Ten propositions on the contemporary reality of parishes

I had a great experience growing up in the parish. Walking to school with the neighbor kids, family Masses, May Crownings, walking by myself to pray or go to confession on a Saturday, ice cream socials. Learning the Angelus and hearing the church bells from my home. I had good and bad teachers (sisters and lay women) in the parish school (through 4th grade) and good and bad catechists in CCD (5th-9th). Without a doubt, the parish experience was intensified through family vacations with Christian Family Movement (CFM) and the CFM meetings my folks hosted in our home.

1. the rise of the voluntary parish.
There are 10 parishes within 10 miles of my house and I could join any one of them (or others), receive envelopes, and attend regularly. Such mobility means that I'm not stuck with this pastor or community, but can vote with my feet (car) by going elsewhere.

2. the transience of the parishoner.
Due to job changes and social mobility, many parishoners move between parishes over their lives and even when their children are growing up.

3. the specialization of parishes.
This parish offers the Tridentine Mass and has a Traditional Latin Mass community; that one serves Vietnamese or Hispanics. That one has a Lifeteen Mass and the other one has a support group for unemployed people.

4. the scattered lifestyle of the American family.
Husband, wife, children may each spend their day in a parish other than their own. If I work or go to school, I will not limit myself to the parish boundaries, but will look outside the parish.

5. the disconnect between parish and neighborhood.
Urban parishes tend to be more involved with the neighborhood, but given the mobility described above, a loss of overlap between parish and neighborhood is only to be expected.

6. the loss of the parish convent.
Although not without its problems, the parish convent offered many parishes the resources of a particular "school of Christianity" (see CCC 2684) through teaching sisters. Those parishes maintained by orders of priests (Redemptorists, Jesuits, Capuchins) still offer these resources.

7. inter-parish ministerial collaboration.
Parishes now work together to offer schedules of overlapping services, for example Communal Penance services during Lent.

8. the identification of the parish with the personality of the pastor.
With a shift from 3-4 priests in the parish to 1 or 2, I've noticed that the pastor increasingly stands out as a lone figure of authority.

9. the transience of pastors.
Periodic reassignment of pastors is necessary, but many times the transition can be abrupt or arbitrary. I always knew we had a new pastor growing up because the location of the tabernacle was the first thing to change. One pastor tried to abolish kneeling during the Mass. Lay groups welcomed by one pastor may be ejected by the next one with no explanation. As my mother always said, pastors come and go, but the laity remain.

10. the financial isolation of the pastor.
Pastors have little support or oversight in the management of the parish. Without reversing the rights of the pastor, the bishop could offer centralized services on a voluntary basis.

The parish is not going away, nor do I want it to, but broad social dynamics are reshaping the parish. Some of this reshaping is positive, in that Catholics often have a stronger awareness of their own bishop and diocese and are less parochial.

What do you think?