Parish Councils

Characteristics of the parish of the future

Balancing the Kingly Function:

The parish of the next millennium will be lay oriented and one of shared and collaborative ministry:

- Majority of Catholics wish for a more participative church.
- Many want a voice in who can be ordained.
- As US citizens, we are strongly impacted by more participatory and interactive communications styles.
- Largest work forces in the church now are lay professionals.

The parish of the next millennium will be grounded in baptism and charism rather than ordination and office:

- More inclusivity than exclusivity.
- Appreciation of the gifts of all for a common mission.
- Fundamental call is to discipleship.

The parish of the next millennium will be more relational rather than numerically or institutionally defined:

- People will choose more freely where they will relate and worship.
- Communities will have more intentional members who really "buy into" the sense of mission and ministry.
- Development of covenanted communities.
- Importance of small faith communities.

The parish of the next millennium will complete the process of moving from pyramid to koinonia church:

- Reconnection of community, leadership, and ordination into a communion of mission.
- There will be a better balance of male and female spiritualities and influence.
- Collaboration, consultation and shared decision making operative at all levels.

Balancing the prophetic function:

The parish of the next millennium will emphasize the wisdom rather than the intellectual tradition:

- A retrieval of the mystical tradition.
- A movement away from rules as defining who we are.
- A return to the more holistic spirituality of the first millennium.

The parish of the next millennium will be less program oriented and more spiritually oriented:

- A return to a holistic spirituality.
- Balance between contemplation and action.
- Importance of daily life in terms of God's action in our lives.
- Reappropriation of the message of hope.
- Reclaim our healing heritage.
- Salvation is communal.

The parish of the next millennium will retrieve the Catholic imagination:

- A renaissance of art, theatre and music.
- Attention to the architecture of our sacred space as evocative of our faith.
- Renewal of liturgy- attention to ritual.

The parish of the next millennium will follow the priest of the next millennium:

- Theoretically the ordained priesthood will be defined by linkage, service, and tradition.
- Practically, keeping the gospel vision and the wider catholic vision intact.
- Connecting people, building community.

Balancing the Priestly Function:

The parish of the next millennium will, in a pluralistic and multicultural society, speak from weakness rather than from power:

- Importance of witness.
- Importance of practical ecumenism.
- Call to authentic evangelization.
- Attention be paid to each community and representation honored.
- Call to authentic dialogue.

The parish of the new millennium will focus on intergenerational education, not just children:

- Parish schools will continue to be important, but adult formation will determine both staff and structures of parish.
- Parish will need to introduce "boomer Catholics" to common religious language, rituals, symbols, and history of the Catholic tradition.
- Increasing attention will need to be given to emerging technologies and to mass media.

The parish of the new millennium will operate on the principles of subsidiarity and collegiality:

- Development of the principles of subsidiarity and collegiality will come as a result of a renewed episcopacy.
- Structures at all levels will need to be amended in light of these operative principles.

The parish of the next millennium will redress the male-female imbalance on its way to true partnership:

- There is a need to reverse the steady feminization of the church.

Taken from: The Parish of the New Millennium, Rev William Bausch. 

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