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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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So far, this book has considered the basic approach to any pastoral planning in the Church today. It has recommended what could be called an environmental approach to forming the life of the Church. The application of this approach to the areas of parish renewal, spiritual renewal, leadership formation and social change has been sketched in. In other words, this book contains an overall strategy, a broad strategy , for the renewal of the life of the Church. It might, however, be more precise to say that this book contains principles for a strategy for pastoral renewal in the Church. An overall approach has been sketched in a number of areas, but it is not yet a strategy because it has not been stated developmentally. It is not clear from what has been said what the first step might be. There is a need to know how to begin. One of the greatest problems facing workers in the Church today is knowing where and how to begin working. A great deal is known about the pastoral problems we face. Much theological and sociological and psychological data has been brought to bear on the situation. Too much, in fact. Knowing too much can lead to paralysis, because then the problems seem so large and there are so many possibilities of action that there is no logical place to start. When there is no developmental structure to what we know, the more we learn, the less effective we get. There is a process to building something. This is true no mattter what approach we take. Many efforts in the Church have failed because the processes of how to work were not understood. The traditional approach to religious education was very strong on teaching catechists the content of Christianity. Much effort was spent passing on content, only to learn that the catechists were ineffective because they did not know how to communicate the content they had. Not enough of a priority was put on method in the process of teaching. It may be true that serving the poor in justice is, absolutely speaking, a greater priority for the Church than seminary training. It is, however, not necessarily the first thing to pay attention to. It is not necessarily a greater priority in the process of forming a Church which is adequate to everything that it is called to do. If the Church gives all of its energy to serving the poor in justice and does not direct any to training people who will be able to see this need and do something about it, the Church will make no progress. In other words, what is in itself more important is not necessarily the first thing we must turn our hand to. The most important things are not necessarily the first things in pastoral priority. The process of pastoral renewal is a large topic. To talk about it adequately could take a book longer than this one. We have not attempted so much to explain "how to do it" as to sketch in the outlines of a new approach. It is, however, important to understand pastoral priorities and how they would function in an approach like the one we have developed. What follows are a few observations about priority and proces which are implications of what has already been said. 1) TOP PRIORITY IS PERSONAL SPIRITUAL RENEWAL Those who want to renew the Church have to begin with their own personal renewal. This is true whether the person concerned for renewal is the bishop or only a lay leader in some parish organization. Those who are going to work for the renewal of the Church have to seek a renewal of their knowledge of Christ and their life in him. That the personal spiritual renewal of those who want to encourage pastoral renewal is the top priority follows from the analysis which has been given of the ways communities function. The purpose, the source of unity and cohesiveness is the key to beginning the process of community formation. Therefore, concern for that which draws a community together that anything can happen. If a pastoral renewal is going to follow an environmental dynamic, that which begins the process (centering on that which is the reason for the existence of the community) has to be the first concern. In other words, if we want a renewal of the Church, the first step has to be turning more deeply to God. If those who want to work to renew the Church do not pray together and study the word of God together, if they do not tell others about Christ and put him in the forefront of their concern, they will not be effective. They may be able to do something which may make some contribution to humanity, but they will not strengthen the Church. Their efforts will not have behind them enough of a reason for Christianity to exist to motivate people to be concerned with the Church. The moment at which a process of Christian renewal begins is the moment when one person or group of people can say, "It works! It's worthwhile!" When they have something themselves, and when they have the conviction that they have something, they can begin to work. Those who do not have a genuine conviction about Christianity lack the force or direction which makes them effective in Christian renewal. Probably the second step in a process of Christian renewal comes when those who have dedicated themselves to working on it succeed in sharing what they have found for themselves with others. That is a sign that they have matured enough in what they themselves have to begin to be effective in leading others to find such a renewal. The second step may begin only moments after the first. Or it may take a while. But it is almost as important as the first. 2) THE SECOND PRIORITY IS TO FIND MEN OF GOD WHO CAN DO THE JOB The second priority should be to find others who can work effectively at the process of pastoral renewal. This is the second priority because it is men who build communities. Communities (and movements) form around their leaders, and they are usually as strong as their leaders. Without the right men the whole process cannot get off the ground. In concrete terms, "finding men of God who can do the job" means building up a team of people who can work together on the problems of some part of the Church - people who can pray together, who can share their Christian lives together, who have a common vision of how to work to renew the Church. Little will be achieved without a unified group of workers. Any efforts which can be directed to increasing this group of workers is an effort which will multiply results. 