Draft modeling process for future of parishes in the city begins

As the Seek the City planning process for parishes in Baltimore City moves into the draft modeling stage, the discussion moves from what “could” be done to what “should” be done, according to Auxiliary Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., urban vicar.

In a meeting attended by more than 160 parish leaders – well above the expected turnout – Feb. 12 at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park, the bishop said he is often asked why the archdiocese just doesn’t tell people how many and which parishes are going to be closed when the process is over.

“You’ll know the plan when I do, because we are all here doing it together,” he said. “The people who will be affected by the decisions are helping to make them.”

Participants were asked to weigh in on various questions about the data that had been presented and models of parish types. An extensive segment of the meeting broke the group into regions – north, east, south, west and central – to reflect on which parish types would best help bring the eucharistic vision of a church to life in their region.

Among the elements of that vision are churches centered in Christ, with liturgies and sacraments fully alive with the Gospel; where the “Sunday experience” is transformative; where parishioners are rooted in and concerned about the city and its neighborhoods, and reach out with Christ’s love to address community needs; where there are abundant human and material resources for ministry; and where campus facilities are suited for the church of today.

Bishop Lewandowski noted that each parish should serve 500 to 1,000 families, depending on the size of its campus and buildings. He noted that this is not an archdiocesan criterium, but something that religious denominations across the board have determined is a critical mass for sustainability.

The Seek the City team has reported in the past that there are enough seats for 25,000 people to attend Mass at any one time on a given Sunday, but total Mass attendance on weekends in all those churches combined is about one-tenth of that.

That critical mass is missing from some – or even many – of the parishes in the city these days. In northeast Baltimore, five parishes are overseen by Father Patrick Carrion, pastor, and Father Evan Ponton, associate pastor. 

Father Ponton said it’s hard to have a good liturgy with 40 people in a church built for 600. Father Carrion noted that if you had just 3,000 people at Oriole Park at Camden Yards or M&T Bank Stadium, you would not try to start “the wave” since it would not be very impressive. 

The priests said they look at the Seek the City process within the larger history of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where parishes come and go. “The ‘people of God’ moves through time and space,” Father Ponton said. 

He added that he tries to remind people in the five parishes that this will lead to a grieving process, and that “we are a people who grieve with hope.” The grief is real and it can help people move to accept the new reality with hope. “That’s the Paschal Mystery.”

Father Ponton noted that he and the pastor are letting people know, “It will be hard. We want to be here for you.”

Father Carrion said the church has lived in a parochial model for a long time, but that the creed we say at Mass says the church is “one, holy, catholic and apostolic,” not “one, holy, parochial and apostolic” he said, adding that it’s not about whether any individual parish will survive, but how the church will survive.

He said that during Lent this year, he is encouraging parishioners to take the six weeks of the season and attend a different church site each week – among St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, Shrine of the Little Flower, St. Anthony of Padua and Most Precious Blood. Making a circuit of all the churches is about 7 miles, but none of the churches are more than about a mile and a half from another in the group.

Father Carrion noted that when he was pastor of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, he was given a map from the 1700s that showed some of the old streets, some of which are now paved thoroughfares. While the map showed no Catholic parishes, Catholics were already present. “The church was here before the parishes were here,” he said.

Bishop Lewandowski noted, “We did not start in the Archdiocese of Baltimore with huge cathedrals.” Instead, it started in peoples’ homes, pubs and other places, and churches were built after that. “We grew into this.”

The organizers of the meeting presented three models of parishes for reflection – not as a limit on the discussion, but to spark discussion.

Model A, the “mosaic parish,” assumes a series of medium and larger campuses with a church, parish hall, meeting spaces, rectory, community space, open space, parking, and, in some cases, a school will instill a renewed sense of vibrancy bringing multiple parishes together and a “one-stop shop” for parish and community needs. It might require a new campus, rather than adapting a current site.

Model B, the “radiating parish,” assumes there are a few larger campuses that minister to the broader Catholic community with worship, faith formation and fellowship, and conduct outreach to the broader community via a series of smaller, affiliated ministry sites. This might include new, larger campuses and new and existing community resource locations. 

Model C, the “Catholic commons,” would be based in a community center that can provide different ministries, be a meeting place for the community and provide Mass. It would likely be located in a space that is also used for other purposes. Cherry Hill Town Center, currently operated by Catholic Charities with community services, a bank, and other shops, but no worship facility, is an example of how such a center could serve a community. 

Most of the regional groups determined that a mix of parish models, or a combination of models, as the best chance for success.

The draft modeling discussions will continue with a daylong meeting March 8 and another half-day meeting March 22.

Before the March meetings, the Seek the City leadership will put together some potential models with about four models per region.

The process will also refine the models based on feedback and begin to document the recommendations for presentation to Archbishop William E. Lori and his archdiocesan consulting bodies – the auxiliary bishops, the Presbyteral Council, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, the College of Consultors and the Board of Financial Administration.

Bishop Lewandowski noted that the process is synodal, open and collaborative but that “the one who has to sign off on this (as chief shepherd) is Archbishop Lori.”

Bishop Lewandowski said, “We have to read the signs of the times and be open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.”

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org

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