Sunday, May 27, 2007
A letter from Fr. Alan Jurkus, "Soon to be" Pastor
To be pastor of St. Al's in September, to be exact. His first contact with the parish was a letter two weeks ago. It must have been an insert in the bulletin; I was away and so didn't get the hard copy and such inserts aren't included in the bulletin posted online. But there is an excerpt (p. 5) of today's bulletin [5 pp. pdf].
He wrote again, his letter was a bulletin insert today, and this time it's posted [pdf]. It's about the building fund debt reduction campaign.
I guess they didn't mention that we parishioners were being told the operating budget was in a "financial crisis" yet parish leadership went ahead with this building project anyway. And among other omissions, I don't remember the pitch for the original project mentioning that the debt might scare away potential pastors.
We had declining school enrollment and declining Mass attendance, a financial crisis, and parishioners tired of hearing about money. So we went into debt to add on to the building. From what I've seen and heard, parish leadership has learned nothing from the experience. There are already some new wish list expenditures tacked on to the latest debt reduction appeal.
Maybe some folks are waiting to make sure they aren't paying for another agenda. ¶ 5/27/2007 03:04:00 PM
He wrote again, his letter was a bulletin insert today, and this time it's posted [pdf]. It's about the building fund debt reduction campaign.
As you are aware, St. Alphonsus has a debt of nearly US$3,000,000. Unless this is reduced to a much lower amount, I am concerned that the impact on all the parish ministries and events will be seriously affected.
I must be honest and say that the ONLY thing that gave me pause about accepting the pastorate of St. Alphonsus was this debt.
I guess they didn't mention that we parishioners were being told the operating budget was in a "financial crisis" yet parish leadership went ahead with this building project anyway. And among other omissions, I don't remember the pitch for the original project mentioning that the debt might scare away potential pastors.
I know there can be all kinds of reasons for not committing to yet another appeal. We can say things like, "I thought the last one was the LAST one," or, "I never wanted the project anyway," or "I’ve done my share already in the past," or "We have our own debt and kids to raise," or, "Let someone else take care of this." The list could go on and on.
We had declining school enrollment and declining Mass attendance, a financial crisis, and parishioners tired of hearing about money. So we went into debt to add on to the building. From what I've seen and heard, parish leadership has learned nothing from the experience. There are already some new wish list expenditures tacked on to the latest debt reduction appeal.
It would be my hope and prayer that when I officially arrive as your pastor in September, this Debt Reduction Appeal will have reached (or, perhaps, even exceeded) its goal of US$2,000,000, so that all of us can get on with doing the Lord’s work!
Maybe some folks are waiting to make sure they aren't paying for another agenda. ¶ 5/27/2007 03:04:00 PM
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This guy means business! Why, twice in his missive, he's made it a point to quote debt reduction in U.S. dollars ("US$")! Which leads me to the question: Have those wiley, intractable St. Al's parishioners been stuffing the collecton baskets and weekly envelopes with cheap Canadian paper and coinage (CAN$)?
Maybe a previous anonymous combox denizen was right about an outbreak of pedantry... Or, maybe the new guy is a serious economist! Yeah! That's it! Oh, you guys are so lucky! Congratulations!
Maybe a previous anonymous combox denizen was right about an outbreak of pedantry... Or, maybe the new guy is a serious economist! Yeah! That's it! Oh, you guys are so lucky! Congratulations!
# posted by 
: 5:17 PM
: 5:17 PM
"...when I officially arrive as your pastor in September..."
You mean after your three-month vacation? Then you'll be refreshed and recharged enough to do some work? Do us a favor, father: skip the vacation, roll up your sleeves, and jump in right away. I don't remember anything in Scripture about Jesus taking three months off before having to face the rigors of, say, his Passion, or the Apostles needing some R&R immediately post-Pentecost to gear up for that gruelling "go and teach all nations, baptizing them" stuff.
We're afraid you've already revealed quite a bit about yourself, your letters in the bulletin notwithstanding.
You mean after your three-month vacation? Then you'll be refreshed and recharged enough to do some work? Do us a favor, father: skip the vacation, roll up your sleeves, and jump in right away. I don't remember anything in Scripture about Jesus taking three months off before having to face the rigors of, say, his Passion, or the Apostles needing some R&R immediately post-Pentecost to gear up for that gruelling "go and teach all nations, baptizing them" stuff.
We're afraid you've already revealed quite a bit about yourself, your letters in the bulletin notwithstanding.
