From his Beliefnet column.
For the past 30 years the American Catholic bishops and other leaders have been promoting lay ministry. This past November, the bishops went so far as to issue a 70-page document, "Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord," setting out training guidelines for lay ministers on parish payrolls.
The bishops have meant well—for their aim has been to encourage Catholic lay people to participate more fully in the life of the Church—but they have made a damaging mistake. Promoting lay ministry has come at the expense of an earlier tradition of promoting Catholic lay apostolate—and the two are very different things.
Over the past 35 years I have noticed a marked diminishment in the willingness and ability of pastors to work with laity. My friends from around the country report the same. Lay ministry as approached by the bishops seems to involve delegating to functions that the clergy could perform if they had the time. These are activities that the clergy can control.
I understand why pastors might not want to work with laity on problems of predicting the future and planning structure, organization, and social ministry of a parish. Taking advantages of laity skills in these areas means working with councils and groups. It requires the skills of resolving differences of opinion, building consensus and supervision. These skills, insofar as I can see, are not taught in the seminary.
Even in good circumstances, working with boards is difficult, as I know. Boards exist to surface differences in opinion, work out solutions, build consensus and make decisions. The work can be rewarding – but it is difficult. I can easily understand why pastors avoid it. Given the hierarchical nature of the Church, no bishop is going to push for it.
At this point, I can hear the reply that “The Church is not a democracy.” I’m not advocating for democratic decisions on issues of doctrine or even church discipline. I am saying that the laity can help in many substantive issues of planning ministry and enhancing the church’s support to the lay apostolate.
Eventually the Bishops may learn that their failure to understand and support the laity is expensive.
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