One of the most difficult things about working for the church is that your spiritual life and work life get really muddled. Maybe even more so when you are part of a staff reduction.
Early in my (re)conversion to the faith I dove into volunteering. I was surprised when I was met with gruff church staff or a grumpy church lady. I once told my spiritual director that I thought that when I got involved with the church everyone would be nice. She laughed out loud and said "What makes you think they wouldn't be like everyone else." Whether volunteering or working for the church you realize that the same problems that are in the secular world are also in the church.
In my old office I hung a poster with a quote from Pope Frances saying:
The Church is a Love Story not an Institution.
While working for the church I found it hard to integrate my faith (as we are all called to do) into my work while separating the institution of the church. I had to come to see it as the institution of the church but not the Church (big "C").
The Church is a living thing. It is more than a building, diocese, community, priest, Bishop or even Pope. The Church is Christ, the Holy Spirit and the breath of God. The Church is the body of Christ. The Church (big "C") is made of flawed individuals seeking union with the Divine One.
On the other hand the institution of the church needs to follow all of the legal requirements and processes that any organization needs to do. The church is filled with overworked and under-appreciated staff, people who don't always make the right decisions, volunteers who are there for the wrong reasons and grumpy and insecure faithful. The church (little "c") is made of flawed individuals seeking union with the Divine One.
So when you are thinking that a church or diocese or church staff, priest or religious should be acting a certain way, it can be surprising when you are met with the institution of the church or the humanity of the church.
It is probably good for all of us to think about this difficulty of big "C" and little "c" - whether you work for a parish, diocese or some entity of the church or not. In many ways all of the faithful has had to come to terms with recognizing how you process church and Church. How do you keep faith even if disillusioned? In the middle of the Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis, one needs to figure out how to keep your faith despite what you hear in the news. In some ways it may even be a call to deepen your faith.
Ultimately the Church is wherever we are and whether we work for the church or not we all work for the Church (big "C").
I guess the only way I can come to terms with it is to recognize that I too am a flawed individual.
Early in my (re)conversion to the faith I dove into volunteering. I was surprised when I was met with gruff church staff or a grumpy church lady. I once told my spiritual director that I thought that when I got involved with the church everyone would be nice. She laughed out loud and said "What makes you think they wouldn't be like everyone else." Whether volunteering or working for the church you realize that the same problems that are in the secular world are also in the church.
In my old office I hung a poster with a quote from Pope Frances saying:
The Church is a Love Story not an Institution.
The Church is a living thing. It is more than a building, diocese, community, priest, Bishop or even Pope. The Church is Christ, the Holy Spirit and the breath of God. The Church is the body of Christ. The Church (big "C") is made of flawed individuals seeking union with the Divine One.
On the other hand the institution of the church needs to follow all of the legal requirements and processes that any organization needs to do. The church is filled with overworked and under-appreciated staff, people who don't always make the right decisions, volunteers who are there for the wrong reasons and grumpy and insecure faithful. The church (little "c") is made of flawed individuals seeking union with the Divine One.
So when you are thinking that a church or diocese or church staff, priest or religious should be acting a certain way, it can be surprising when you are met with the institution of the church or the humanity of the church.
It is probably good for all of us to think about this difficulty of big "C" and little "c" - whether you work for a parish, diocese or some entity of the church or not. In many ways all of the faithful has had to come to terms with recognizing how you process church and Church. How do you keep faith even if disillusioned? In the middle of the Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis, one needs to figure out how to keep your faith despite what you hear in the news. In some ways it may even be a call to deepen your faith.
Ultimately the Church is wherever we are and whether we work for the church or not we all work for the Church (big "C").
I guess the only way I can come to terms with it is to recognize that I too am a flawed individual.
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