Recent Focus On Building New Social Hall

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Dave27360

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Hello All,

Some brief background information. I am a practicing Roman Catholic who is a parishioner at my local Catholic Church (there only is one Catholic Church in the town I live in). I also am part of that church’s pastoral council. Within the last year our priest (and priest alone) decided that we need an expanded or new social hall. It was discussed by the pastoral council but was never put to a vote. The priest one month decided to invite the diocese planning and research representative to our pastoral council. We are in the process of creating a 5 year pastoral plan.

I have the feeling when at Mass that it is more and more about the money and less about serving the community. This is frustrating and has resulted in starting to consider switching to another parish. Switching the parish not changing our faith.

I have not discussed this privately with the priest and don’t feel that I have the type of relationship with him that I can discuss this with him.

I respect the priesthood and the priest but don’t agree with building a new building when there is so much need in the local community that goes unmet. The local community being the territory of the parish not just the parish itself. Our parish does not really do much for the community with the exception of a monthly food drive that one parishioner runs.

My guess is that major building projects is one reason that parishioners change parish’s. Other reasons could include disagreements with priest(s), moving to a new location for work, etc. This is a building not an area of faith or morals. What are other’s thoughts?

Thank You,
 
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First all, the pastor is likely the best person to understand the needs of the parish. If I were you, I would, very respectfully and politely, ask him to give an explanation as to why it is needed and how it will be used. And if you cannot support his decision, then you should consider quietly resigning your position on the parish council, as the pastor deserves people who will support him if the parish is undertaking a major campaign.

If there is wide spread disapproval in the parish, then you should (again respectfully) inform the pastor.

As to the needs of the local community that goes unmet, perhaps this parish hall will be part of that. If the parish wants to reach help and help the community, it certainly needs the facilities.

I do not think that major building projects drive many people to change parishes. Maybe a few, but in general not.
 
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I agree that it might be best to very respectfully and politely, ask him to give an explanation as to why it is needed and how it will be used. I also agree that there is a high chance of needing to quietly resign my position on the parish council if I cannot support his decision. However I don’t see that there is a way to do this without hurting my personal relationship with the priest. Another option may be to finish the commitment of the term and roll off of the council.
 
I can tell you from experience, if the hall is old, it is likely not adequate for what a busy, involved parish needs.
 
Does it have to be either/or? Social hall/service to the community?

Would your pastor be open to the parish doing more for the community? Your position on the parish council gives you a chance to ask him. Perhaps he’d be open to the idea and would put the parish’s resources behind it but just doesn’t know what the needs are or doesn’t have the time/expertise to make it happen.

I do know that large capital campaigns of this type never are 100% supported by everyone in the parish. Priests are aware of that. Hopefully they handle things with charity.
 
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  1. If you see needs in the community, then coordinate ministries with the Stewardship Coordinator. We have dozens of ministries with community outreach and one Stewardship Coordinator.
  2. The pastor has likely heard it all, including parishioner dissension. He may or may not be open to your point-of-view. You’re bound by charity to share this POV with him.
  3. If they go the upgrade route, I know for a fact that there are grants out there for doing so. There are even grants available for children to attend private/parochial school.
I would ask your prayers for our parish, which is struggling with a huge monthly mortgage. I have looked into foundations to see if we can get substantial grants to help pay down the burden. We have not only the school, but a large gathering space, and the church offices in the building.

Blessings,
Mrs Cloisters OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/holyangels/id9.html/
 
Yes, if you have a term of commitment, then it could be easier to finish that, all the while showing public support for the pastor (assuming you are not satisfied with his explanation). Many parishes around here don’t have specific terms for parish council members, so I was assuming that was the case. That all being said, I think it is important that you would respectfully tell the pastor why you were resigning, making it clear to him that you will keep quiet publicly. That should not cause a bad rift between you and your pastor. We had a long time member of our finance committee resign for a very similar reason, he handled it very professionally, making it clear that the pastor deserved support of everyone during the capital campaign. I was very impressed and it caused no problems. He and the pastor seemed to remain on good terms until the pastor was reassigned.
 
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Yea, we are up to three large meeting spaces at our parish: the school gym, a large cateferia, and our small “parish hall”. It is not uncommon for all three to be used on a given evening.
 
Glennon_P said:
Does it have to be either/or? Social hall/service to the community?

Would your pastor be open to the parish doing more for the community?
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This is immediately where my mind went. It seems that a new and improved social hall could be put to uses that meet the goal of serving the community, particularly in an area with only one Catholic parish.

Could the parish use the new social hall as a make-shift soup kitchen? For charity drives for women facing unplanned pregnancies? Lenten suppers opened up to the community at large?
 
Parishioners change parishes because they want one with a different emphasis,different kind of Mass, or they just don’t like the pastor.

You’ve already received a lot of good comments in this thread. In the end, though, it’s the pastor’s decision, he’s likely already made up his mind, and he’s likely also prepared to stand firm on it if any parishioners object.
 
Dave27360 said:
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TheLittleLady:
A good facility can be an excellent way to serve the community. One needs space for groups to meet, plan, organize.
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The church facility already has an existing social hall.
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Do you know why the pastor wants to increase the size? I’m sure he has a logical reason and it’s not just something frivolous
 
I know our parish has grown, needs have changed, over the past 30 years.
 
  1. The problem we have is most of our ministries exist but our not active meeting each month with the exception of Education and Hispanic ministries.
  2. Agreed
  3. We are not yet in the how to fund portion and are still currently working on the pastoral plan before we can work on the building plan.
I will pray for your parish.
 
The main reason has been discussed at the Pastoral Council meetings is lack of space for Faith Formation classes and the building being old. At the time the building was built there were 163 families. The church website currently says there are 850 families.
 
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