Deanery's parishes do more with less

A Schoharie County priest and parish life director say the answer is definitely yes.

Sister Joan Curley is parish life director at St. Joseph's Church in Schoharie. Her cluster includes St. Catherine's in Middleburgh and St. Vincent de Paul in Cobleskill.

Rev. Edward Golding is pastor at St. Anna's in Summit (as well as St. Joseph's Church in Worcester, which is in Otsego County). He also ministers at Camp Summit correctional facility.

How it works

Both note that, all across the Albany Diocese, pastors, parish life directors and sacramental ministers are finding new ways to be creative with the resources they have.

Sister Joan said, "We take each day as it comes. It's just what needs to be done right now."

She believes that the key to future success is constant communication, the encouragement of lay involvement and a spirit of welcome in the community.

In touch

Their deanery, which extends into Delaware and Otsego counties, meets periodically to discuss concerns, problems and successes.

They trade information on classes, meetings and parish activities, and plan future events together, such as a recent three-week parish retreat hosted in Cobleskill, Schoharie and Middleburgh.

"We share our calendars, give out invitations and try not to re-invent the wheel," Sister Joan said. "If we feel it's worth getting a speaker to come in and elaborate on a topic, we try to do that as a deanery. We think nothing of saying, 'We're going to do something over here; can you spread the word?' We're always advertising each other's events."

Welcome mat

Sister Joan believes that, in order to share resources, time and talent, parishes first have to make an effort to increase welcome and hospitality.

"Collaboration is very important," she explained. "I only have a small piece of the whole picture. People need the invitation" to contribute."

She added that working with fewer resources takes a realization that not everything will be "honeymoons and roses. Trust takes a while to build up. But people are genuinely concerned, because they know we're transitioning. The Spirit is working."

Juggling schedules

Father Golding relies on time-management skills and a modern solution for communication problems: the answering machine.

On holy days, he celebrates two liturgies in one of the three churches. Days caring for the churches lead into nights spent with inmates at the correctional facility.

Being entrusted with a number of parishes "is just a matter of time management," he explained. "There's nothing difficult about it, and it's the wave of the future, really. Let's face it: The days of two or three priests and the days of the mass of convenience are over with."

Another solution, he said, is integrating "more lay participation in the administration and the running of the parish."

He encourages parishes facing fewer resources to be open to adaptation. "It's moving slowly but surely" in that direction, he said.

(9/6/07)