From the editor | Nick Wagner We’ll need courage for the future I recently had the chance to celebrate Sunday liturgy in two different parishes in a diocese I was visiting. The liturgy in Parish A was dull and uninspired. The church was only half full. The musicians were more than competent, but they seemed interested in performing music that demonstrated their competence and not music that I—or many others in the assembly—knew well enough to sing. The lector (same one for Old and New Testament readings) read as though someone had just woken him from the nap he would be resuming during the homily. The homilist was obviously a student of Scripture, and one who was fascinated with his ability to compare the stylistic differences of Matthew and Mark in the original Greek. The snoozing lector had surely chosen the better part. I confess I didn’t last and cannot report on the rest of the liturgy. Parish B was 15 minutes away, but it might as well have been on a different planet. I arrived a little late, and almost didn’t get a seat in the packed church. I was able to join in the opening song as I made my way to the pew because the song was one I knew well. And I didn’t want to be the only one not singing since even the back row Catholics were belting it out. Both lectors had obviously rehearsed the readings, mastered the cadences, and looked up at the assembly enough that I wondered if they’d memorized their passages. The homilist knew what the gospel for the day had to say to his parish, and he told them. He affirmed their commitment to the gospel while at the same time challenging them to be even more courageously faithful to the mission. I had the sense of a real pastor, caring for his flock—a true servant-leader. In this issue, David Delambo says there isn’t a lot of measurable difference between average parishes and excellent parishes. One area that is significantly different, Delambo says, is that excellent parishes tend to be growing parishes (page 8). The “duh” factor here is only remarkable in that many parishes fail to take account of it. In other words, parishes that are not growing tend to blame demographics, the economy, the post-Christian world in which we live, the reforms of Vatican II, or the bad catechetical programs in the 1970s. They do not look at things like the poor celebration of liturgy, the lack of a long-term, credible pastoral plan, the lack of parishioner involvement in the governance of the parish, or the lack of ongoing adult formation as the bedrock of parish life. The parish of the future will be different than today’s parish, but it will not be a parish we do not know. There are loads of resources, including this magazine, that help us see the road ahead. There are four critical success factors for planning for the future (see Jason Womack’s column on page 34). The final one, measuring results, is what is lacking in many parishes and what I think sets apart the excellent parishes among us. Excellent parishes regularly ask themselves how well they are doing, while other parishes usually do not. Perhaps we cannot muster the courage to evaluate ourselves and to be confronted by our imperfections and mistakes. Excellent parishes find the courage. If they are doing something well, they do more of it. If something isn’t working, they change it, or they stop doing it. We will get the parishes we plan to have. I don’t mean this glib summary to imply that the work is easy, but neither is it rocket science. It is, in fact, what we charge the catechumens with at the moment of their election: “Now it is your duty, as it is ours, both to be faithful to [God] in return and to strive courageously to reach the fullness of truth…” (RCIA 133). The parishes of the future—the excellent ones—will be those that have found the courage to strive for excellence. nwagner@twentythirdpublications.com

Current Issue - Table of Contents VOL. 40 NO.4 April/May 2008 10 Your parish...five years from now Cleo Molina How to enjoy the good news—and tackle the bad 12 Ministry: What’s working for parishes? Katarina Schuth, OSF Creative solutions for serving more Catholics with fewer priests 14 A closer look at youth ministry Michael J. Hagarty Snapshots of where we’ve been point to where we’re going 16 Can we really build community online? Tim Welch Four keys for making it happen 19 Your ministry is a vocation! Jennifer L. S. Bader Reflect on your baptismal call with the experts from Boston College’s pastoral ministry program 2 From the Editor Nick Wagner 4 Praying for a laugh The Ironic Catholic 6 Two-minute training tips Deborah McCann 8 Lay Ecclesial Ministry Guide David DeLambo 23 The Good Steward Cathy Rusin 24 Five Simple Steps For Forming Families Alan J. Hommerding 26 The Soulful Minister Colleen Griffith 28 Qs & As on Parish Life Paul Boudreau 30 Initiation Ministry Bill Huebsch 32 The Promise of Vatican II Cathy Cobb 33 Can I Get an Amen? Preaching that Makes a Difference Jim Schmitmeyer 34 Pastoring on Purpose Jason W. Womack 36 Diary of a Parish Priest Tony Meadows 38 Blessings for Parish Life Diana Macalintal 10 Your parish... five years from now 16 Can we really build community online? 24 Does your parish have excellent lay ministry? 32