Parish life directors are glimpse of future

She meets with committees from both churches, visits sick parishioners, comforts families of those who have died, and oversees the finances and day-to-day operations at both churches.

For Sister Mary Lou, being a parish life director comes naturally because she's always been involved with such work and couldn't see herself in any other ministry. "I've been doing it all my religious life. It's part of who I am. It's not just a job; it's a vocation, my life work," she said.

Parish life directors in the Albany Diocese recently spoke with The Evangelist about their experiences and the importance of their role as the Church heads into the next millennium.

Acceptance

"I understand that there was a strong objection to not having a priest, but my experience has been totally receptive. The people out here have worked very hard at accepting what must be a difficult situation," she said.

One of Sister Patricia's decisions has been the formation of a finance committee. Another step was conducting a stewardship campaign, which she was somewhat reluctant to do because "I hate to ask for money right in the beginning. You don't want people to get the wrong impression."

She also set up a hospitality committee and telephone tree to keep in touch with all parishioners. The parish census has been updated, cards have been sent to shut-ins and the elderly, and she oversees sacramental preparation and religious education in the parish.

Busy schedule

"I find if I do both of them thoroughly, it would be more than a full-time job," she said. "It's just a matter of how much energy you have to keep up. It's not quiet out here."

BY having her as parish life director and Father Healy as sacramental minister, parishioners "have two for the price of one. They're not missing the priest; and for the pastoral work, one-on-one, they've found me to be acceptable, helpful and approachable," she said.

Experience

The Friars Minor Conventual had been there before she came, and she understood how parishioners felt to not have a priest in residence. Indeed, her own feelings about her new ministry were mixed.

"I know the people were trying to absorb this new model, and [adjusting to] not having a priest in their midst and living in the parish house," she said. "They were grieving for not having a priest; I was grieving for leaving the South, and I shared that with them very candidly."

Community sense

"My whole goal was to be a member of this village community, and I know that has been accomplished 100 percent," she said, citing retreats and Good Friday services with the local Presbyterian and Reformed churches as two examples of ecumenical harmony.

She has helped people outside the parish in another way: by ministering to ambulance crew members who have witnessed people injured or killed in accidents and fires. Such ministry defines Sister Joan's work as parish life director, despite the fact that there also are administrative duties to be done.

"My main thrust is to 'walk the walk.' It's not doing the books. That has to be done, but you have people in place doing these things," she said, pointing out that volunteers help with some administrative work.

Working together

Sister Joan is pleased with the way her relationship with parishioners has developed. By having a priest who lends a hand with Masses and sacraments, the Church is responding to the needs of Catholics into the next millennium.

"It's another wonderful model to have for the people. They have two of us sharing their lives -- the man and the woman, the priest and the nun -- who complement each other," she said. "It's just wonderful how, if we allow God to touch our lives, we can grow."

Job load

Describing her work as doing "everything that a pastor ever did, except for the sacramental, and without a secretary," Sister Mary Kenan finds the financial responsibilities the most time-consuming. She realizes that such administrative work is necessary and can help priests to concentrate more on pastoral work as their numbers decrease. Volunteers also lend a hand with work around the parish.

Sacred Heart used to have a resident priest; today, Rev. Kenneth Gregory serves as sacramental minister at both places, and communion services are held in Berlin during the week.

Isolation

She does get to see other parish life directors every other month when they meet at the Dominican Retreat House in Niskayuna to share insights and discuss their ministry.

Sister Mary Kenan is proud to be a parish life director and looks at the position as "a sign that the Church has confidence in women," she said.

Calming presence

When a parish life director was appointed, "they were very fearful of what would happen," she recalled. "The Augustinians finished in July [of 1997], and there was that period in between where there was no one. They just feared everything was closing on them."

It took time for parishioners to get used to not having a resident priest, but they gradually came to accept Sister Anne as their parish life director, even those who objected most to the change.

"One man was so opposed. He's seen a difference in the church, and he's just glad that he's come around in a way that he didn't think he ever would," she said.

Clustering

She enjoys working with people, and she certainly gets that opportunity with parishioners of St. Patrick's and its cluster parishes: St. Joseph's in Greenwich and Holy Cross in Salem. There's a cluster council and committees, and the three parishes also are participating in Renew 2000 as a cluster.

"A lot of the things I've done at other points of my life are enabling me to do it here," she said. "I do not want to be a priest. That's not what I see for me. I see it as parish life."

The priests who serve St. Patrick's as sacramental ministers are Revs. Thomas Konopka and Liam Condon, pastor of St. Joseph's and Holy Cross, respectively.

What Church is

The leadership that comes with being a parish life director is significant, not because of where it happens, Sister Anne pointed out, but how it happens.

"To me, the Church is not a building. It's not confined to a certain setting. It's the people of God living out the message of Christ, not just where you go to Mass," she said.

New role

Having a parish life director "certainly is a new experience for St. Lucy's because they always had a resident priest, and now they don't," Sister Mary Lou said. Rev. Charles Lockwood had been pastor of St. Lucy's until he became ill in 1997 and died of cancer.

"They obviously wanted another priest and thought life would be different without one. We still have everything we had before, except we don't have a resident priest," she said. Rev. Paul Smith serves as sacramental minister there and at St. Bernadette's.

Connections

Sister Mary Lou tries to be visible to parishioners, but she wishes that they had more opportunities to know her as they would a priest.

"There's no public forum for a parish life director. If I were a priest, they'd get to know me through liturgy and homilies; but when you don't do that, it takes people longer to get to know you," she said. "Something's got to be done about that."

Her experience as parish life director reassures her that she is doing God's work at a time when priests are fewer and others are sharing more responsibility in overseeing the Church.

"I think it's exciting that we're continuing to be Church even in hardship," she said.

Welcome

"They were very welcoming, really cooperative and enthusiastic," she said of the parishioners. Soon after she started, she met several of them who had visited Alaska and come into contact with people she knew during her years there.

Sister Linda has a finance council and a bookkeeper to help her with administration of the parish; she devotes much of her time and sees herself as similar to a priest in that way.

"I don't know that I'm different from any other pastor, except that I can't do sacraments. That's all," she said. Rev. Paul Cox, who retired as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Lake George last summer, serves as sacramental minister.

Sharing ideas

"It sounds to me, from chatting with the other parish life directors, that there's no one model. We all do it a little bit differently. Even our relationship with sacramental ministers is different," she said.

The sisters who work as parish life directors signify the growing importance of women in leadership positions in the Church, but Sister Linda wonders what the situation would be if there were more priests.

"The Albany Diocese is wonderful with the way women are respected and their gifts are recognized," she said. "But if we had a priest for every parish, it wouldn't be the case because necessity is a part of it. At least they're not denying it."

(04-08-99) [[In-content Ad]]