New leaders pioneer future of Church

"A pastor -- we can't use that term, but that's what I am," says Sister Linda Hogan, CSJ, parish life director for St. Cecilia's Church in Warrensburg.

Sister Kathleen Turley, RSM, chancellor for planning and pastoral services in the Albany Diocese, tends to agree. A parish life director, she explained, is a sister, deacon or layperson who does all the work of a priest-pastor except administering the sacraments.

As the number of priests available to serve in parishes continues to drop, the number of parish life directors has risen. Ten years ago, there were just two; today, 16 women religious and lay persons lead 21 parishes that don't have resident pastors. (Another four parishes are run by religious or administrators, a similar position.)

Who does what

"One reason people don't understand what a parish life director is is that they don't understand what a priest-pastor does," Sister Linda told The Evangelist.

At her 300-family Adirondack parish, she handles everything from counseling parishioners to working with a bookkeeper to manage the church's finances.

Recently, she was in the market for a roofer to fix damage to the nearby convent where she and two other sisters live. Enmeshed in pastoral planning, Sister Linda hopes that shipshape buildings will help lead to a bright future for St. Cecilia's.

"Being a parish life director is not a job; it's a call," she stated. "Administration is part of it, but it's pastoral administration, which is very different from just making sure the bills are paid. It's hands-on."

Twenty years

Many Catholics in the Albany Diocese are just learning about parish life directors as they become more and more common; however, this leadership style was first seen in the Diocese nearly 20 years ago.

In 1985, when the Franciscan community announced it was no longer able to serve St. Joseph's parish in Schoharie, Sister Joan Curley, CSJ, took over that job.

Then Sister Mary Kenan McGowan, CSJ, became parish life director at St. John Francis Regis Church in Grafton (and, later, Sacred Heart in Berlin as well). During her tenure at St. John Francis Regis, Sister Kenan has overseen the construction of a new church.

Sacramental ministers

Parishes still need priests, so parish life directors work with sacramental ministers, who are responsible for administering the sacraments at a parish. Once referred to as "circuit riders," these priests sometimes travel to offer Masses and celebrate weddings and other sacraments at several parishes.

Rev. Paul Cox, a retired priest, is sacramental minister for St. Cecilia's. "He goes over and above any required [duties]," Sister Linda remarked. "He shows up at all the parish events and visits hospitals."

However, she added, the responsibility for such duties is really hers; Father Cox pitches in more than many sacramental ministers are able to because they are not retired and have other responsibilities.

Working together

A less tangible duty of parish life directors is to promote collaboration. Sister Kathleen said that it's often easier for parishioners without full-time pastors to see that they have to take on more responsibility for running their parish's activities.

"Many parishes with parish life directors are more active because of getting people involved in ministries," she explained, citing Blessed Sacrament parish in Mohawk as a prime example.

When parish life director Sister Mary Jo Tallman, CSJ, arrived at the 175-family parish ten months ago (after the death of its pastor, Rev. James Steuer), she had a lot of work ahead of her: starting a pastoral council and finance committee, sending students to Herkimer for religious education, renovating the rectory.

Parishioners, said Sister Mary Jo, were "extremely welcoming and open to anything I want to do," even pitching in to install new wiring and plumbing at the rectory. She hopes to soon get some parishioners involved in the diocesan Formation for Ministry program, preparing them to take the lead in parish activities.

Filling a need

Sister Mary Jo believes the Diocese has no choice but to have even more parish life directors. Priests, she said, are ordained to celebrate the sacraments and should have as much of their time free to do so as possible. Administration can be left to others.

"We lost 19 priests last year," she commented. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what's happening."

Indeed, Sister Kathleen said that many parishes have been offered the choice of accepting a parish life director or closing, because priests are not available to replace a retiring or ill pastor.

When having a parish life director is "an option to closing, they're willing to look at it," she said, adding that most parishioners find, after a year or so, that the alternative leadership style is a good choice.

Requirements

The problem is that the Diocese currently has a pool of just a dozen candidates who are qualified to be parish life directors, and many can't fill certain job openings because they aren't able to move to a different area of the Diocese.

Basic requirements to be a parish life director include a master's degree in theology or ministry, three to five years' experience in a parish, leadership and communication skills, the ability to counsel parishioners and administer all aspects of parish life, and maturity in emotional health and prayer life.

