Opinions
When a pastor asks for opinions and no one answers, is he always wrong?
The hardest thing I have to deal with is trying to discern what is best for the parish and not getting feedback.
posted by Father Patrick @ 2:07 PM
Friday, July 07, 2006
The hardest thing I have to deal with is trying to discern what is best for the parish and not getting feedback.
About Me
- Name: Father Patrick
- Location: Plain City, Ohio
I was ordained a priest in 1975. I have served as an assistant pastor, pastor, military chaplain, prison chaplain, and a hospital chaplain. I have celebrated Mass on six of the seven continents, including at the South Pole.
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10 Comments:
First, you are doing a great job as Pastor of St. Joseph. I find nothing about you to change.
I do think, however, that when you make your announcements at Mass about this Blog page, you should let the congregation know that their comments concerning the posts can be "annonymous". Maybe some people have opinions but they are afraid to post their name? Just a thought. Thanks. Signed: Annonymous... :-)
I think the idea of two Sunday Masses is great. I like the idea of 8:30 and 11:30 with the Sunday Mass remaining the same.
I meant to say with the Saturday Mass remaining the same.
Dear Padre, you are doing a great job! I agree with Anonymous :-) above. I would like to remind you that you have a big fan club here at St. Joseph, and that when you are gone for a weekend, anyone who stands still gets asked when you return - not because they're nosy so much as because they MISS you.
When a pastor asks for opinions, it is to his credit. I think this blog thing is very new for people, and that it is hard, sometimes, to express your opinions to the person in charge. Sometimes you are afraid they will not listen to you, that they already have their mind made up. So maybe you can express this to people and share with them that you REALLY DO want their opinions!
From an unnamed parish secretary
At the risk of wearing out my welcome on your blog :), does silence indicate support, perhaps? :)
Since the unnamed parish secretary published her name, I'll go ahead and admit to being the first "anonymous" post on this Opinion page. Silly me! :-)
I am new to this "blog" thing...
By skimming through the contents posted, it's pretty cool! I think it's an excellent way of communicating and keeping us updates. As far as reserved opinions go, I don't reserve anything. I'm just familiarizing myself with all this stuff. Now that I kinda got the hang of it, I think I will be using it quite often. I think it's great! Sorry, my intent is not to remain anonymous, but I haven't signed up yet. I will have to try another time. Thanks for the updated info!
Father, I think you are doing a wonderful job in trying to involve the parishioners in the decision making process. I don't know how you do it, but I can imagine it's not easy. Any time you have lots of people you have lots of opinions. What we have to be careful of is getting too much info from one source and not enough from other sources. We also have to distiguish between objective, subjective, direct and indirect opinions. I think we all need to remember that we are all trying to make this a better parish and a better community. We need to take a look at ourselves and see how we change to help come to a solution. One of my old mentors once told me that if I have too much resistance, then I need to look at myself and see what I can change. If I can't change or cannot see how I can change, then its best to remove myself from it. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that you or anyone need to step back. I am speaking for myself. If my opinion hinders progress, I will withdraw my opinion and become "childlike" in my behavior...yielding to the majority. In the end, I pray that things will work out. I love this parish and what it stands for.
Volunteering is something that I have always loved to do. I find that it's getting harder to volunteer for this parish because of the disorganization. I understand that you are trying to address this by forming committees and subcommittees. I am not sure if the committee and subcommittees are following a path to unity. It also appears disorganized...or that's just my perception. I could be wrong. I hope that it gets better because my volunteerism is slowly losing its passion.
To the comment specifically about how the parish seems "disorganized" I would like to share my thought. Right now, St. Joe's in in transition with moving to a new facility, familes moving to the parish on a consistent basis and committees forming to help alleviate some of the "growing pains."
I think the committees are a wonderful welcome to the parish and as folks choose which committees they will help with - the disorganizaiton will soon dissolve. We are in a growing pain right now, I think. Currently, the same people/families do multiple volunteering, commit to multiple activites and committees.
I truly believe the growing pains are directly related and affected by the fact that the SAME people are willing and able to do so much around the parish. Instead of focusing on how "burned out" the same people are getting and rather than losing the passion for volunteering - I think we need to band together and get more people involved. I personally know families who "belong" to St. Joe's but never come to mass...... how do we reach them and get more people involved should be a growing pain that we embrace and resolve!
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