Pastoral associate calls rectory home

Some young adults hop from apartment to apartment, searching for the perfect pad. Some rent condominiums or live in townhouses. Some plunk down mortgage payments every month.

Maureen Smith has different digs: She just moved into a former rectory.

"My friends thought it was kind of odd," she admitted, describing the three-bedroom home that used to be the rectory at St. Ann's Church in Fort Ann.

Job perk

For Ms. Smith, 35, the unorthodox living arrangement came with her new job: pastoral associate for faith formation and youth ministry in four northern Catholic communities -- St. Ann's in Fort Ann, Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall, and their mission churches: the Chapel of the Assumption in Hulett's Landing and St. Philip's in Hartford.

She coordinates religious education and youth ministry. By living at the rectory, she also serves as a pastoral presence for the rural community.

"When I took the job and said I was going to be living at St. Ann's, people were shocked," she told The Evangelist. "Some people look at you strange when you say you live in a rectory; they automatically think that that's for a priest. But there are more rectories than priests in this area."

Trading spaces

The rectory had been vacant for more than a year, unused except as an office where the St. Ann's administrative assistant conducts business.

When Ms. Smith moved in, she repainted the first floor, replaced window treatments and moved much of the furniture to second-floor storage closets, replacing rectory chairs and tables with her own.

"I wanted to make it a little more homey," she said. "I put the woman's touch on it."

Home and work

Although she commutes to her main office at Our Lady of Hope, Ms. Smith noted that the rectory retains its function as a business center. In the mornings, for example, parishioners wander in and out, searching for Mass cards and conducting other business.

The youth she ministers to also drop in on occasion, but she is careful about boundaries. Professionalism requires that she bring younger visitors to the church hall to talk.

Ms. Smith was initially concerned about other issues that cropped up due to her living on church property. Since her family visits quite often and stays overnight, she wondered what parishioners would think about "strange cars" in the driveway.

"But they've embraced this," she said. "The community was the most welcoming community I've ever been to in my entire life. I don't need to worry about anything."

Open house

Ms. Smith recently hosted get-togethers at the rectory to show off her improvements and give parents an opportunity to speak with her about her plans for the faith formation program.

She also held a porch-bound ice cream social for teens to get their ideas on possible activities. They responded with a torrent of ideas for a comprehensive youth ministry program, complete with retreats, workshops, classes, service opportunities and community-building activities.

"I asked the young people 'what do you want your program to be?'" she recalled. At first, "they didn't really know what to say, because no one has ever really given them that opportunity."

After speaking with them, she felt excited about "what youth ministry and faith formation can be. I think the possibilities are endless. The young people are ready. They want to do things. They're excited about doing some service."

(10/30/03) [[In-content Ad]]