Since not all candidates for the job meet the educational requirements, Betsy Rowe of the Office of Ministry Formation has helped to develop a portfolio process where applicants can document their life experiences. The Ministry Formation Office also holds "in-services" every six weeks where parish life directors can learn more about everything from preaching to counseling. (To learn more, call 453-6670.)

When a parish is selected to have a parish life director, applications are sent to religious orders serving in the Diocese, St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry (for alumni and students), and deacons, among others. The position is also advertised in The Evangelist.

Recruits

The Diocese hopes to interest more people in becoming parish life directors. Bishop Howard J. Hubbard is even actively recruiting candidates through letters sent to Catholics identified as having gifts that might make them good parish life directors.

However, that does not solve the priest shortage, Sister Kathleen cautioned: "The ability to have parish life directors relies on the ability to have sacramental ministers, who are not always available."

For the time being, she said, Bishop Hubbard believes it's possible for the Diocese's remaining priests to provide for a weekend liturgy in every one of the Diocese's 177 parishes.

PLDs serve many areas

Parish life directors in the Albany Diocese include:

* Dorothy Bunal, St. Patrick's, Cambridge;

* Sister Joan Curley, CSJ, St. Joseph's, Schoharie;

* Lorraine Molineaux DeCuyper, St. Joseph's, Cohoes;

* George Forshey, St. Alphonsus, Glens Falls;

* Sister Linda Hogan, CSJ, St. Cecilia's, Warrensburg;

* Sister Francesca Husselbeck, RSM, St. John the Baptist, Chestertown; Blessed Sacrament, Hague; and St. James, North Creek;

* Sister Mary Lou Liptak, RSM, St. Lucy's, Altamont;

* Sister Mary Mazza, CND, St. Patrick's, Athens;

* Sister Johanne McCarthy, CSJ, St. Patrick's, St. Johnsville;

* Sister Mary Kenan McGowan, CSJ, St. John Francis Regis, Grafton; Sacred Heart, Berlin;

* Carol Pickel, Immaculate Conception, Watervliet;

* Sister Roberta O'Rourke, CSJ, St. Casimir's, Amsterdam;

* Sister Diane Schoff, CSJ, St. Joseph's, Greenfield Center;

* Sister Mary Jo Tallman, CSJ, Blessed Sacrament Church, Mohawk (also administrator of Annunciation, Ilion);

* Sister Margaret Walker, DC, St. Patrick's, St. Casimir's and Our Lady of Angels, Albany; and

* Sister Patricia Woolheater, CSJ, St. Joseph's, Richfield Springs;

Parish administrators include:

* Robert Carpenter, St. Paul the Apostle, Hancock;

* Sister Rita Duggan, CSJ, Sacred Heart and St. William's, Troy; and

* Elizabeth Maloney, St. Thomas the Apostle, Cherry Valley.

Initially, parish life directors in the Albany Diocese were mainly women religious. However, Sister Kathleen Turley, RSM, diocesan chancellor for planning and pastoral services, said that as time went on, the Diocese began to look more at who had the necessary gifts and talents for the job, rather than whether the person was religious or lay.

Besides, she added, the median age for women religious has also been on the rise; it's now 72 for those in the Diocese. (The median age for clergy is 63.) (KB)

WYNANTSKILL

Nun describes her role as parish 'animator'

Sister Linda Hogan grew up in Wynantskill, has a master' degree s in spirituality from St. Louis University, and has worked as a teacher and youth minister.

But most of her ministry has been focused on parish leadership: She spent about eight years as a pastoral associate at a parish in the Syracuse Diocese, then seven years as a parish life director in Alaska. She's been at St. Cecilia's in Warrensburg for six years.

"I am an animator of this community," she said. "I spend a lot of time in `ministry training' that might not even be formal: a phone conversation, a thank-you note, encouragement."

A bookkeeper and a pastoral associate help Sister Linda with some of her myriad responsibilities. "You have to have a bookkeeper!" she noted. "It's just too much work; there are too many pastoral things to do."

The positive part of the laity becoming active in their churches is that "it's becoming more and more obvious the people are the Church. It's our call to continue the mission of Jesus. It's not `father's job,' his ministry alone -- it's ours. If there is a gift to the priest shortage, this is it." (KB)

(7/29/04)