| Some thoughts on the more macro Parish Council issuesAs we are approaching the end of the 2006-07 term, I am taking the opportunity to revisit some more macro issues of the Parish Council. 1. On Role of Parish Council There are two contrasting, but not mutually exclusive, thoughts as to the role of parish council: 1) as co-ordinator of parish activities, ensuring that time and manpower do not clash, and providing a platform for pius associations to co-operate in initiatives of mutual interest; and 2) as initiator of parish activities, proposing direction and agenda, and implementing them via groups and parishioners. The reality is that we do and should have them both, and that there are rooms for the former to be done more thoroughly, and the latter to be done with stronger mandate and better support. The weighting between the two roles depend on the positioning of the priests, and the vision of an ideal parish. If the priests position themselves as ones who provide support, recognition and vision, rather than more specific direction and day-to-day agenda, it is then up to the parish council to play the role of an initiator, if we are to go beyond the routine of day-in day-out. And if our vision of an ideal parish is one that helps facilitating the love of God and neighbour in this increasingly diversified and pluralistic society, continuous refreshing of direction and exploration of new initiatives are actually inevitable. If it is the tendency of service groups and pius associations to be more keen on keeping their own tradition and agenda, it is the responsibility of parish council to help bringing the parish in meeting the challenges of the generation. Whichever is the heavier role, the present structure of our parish council is not the most perfect in motivating and positioning our councilors. The principle responsibility of our councilors is to give comments, not to plan and to action. It is true that they are invited to be members of working committees, but such responsibilities are essentially auxiliary in the present structure, frequently seen as a 'side business' for councilors. Councilors can use parish council as a platform for co-ordination of resources, but more so, they should be collectively responsible in setting directions, and be motivated for implementing the direction, through a better division of work and a better structure in terms of accountability and line of support. The workhorse may be pius associations or working committees, but nobody but the priests with the parish council are in the position of setting directions and seeing them through.
2. On Plurality
Decades ago, needs and concerns within a community were not varied at all: health, education, employment, and in the case of a Catholic community, Faith. In our time, we still have our Faith, but our agenda becomes much more diversified: young people are no longer merely looking for a mass every Sunday followed by football matches. Parents are no longer just looking to get their children into a school. They want them to have good adversity quotient, get good exposure, and be educated in all aspects of life. Theoretically, a parish would have the option of remaining focused on religious things, but if we want to attract more people to join and to stay behind, and to serve their spiritual as well as secular needs, we in fact are facing a pluralistic community of an entirely different scale from that 30 years ago. Hence besides Sunday masses, there are not much activities that can potentially be enjoyed by the whole parish: 1st May pilgrimage are not attractive to youths, sponsored walk and youth musicals are not suitable for some elderly, feast day dinner, wherever the venue and pricing, are bound to single out some group of parishioners. And it would not be effective to, say, appeal to the youths that it is their duty to support the 1st May pilgrimage as a parish activity. Whether we like it or not, it is a generation (adults and youths alike) where people are more driven by attractions rather than duties. Socio-economic factors, like long working hours, rising property price and increasing competition in workplace and education are also squeezing us of our leisure time and interests, and the precious time remaining are reserved for things that are really necessary or attractive. Plurality can only be met by empowerment and decentralization. Directions, for example, evangelisation and the bringing about of hope, are to be drawn at parish council level. How they are to be progressed, however, are to rely on parishioners close to people from different sectors, or even, to rely on the sectors themselves. Families may want to organise gatherings and ask parishioners and friends to bring dishes and to chat and pray. Young people may want to hang out for half a day at church for ball games, NDS, chit-chat, BBQ and sharing. The micromanagement and implementation would not be possible if it is a top-down process, and to maximize effectiveness it is best an initiative from the target group itself. The parish council can put these groups together as a start, and should develop its leaders and seeing them grow. What should then be done is to enlighten and empower the group. It is certainly necessary for priests and parish council to keep an eye on what is happening, but the tenor should be to support. A pluralistic (not necessarily relativistic) and united parish would be possible with parishioners from different background involved and engaged.
3. On Talking and Doing
A not unusual comments heard about our parish is that there are too much talking but too little doing. But actually talking and doing are the two essential activities an organization must have, without which no establishment can survive. In order to grasp the thinking behind the saying, it can be understood that there are too much comments (with some of them even uninformed and ungrounded) and spontaneous ideas, but not enough careful thoughts and planning. Talking and comments should certainly be encouraged. With pluralism mentioned above in mind, views and inputs from parishioners are vital channels for collecting ideas and boosting involvement. But bit and pieces ideas are better at solving immediate problems than in building direction and implementing initiatives. Careful thoughts and planning mean, for example, finding the needs of our youth, thinking up the things to do to address the needs, and then creating the necessary action plan and timeline. All these are to be planned in the outset, and the flow from one element to the other has to be logical. And the plans should not be mere vision or wishful thinking, but practical, actionable blueprints. Our parish council is picking up in its planning, and it is a habit that has to be established for us to further flourish. Planning is neither natural nor straightforward, and has to be encouraged. ExCos, working committees and ad-hoc project teams should be asked to submit their working plan (ideally a 1 to 2-year plan for working committees) and budget for council's discussion and approval. The more experienced ExCos should work with committee convenors and project holders to support their planning. The problem of course remains as to how to implement these plans. Our parish is blessed to have a dedicated group of 'doers', who very effectively get things done. A good and practical plan will be a step towards bridging of thinkers and doers. Parish council is in the best position to bear the responsibility of identifying groups of thinkers and doers, position them so that they can work closely with each other, and encourage the establishment of plans as blueprints for their co-operation.
4. On being a Christian Community
We are Christians by our love. There is no doubt about that. But it is sadly a well-known experience that we are prone to indulge in our earthly businesses (even they are for serving the Holy Church) and to have forgotten about God. We sometimes behave as if we are a secular community filled by people with no faith. On the other hand, it is not easy (probably not necessary as well) to differentiate between our parish and a secular organisation in terms of activities. For the reason we mentioned above, it may not be desirable for us to retreat into organizing only 'sacred' activities. And observing Caritas, Mother Teresa, the Salesians of Don Bosco..., all of them do provide secular services like education and health care. The one thing that differentiates us is our love: our love of God, and our love of our neighbours. In order to help building a Christian community, the parish council can steer a better co-ordination with our priests in spiritual initiatives, including First Friday Mass, Novena, talks and prayer gatherings. The current inclination is for parishioners and working committees to involve in logistics and arrangements. If the priests welcome helping hands in taking initiatives and planning of contents, it will be a good way in helping our parishioners to enhance bonding with God. Parish Council and pius association members are very often Marthas rather than Marias. Infrequent but regular prayer gatherings, bible sharing, cell group and spiritual development among helpers of the parish would help reminding us of the reason behind their hard work. And the Word of the Lord and work of the Holy Spirit will surely guide us in building a more loving parish. |