3) THE THIRD PRIORITY IS TO BUILD BASIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES If the formation of basic Christian communities is going to be the approach of the future, those working on pastoral renewal have to begin forming such communities very early in the process. People will understand what a basic Christian community is only with difficulty if they cannot experience one. Workers will not easily understand how to build communities if they cannot have the experience of being part of one. It will be difficult for leaders in the process of Christian renewal to grasp what they are aiming at if they cannot see instances of what will be at the end of the process. People learn what needs to be done from the experience of seeing it happen. Once a person has experienced how a basic Christian community can work, he can think about what has to be done to get them to exist more and more. In short, pilot projects and model centers are needed. Men have to be set to work to build basic Christian communities and once they are in existence, they will produce more workers who can do the same thing. Moreover, others can be sent there to be trained in how to do it. Once the parish of San Miguelito was formed in Panama, it became a means of opening up many people to new approaches to forming parish life. Many have seen there what they could only imagine before, and, in seeing it, they understood more about it (including the fact that it was actually possible). The process has to begin by putting the emphasis on community formation, not on programs or activities. If what is needed is forming communities which make it possible for a person to live a Christian life, the beginning is to actually have such a community. A person cannot begin by forming structures and programs and expect communities to come out of the hopper on the other end. Communities grow, they are not produced. If a process of renewal does not begin with an environmental approach, it will probably never get to one. In getting started, the impetus given by movements can be used. Movements generate environments and, with skill, these can be formed into basic Christian communities. Once a group of people has a new dedication to Christ and is willing to put a great deal into living as Christians, they are ready to be the nucleus of a basic Christian community. Movements can provide a ready impetus where otherwise the process of forming a community might take many years of scratching to start. COORDINATED NEEDS The above three priorities are requirements for beginning a pastoral renewal. There are also needs which have to be met at the same time a pastoral renewal is beginning. One such need is the need to maintain the present situation. The Church is, as a matter of fact, effective to a remarkable degree in keeping people alive, at least to a minimal level, as Christians. The present membership of the Church is a vast resource to work from - even if we cannot make full use of it at the moment. Maintenance of the present situation has to be part of the consideration, even though it would be fatal if that were all that were to be done (because the present structure of the Church is getting weaker, and something has to be done to make an improvement in the situation). Maintenance in the present and building for the future have to go on at the same time. Another need that has to be met is the need to change the present institution. If there were in the Church today an effective approach to forming community life, with an effective way of forming Christian leaders, it would have difficulty gaining the support of the Church as a whole. The old structure still molds people's thinking to a great degree. It does so less and less each year but, nonethelesss, the Church today is not ready to accept a whole new approach (even if the new approach were less radical than the one outlined above). The present structure of the Church has to be made more flexible and open to changes, and it has to become more capable of profiting from them. If the change is not made in the present structure now, by the time a new approach evolves, the new approach will be of little profit to the Church as a whole. In other words, the fact that institutional change is not the main priority in meeting the pastoral needs of the Church does not mean that it is not important. Fortunately it is happening and it is happening increasingly. THE PROCESS What we have been talking about is a process. The renewal of the Church has to be an organic growth. Environments and communities grow and develop, they are not (primarily) "worked out" and legislated. The formation of communities takes time, and the beginning is often the most difficult. Because we are concerned with a process, there definitely are priorities we have to respect. Any change must begin with a group of people who have found a personal spiritual renewal. And every advance depends upon having men of God who can foster an environmental dynamic. And there do have to be pilot communities where the new forms are actually in operation as models for others. If the structures of the Church are changed without having pilot communities which embody a new approach, the institutional change will be no help (it will only help the Church to wither away more decorously). If the pilot communities are formed without the right kind of leadership, they will never get off the ground. If there is an attempt to recruit and form leadership without an initial core of men who have found Christianity to work for themselves and who can testify to the reality of Christ and the difference he makes, the leadership will have no vision and no effectiveness, nothing to pass on. Unquestionably, these are priorities. There are priorities, but they are not the kind of priorities that are over and done with. In building a house it is possible to build the foundation first, and then stop building the foundation and put up the frame. Once the first step is accomplished, there is no need to come back to it. But an organic process is different. It may be true that the body has to be built strong before a man can work (building strength is temporally prior). But if a man dedicates 15 years to eating to build up his strength and then does not eat after that, his body will soon die. Maintaining strength has to be an ongoing part of the process. It is not possible, in Church renewal, therefore, to dedicate the first five years to personal spiritual renewal and then go on to finding leaders and give no more attention to personal spiritual renewal. Any one who takes that approach will soon find the whole effort wasting away. Personal spiritual renewal, finding leaders, and forming basic Christian communities have to be an ongoing part of the process of Church renewal. TRANSITION There is much life in the Church today, many blossomings of Christian community. There are beginnings of a new form of Church life. At the same time, there is a widespread feeling of need for something new. People feel that if the Church is going to be able to go on, a revolutionary new approach to Christianity is needed. The new form of Church life will have to be a gradual growth. A new way of living and relating has to come into being. It can be fostered and helped in various ways, but it cannot be simply decided upon. It has to grow. What has been suggested in this book is a reorientation in the life of the Church - a reorientation that will allow something new to grow and will allow the Church to profit from what is coming into being. The book does not tell how to do it. Such a book can be written, but there is also a need for people to understand the reorientation of attitude and approach which will be required before a new form of Church life can come about. Christian community is a vision and a spirit as much as it is a method and practice. Christian community involves a new image and hope for the Church. |
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Building Christian Community - Strategy for Renewing the Church by Stephen B. Clark. ©Stephen B. Clark 1996 All Rights reserved. |
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