A mother of four young children recently reminded me that a primary task of parents is to teach children to get along without them, to succeed on their own, to develop skills so that they can take care of themselves, interact well with others, develop talents, solve problems, and achieve goals. I wonder if the same can be said of parish priests in certain regions: that our primary task is to help parishioners succeed without us.
Central City Parishes like Saint James, St. Therese Little Flower (STLF), and Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) distinguish themselves from other parishes in several ways. They are characterized as being lay-led, justice-minded, and Sunday worship-guided. Though many parishes develop lay leadership, it is usually directed by clergy; in urban parishes, clergy support parishioners in their role as priestly people and subsequently encourage their servant-leadership in a different way than in other parishes—sort of like a parent that teaches children to succeed on their own. Part of this is necessity. There are fewer Catholics living in these urban areas and our limited number of priests are needed in other regions where more Catholics reside. Part of it also, however, is mission.
Catholics who worship in inner city churches tend to be more justice-minded people, i.e., community is more important to them than dogma or doctrine, addressing issues of poverty and injustice are more important to them than rituals and regalia, imitating Jesus by serving others is more important to them than adoring Jesus through ecclesial prescriptions. Rather than responding to religious obligations, they look for spiritual opportunities to accompany those who are listed as the least, last, lost, littlest, or lowest among us. Justice is embraced not in the popular street or court sense of getting even but in the biblical sense of getting right; the mission of many urban worshippers is to get right with God, with themselves, and with neighbors, and encourage others to do the same with a preferential option for the poor.
“Right-relationship” in urban parishes flows from worship that looks different from other places on the Lord’s Day. Inside Saint James Church, there are over twenty-five flags representing the many nations from where first-generation American members come; they pride themselves in being a haven where all are welcome and where the promise of Pentecost in lived out in word and deed. It is not unusual for their Universal Prayers to be proclaimed in different languages on any given Sunday or for a hymn to be led by a group from an African, Latin American, or Pacific Island nation. STLF is also a racially diverse parish but one that is steeped in Gospel traditions that impact music and prayer style; there is a strong sense that people ought to feel prayer (more than say it) through sounds, harmony, rhythm, movement, praise, interaction, and engagement. The SFX community is deeply rooted in Ignatian Spirituality because of the century-long influence of the Society of Jesus; it impacts their world view, conversations, critical thought, understanding of right relationship, engagement in surroundings, and recognition of God’s presence in all things.
Perhaps one has to spend significant time in the central city and worship there to understand the differences between them and other city, suburban, or rural communities. I don’t know for sure. But I do know that I am grateful to be part of it. It has been said that where the need is the greatest, our response should be the strongest. The needs of the urban core are great, and many in the KC area respond in amazing ways through the seasons of the years and through decades as generous outreach is passed from one generation to the next. Because the priest shortage will continue to diminish the presence of clergy in the heart of our city, and the few of us remaining there must spend time helping Catholic communities get along without us, I encourage you to consider joining your gifts and talents to make the worship places in the heart of KC even stronger as we promote Christ’s mission and ministry there.