# posted by : 5:27 PM
: 5:27 PM
Anonymous 1, I suspect his word processing software for the "US$". That doesn't explain how it got past proofreading; maybe no one reads the bulletin before it goes to press.
Anonymous 2, you seem skeptical that these sabbaticals involve 40 days in the desert or a pilgrimage to Ars. I don't have a problem with sabbaticals in principle. The problem here is that Fr. Jurkus tells us he was ambivalent about becoming our pastor because of the debt, and then asks us to try and take care of it before he arrives so he won't have to deal with it. It does kind of come across as phoning it in.
He does give the best objection to this project and its financing when he says it prevents the parish from "doing the Lord’s work!" Maybe that's not a bug, it's a feature. I was on Parish Council when the first glimmers of this project appeared. Knowing what the financing campaign would be like, I suggested we ought first make an equivalent effort to contact the parishioners about their needs. If you listen closely in the new Community Room, you might still hear the faint echoes of the subsequent thud.
Anonymous 2, you seem skeptical that these sabbaticals involve 40 days in the desert or a pilgrimage to Ars. I don't have a problem with sabbaticals in principle. The problem here is that Fr. Jurkus tells us he was ambivalent about becoming our pastor because of the debt, and then asks us to try and take care of it before he arrives so he won't have to deal with it. It does kind of come across as phoning it in.
He does give the best objection to this project and its financing when he says it prevents the parish from "doing the Lord’s work!" Maybe that's not a bug, it's a feature. I was on Parish Council when the first glimmers of this project appeared. Knowing what the financing campaign would be like, I suggested we ought first make an equivalent effort to contact the parishioners about their needs. If you listen closely in the new Community Room, you might still hear the faint echoes of the subsequent thud.
He does give the best objection to this project and its financing when he says it prevents the parish from "doing the Lord’s work!"
Would a pastor (or the archdiocese) postponing the beginning of his pastorate by three months qualify as somthing that "prevents the parish from doing the Lord's work"? Really, I'm not looking to stir things up here, but nearly everywhere I look in this diocese, I see frustrated, dispirited Catholics whose malaise can pretty much be blamed on precisely this kind of cavalier attitude. "I can take a three month sabbatical before I take over a parish." "I'd like them to retire their debt so I don't have to deal with it." These things quickly become "Eucharistic Adoration isn't a priority in this parish" or "Rome doesn't understand how we Americans should be celebrating the liturgy" or "Because I'm overworked and misunderstood by my bishop, I'm going to do things in my own time in my own way."
A lot of us in the pews see it as a work-averse, arrested development style that serves well the needs of priests but that largely ignores some pretty profound needs of the Church.
Then they wonder why Mass attendance is down..
Anpnymous 2
Would a pastor (or the archdiocese) postponing the beginning of his pastorate by three months qualify as somthing that "prevents the parish from doing the Lord's work"? Really, I'm not looking to stir things up here, but nearly everywhere I look in this diocese, I see frustrated, dispirited Catholics whose malaise can pretty much be blamed on precisely this kind of cavalier attitude. "I can take a three month sabbatical before I take over a parish." "I'd like them to retire their debt so I don't have to deal with it." These things quickly become "Eucharistic Adoration isn't a priority in this parish" or "Rome doesn't understand how we Americans should be celebrating the liturgy" or "Because I'm overworked and misunderstood by my bishop, I'm going to do things in my own time in my own way."
A lot of us in the pews see it as a work-averse, arrested development style that serves well the needs of priests but that largely ignores some pretty profound needs of the Church.
Then they wonder why Mass attendance is down..
Anpnymous 2
# posted by : 9:23 PM
: 9:23 PM
Anonymous 2:
Maybe the impression the letter can give is a wrong impression, but Father and whoever else saw it in advance were oblivious to the potential problem. Not only that, his letters are in or with the bulletin, as if it's 1960 and 75% of the parishioners would be at Sunday Mass.
"Then they wonder why Mass attendance is down."
I assume you mean that figuratively; they literally don't wonder about it. At St. Al's, I just compare the fund-raising efforts to the attendance-raising efforts.
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Maybe the impression the letter can give is a wrong impression, but Father and whoever else saw it in advance were oblivious to the potential problem. Not only that, his letters are in or with the bulletin, as if it's 1960 and 75% of the parishioners would be at Sunday Mass.
"Then they wonder why Mass attendance is down."
I assume you mean that figuratively; they literally don't wonder about it. At St. Al's, I just compare the fund-raising efforts to the attendance-raising efforts.
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