Board service enhances priests' ministry

Rev. Michael Hogan doesn't get bored very often. Maybe it's because he's on so many boards.

In addition to serving as pastor of Sacred Heart/St. Columba's Church in Schenectady, Father Hogan serves on the board of directors for such civic organizations as Schenectady Family Health Services, the Alcoholism Council of Schenectady County Inc., the Schenectady Loan Fund and Schenectady Damien Center.

He also is vice-president of Catholic Charities of Schenectady County, serves on the board of directors for the diocesan Hispanic Outreach Services and is a St. Luke's Elementary School board member.

He is one of several priests in the Albany Diocese who bring their ministry beyond their parish family by serving on various boards of directors. Although the boards to which priests belong are often church- or diocesan-related, others are secular in nature. Regardless of the boards' affiliation, however, the priests feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in being able to learn from others in the community and to share their own knowledge and expertise.

In the air

Rev. Michael Farano, a vicar general of the Diocese and pastor of St. Pius X Church in Loudonville, recently began serving as chairman of the Albany County Airport Authority.

Chancellor of the Diocese from 1979 to 1990, Father Farano also serves on the board of directors for Teresian House and St. Peter's Hospital, and on the La Salle School board. He has previously served on boards for the College of St. Rose, Project Strive and the Doane Stuart School, and as president of the Albany Urban League.

Serving on boards seems to go hand-in-hand with his work as a priest, Father Farano pointed out. "There's never anything I've been involved in outside of my day-to-day ministry that hasn't helped me in my ministry," he said.

Involvement

Even his involvement with the Airport Authority has a human service component, he pointed out, since the board deals with the safety of employees and travelers, and the airport contributes to the overall social and business climate of the area and has an impact on the quality of life.

"The responsibility of the Authority is similar to the responsibility of any other board that deals with people -- and this deals with a lot of people," he said.

His schedule sometimes gets filled with meetings, not only of the boards themselves but also of the committees associated with the boards. Although these meetings require a great deal of his time, Father Farano never forgets which commitment is his most important.

"My priority is the parish. I make that clear to everyone," he said.

Parish first

Rev. Kenneth Doyle, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Albany, agrees that parishioners must come before any commitments to the boards on which he serves, and he's a member of several.

He is treasurer on the board of directors for St. Peter's Hospital and Vanderheyden Hall, and serves on the school boards for St. Gregory's, La Salle and Doane Stuart schools. In addition, he is a member of such diocesan boards as Priests' Personnel, Strategic Planning, Presbyteral Council, and Catholic Charities of Northern Albany and Rensselaer Counties.

Occasionally, Father Doyle must choose between several board meetings taking place simultaneously, or he must miss meetings when he has a funeral or other pastoral obligations. In addition to board meetings themselves, committee meetings held in between can make for a hectic schedule. "I find it virtually impossible to take a day off," he said.

Although a parish priest's priority should be his parishioners, "we have a ministry both to the wider Church and the ecumenical community," Father Doyle said. Being involved in boards for various agencies also "helps a priest bring to the parish community an awareness of issues," such as health care and education, which he incorporates in his homilies, he said.

Community effort

Rev. Frank Dunbar, pastor of St. Anthony's Church in Johnstown, is a board member for such organizations as Catholic Charities of Fulton County, Mountain Valley Hospice and the Fulton County Office for the Aging. Through that work, he's able to share information about programs and events with his own parishioners and with the inter-denominational Johnstown Council of Churches.

Occasionally, Father Dunbar has to juggle his time between his parish and the boards on which he serves; for example, he may attend a Catholic Charities meeting at 4 p.m. but leave early in order to celebrate 5:30 p.m. Mass.

Father Dunbar appreciates the learning experience that comes with being a board member and enjoys meeting new people who are concerned about issues facing Fulton County residents.

"The membership changes from time to time, so you're meeting a lot of interesting people that are involved in the community," he said.

Concerns

As for Father Hogan, his participation on various boards in Schenectady enables him to bring concerns of his parishioners to his fellow community leaders from the city's Hamilton Hill neighborhood.

"Anything that has to do with the people of Hamilton Hill particularly and that affects their lives, I try to be involved with on some level," he said.

Father Hogan pointed out that while he may bring a certain degree of expertise to such boards as Catholic Charities and Hispanic Outreach Services, he is still in a "learning mode" for the Schenectady Family Health Services board and is the only member of a committee that deals with welfare to work transportation who is not directly involved with transportation.

Time and distance

Time isn't much of a problem for Father Hogan, but distance can be: He lives in Albany and teaches class at Maria College. Still, his 25-minute commute does give him a chance to clear his mind and put his work to rest, he said.

BY being involved in both civic organizations and his parish, Father Hogan pointed out, he gets an opportunity to "combine the secular and the sacred," and his fellow board members get a chance "to know that the Church is deeply committed and deeply concerned about those issues."

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