Mission Church and No Priest

[Catherine59]

We have a mission church connected to our parish. It is about 45 minutes away from our main church.
Up until our parish Priest decided to make it a Misson Church, the very small community only held one Mass a month, now they have three Masses a week, plus our Priest goes there for Catholic Formation once a week and has been going to the mission church for Stations of the Cross and soup supper on Fridays and Rosary on Wednesday’s. He does not attend the regular church Stations or Rosary.

The regular church has about 600 regular parishioners and the mission church about 100.
On Sundays our parish Priest will do the 7:30 Mass but other than that we rarely have our Parish Priest attending the other two more well attended Masses, he leaves and goes to the mission church, so we have regular visiting Priests.

Our Parish Priest does not return phone calls or emails… he has as much told us that unless you are dieing, don’t call.

This is becoming very distressing for many in the parish… volunteerism and fund raising is down quite a bit, the Choir Director has decided that he is too busy as well to take phone calls or emails… it is like a disease that has started to take over… I have no idea where to even start to deal with this without looking uncharitable to the mission church but resources and personnel are just being sucked away from the parish.

 

[zagjames]

Well first I would petition the dioceses about your situation. Another Priest should be appointed to your parish, even if he is just a part timer at your parish who will share responsibility with your current Pastor. Or see if a Deacon could be stationed at your parish. An additional Priest would be better. Even if your dioceses couldnt deliever, at least they know your concerns, and if you let them know how important it is they will keep the possiblity open, or atleast look into it more.

Secondly I would make an effort to push community involvement more. Volunteer some of your time to make a positive difference. See if the Parish Council can help more with the Priest’s duties of running the Parish, so he has more time to interact. (Careful though, Pastors can be territorial if they feel controls is being wrestled away from them by disgruntled parishioners.) Just offter to help. etc.

This is a difficult situation. But this Priest should recognize that he is Pastor to the Parish first, and a missionary priest second. He needs to serve both, but if he needs to keep the parish alive and then foster growth at the mission.

Collaboration by the laity at your parish needs to happen with the diocese, and your Pastor.

But thats just my :twocents:

 

[zagjames]

Well first I would petition the dioceses about your situation. Another Priest should be appointed to your parish, even if he is just a part timer at your parish who will share responsibility with your current Pastor. Or see if a Deacon could be stationed at your parish. An additional Priest would be better. Even if your dioceses couldnt deliever, at least they know your concerns, and if you let them know how important it is they will keep the possiblity open, or atleast look into it more.

Secondly I would make an effort to push community involvement more. Volunteer some of your time to make a positive difference. See if the Parish Council can help more with the Priest’s duties of running the Parish, so he has more time to interact. (Careful though, Pastors can be territorial if they feel controls is being wrestled away from them by disgruntled parishioners.) Just offter to help. etc.

This is a difficult situation. But this Priest should recognize that he is Pastor to the Parish first, and a missionary priest second. He needs to serve both, but if he needs to keep the parish alive and then foster growth at the mission.

Collaboration by the laity at your parish needs to happen with the diocese, and your Pastor.

But thats just my :twocents:

 

[michaeldaniels]

Please don’t direct your anger at the Mission Church…even though I know it can be easy to do so…don’t forget, they also need a Good Shepherd as does your Church…the problem lies with your pastor, who seems to have a problem with scheduling and time management. My local parish has a Mission Church connected with it…my priest is a very holy and committed priest, but he is also very busy. He manages to have daily Mass at the local parish w/ confessions prior to Mass, Stations of The Cross on Friday, Vigil Mass on Saturday, Confession on Saturday, and two Masses on Sunday. Then at the Mission Church, he has one weekly Mass and Confession Scheduled for one day of the week, Stations of The Cross on Friday, Vigil Mass on Saturday, and one Mass on Sunday. He spreads himself thin, but he gets the job done…he is a very committed Priest and one of the best I have ever seen. I will pray for your Church, that you likewise get a Pastor who is able to Minister to both Parishes well, without neglecting one or the other.

We have a mission church connected to our parish. It is about 45 minutes away from our main church.
Up until our parish Priest decided to make it a Misson Church, the very small community only held one Mass a month, now they have three Masses a week, plus our Priest goes there for Catholic Formation once a week and has been going to the mission church for Stations of the Cross and soup supper on Fridays and Rosary on Wednesday’s. He does not attend the regular church Stations or Rosary.

The regular church has about 600 regular parishioners and the mission church about 100.
On Sundays our parish Priest will do the 7:30 Mass but other than that we rarely have our Parish Priest attending the other two more well attended Masses, he leaves and goes to the mission church, so we have regular visiting Priests.

Our Parish Priest does not return phone calls or emails… he has as much told us that unless you are dieing, don’t call.

This is becoming very distressing for many in the parish… volunteerism and fund raising is down quite a bit, the Choir Director has decided that he is too busy as well to take phone calls or emails… it is like a disease that has started to take over… I have no idea where to even start to deal with this without looking uncharitable to the mission church but resources and personnel are just being sucked away from the parish.

 

[puzzleannie]

the best solution for parishioners of the “main” parish who are feeling slighted by the attention the pastor is paying to the needs of the mission parish is to offer to do all they can to help him reach out to people who actually are their fellow parishioners. Offer to teach the faith formation classes, lead rosaries, stations and other devotions, holy hours, be RCIA sponsors and so forth. Get active in assessing and heping meet the material needs of the mission area, which are typically greater than the parish itself. Once those with a chip on their shoulder welcome the mission and reach out to its members, they will become part of the process by which the mission becomes self-sustaining and eventually a parish in its own right.