DEAR FATHER | Adjustments to parish life require selflessness and generosity

There are few changes a pastor makes that cause more consternation than adjusting Mass times or combining weekend liturgies. It is understandable. People attend specific Masses for a reason: the music (or lack thereof), their own schedule preferences, the presence or absence of children, etc. Each Mass tends to have a group of regulars who form relationships with one another and develop a sense of community. While there have been many changes in Mass schedules in the wake of All Things New, I don’t know a single pastor who made them lightly. Most pastors prefer to avoid adjusting Mass times precisely because of the pushback, even if at each Mass the church is less than 50 percent full. (I’ve subbed at weekend liturgies where there were less than 50 worshippers.)

To give context as to why these changes occur, we need to be realistic about how many priests are available. As shared in a previous St. Louis Review article, currently there are 86 archdiocesan priests who serve as pastor or parochial administrator of parishes. Of them, 31 are 60 or over (and 16 of those are at least 65). What’s more, of those 86 archdiocesan pastors, roughly one-third are pastoring more than one parish. There are currently 45 associate pastors, 22 of whom are 59 or older. There are 15 under the age of 40. Adding to the challenge, whenever a religious order informs us that they no longer can provide a priest for the parish they staff, the archdiocese needs to figure out how to cover those pastoral needs as well. (We currently have 18 parishes staffed by orders, many of which are also declining in numbers.) Finally, this year we only ordained one priest for the archdiocese.

While these statistics are sobering, we shouldn’t despair. The archdiocese has experienced an uptick in vocations, but when a young man enters seminary, it is a nine-year path to ordination. We will have enough priests in the future to cover the sacramental and pastoral needs of the people of the archdiocese, but in order to do that, there will need to be further adjustments. All Things New was a first step in the process, but we cannot pretend there won’t be more.

That’s where the people of God come in. In my own experience as episcopal vicar of the Northern Vicariate, for the most part, I’ve seen parishioners exercise huge amounts of generosity in adjusting to changes in parish life, including Mass schedules. They understand that their pastor and — if they are lucky to have one — their associate pastor cannot run themselves ragged trying to cover multiple weekday Masses and an even greater number of Sunday liturgies, in addition to funerals, weddings and the rest of the demands of parish life. Like anyone else, priests burn out and sometimes break down when their workload becomes unsustainable. In the future, an increasing number of parishes will have only one priest (and perhaps share that priest with another parish). Given that, if a church holds 800 and averages 150 in attendance at each of their four weekend liturgies, there will be adjustments.

So what recourse do parishioners have when the pastor changes a Mass schedule? I would like to offer several suggestions.

First, they should thank their pastor for his willingness to serve as a priest during a time of immense change to parish life. Regardless of their age, health issues, or other personal losses, these priests step up to minister as best they can in challenging assignments.

Second, parishioners should take a realistic look at the needs of the parish versus their own personal liturgical preferences.

Third, they can pray for and promote vocations. Young people are still saying “yes” to serving God, but they need support and encouragement.

Finally, when a parish is undergoing significant change or combining with other parishes, that is the time for increased selflessness and generosity in making those changes work for the common good. Change is hard, but when the people stay focused on Christ, the faith community comes out stronger in the end.

Father Scott Jones is episcopal vicar of the Northern Vicariate of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.