist the pastor.  The average parish has Directors of Pastoral Ministry, Liturgy and Music, Faith Formation, Youth Ministry, an Administrator, a Secretary, and various coordinators and other staff members, depending upon the size and budget of the parish.  Often there is only 1 priest - the pastor.  In the old days, he would have had at least one assistant, another priest - today the priest is called an associate.  When there are not enough priests to go around, lay people can be commissioned as pastoral associates - as in the LA situation. 

Lay pastoral associates will do graveside blessings, conduct Communion services, visit the sick and dying, as well as other things the priest may be too busy to do.  (If I’m dying, I hope I have a priest who can administer the sacraments and not just an ordinary lay pastoral minister who can simply read prayers from The Book of Blessings.)

What to do with your otherwise  useless theology degree.

With the increasing number of people holding theology degrees either in Pastoral Ministry or something else, albeit unable to find employment in the secular world, perhaps Church services can be a good career path after all.  Here is another excerpt from the Catholic Daily article which offers a glimpse into the resume of the divorced (and annulled) woman who has recently been commissioned by the Cardinal. 

The Sept. 10 Los Angeles Times featured one of the commissioned associates, Noel Fuentes Becker, 42, who has been assigned to St. Raphael Church, near Santa Barbara. For 15 years, Becker has been a technical writer in the high-tech industry and, since 2003, she has been St. Raphael’s administrative manager. According to the Sept. 8, 2006 Tidings, her role as pastoral associate would be to assist the pastor, Fr. Bruce Correio, in adult and education and ministries coordination. Among Becker’s other duties, said the Times, would helping with graveside services and leading prayer services.

It was Correio who suggested that Becker enter the archdiocese’s pastoral associates’ program. In May 2006, she received her Masters in Theology in Pastoral Ministry from St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo and was certified as a pastoral associate. According to the Times, Becker “took classes in preaching” and “learned how to comfort the sick and dying.”

Becker told the Tidings last year that she wanted to work in the FCAP (“full conscious act of participation”) project with liturgical ministers at the parish and relieve the pastor so he could attend to other needs. “I think I was blessed and born with a pastoral heart,” said Becker. “I’ve always been a good listener; I personalize everything.” 
- California Catholic Daily

” I personalize everything.”   I wonder if that could be a problem.

Let’s pray for vocations to the priesthood.