Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Trinity Vicariate parishes explore ways to thrive
Trinity Vicariate parishes explore ways to thrive
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 19, 2009
Detroit - Just trying to survive isn't good enough - urban parishes need to take action so they can thrive, parish representatives were told at the Living the Word event.
"We are called, even in challenging times, to grow the Church - not just maintain it," Kathleen Wiskus told the 175 people who turned out at Sacred Heart Major Seminary for the one-day conference on urban ministry sponsored by the Trinity Vicariate - which includes a portion of Detroit plus Highland Park, Dearborn Heights and Redford Township.
Changing demographics and the shrinking number of priests available for pastoral ministry are challenges, but should not be excuses for decline, said Wiskus, associate dean of formation and faculty at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois.
"Challenging times in our Church call us to be mission-focused and collaborative, and call us to the new evangelization," she said.
Wiskus was the keynote speaker and one of the workshop presenters at the conference, which also focused on the importance of parishes recognizing changes in their ethnic composition and accommodating cultural differences.
That was among the points made by John Thorne, archdiocesan coordinator for Black Catholic ministries in his presentation.
"The Church calls us to bring all of our gifts, and that includes different worship styles," Thorne said.
Cultural sensitivity was also addressed by Sr. Kathryn Pierce, IHM, of the Detroit-based Intercultural Consultation Services.
Their message struck a note with Keir Ward, a member of St. Leo Parish on Detroit's west side. "I appreciated the ideas we heard on how to be culturally sensitive. At St. Leo's we are 90 percent African-American, but we have some Caucasians and Hispanics, and even a Filipino family," he said.
"As inclusive as our parish is, we could do better, and also do more in evangelization," said Ward.
Wiskus also addressed how parishes can successfully adapt to clustering and mergers, arrangements made necessary because the Catholic population in the United States has grown by 50 percent in recent decades while the number of priests has declined by 30 percent.
Most of the parishes in the Trinity Vicariate are in such an arrangement.
"Of our 22 parishes, only three fit the normal model of one pastor/one church; all the others are clustered, merged or have pastoral administrators who aren't priests," said Fr. Donald Archambault, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in northwest Detroit and vicar of the Trinity Vicariate.
Some people have not adjusted well to the experience of their parish closing , said Jerry Szczepanski, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Detroit and chair of the vicariate council. "They're confused, angry and hurt," he said.
Wiskus said Catholics need to be able to adapt to new structures and to differing cultural expressions. "Stay mission-focused; what's essential is our faith," she said.
Deacon Paul Mueller, pastoral associate at Corpus Christi Parish, spoke about the parish's neighborhood evangelization project.
A program to prepare new lay ministry volunteers and enhance veteran volunteers, called A Call To Serve, was explained by Nancy Bordley, pastoral minister at St. John Fisher University Parish in Auburn Hills, and Nancy Clancy, director of family ministry at Christ the Redeemer Parish in Lake Orion.
Fr. Archambault said the conference is the first of three annual events the Trinity Vicariate has planned. "We wanted to see what are the creative options for developing a vision of the Church in the city. How do we follow the mission of Christ?" he said.
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