CTA MI Metro Detroit

CTA Metro Detroit

Contacts:
Marianne Bernard, bernfmly@aol.com
Julia Archer, juliaaarcher@sbcglobal.net

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Embracing and Shaping
Our Future as Church …

By Eileen Burns

Dorothy Day in her book, “The Long Loneliness” suggests that we spend much of our lives searching for community. No matter where we find it – in our family, neighborhood, friends, work environment – we need to relate to people, rub shoulders, have some friction, do good, leave the world better than we found it, go beyond ourselves to The Other.

For many of us, the Catholic Church provided that community. Our parishes educated, socialized, taught us Gospel values and often served as a surrogate parent. For reasons of which we are all aware, today that is not always the story. Fact: 10% of the people in the United States are people who have left the Catholic Church -- 30 million people. The second largest Christian denomination in our country now are those who used to be Catholic in a practicing way. Do they just disappear into thin air? Join other churches? Now watch Meet the Press on Sunday mornings? Feel lost? Angered? Abandoned?

More and more Catholics are taking ownership for their spiritual development and forming various types of prayerful, supportive and justice focused communities. Some have a priest as a member; others do not. Those communities who do are called Intentional Eucharistic Communities (IECs). According to www.intentionaleucharisticcommunities.org, IECs are those small faith communities, rooted in the Catholic tradition, which gather to celebrate Eucharist on a regular basis. Born in the enthusiasm flowing from Vatican II for a church of the people, some IECs were instituted in parishes, some were created as alternatives to the parish, some retain close ties with the institutional church, and some function independently. All are characterized by shared responsibility for the governance and life of the community. Through sharing liturgical life and mutual support for one another, members are strengthened to live Gospel-centered lives dedicated to spiritual growth and social commitment.

Sandy Abraham of Livonia has first-hand experience with an intentional Eucharistic community. She and her husband, Gary, along with seven other families are the founding members of the Spirit of Hope community. “We began when we could no longer remain in our suburban parish because of differences with the pastor. Yet we wanted community for our families. The children all attended public school. Therefore, we had to be quite structured with religious education and sacramental preparation. The greatest challenge was the need for a bishop to confirm. We met every Monday for religious ed., bible study or liturgy. It required very strong commitment and we had that. During the first years we also traveled together on Sunday to city churches.”

We started visiting city churches because we knew that we had to do some social justice outreach, so decided to visit parishes we grew up in. We were impressed by the city pastors and their parish families and what the parishes were doing for the poor in their community.” After over thirty years, the Spirit of Hope community continues to meet. “There has never been a down side to choosing to form community,” says Sandy. “It has given us the stability that the Catholic Church continues to take away. More than thirty years later, we no longer have or need the structure we had. For our children, our community remains a very positive and important source of spiritual support.”

Not all intentional communities are IEC by definition. Some intentional communities may have members preside at the Eucharist while others focus on social justice issues.

In his book, The Future of the Eucharist, (Paulist Press, 1997) Bernard Cooke broadens our understanding of “real presence” and extends the concept to include Christ’s dynamic presence in the community. Cooke believes that while individuals may have specific functions at the Eucharist, the entire community performs the eucharistic action (pg. 32). If this is so, then the community gathered is the celebrant of the Eucharist. It is the community that “does” the Eucharist. This is another example of a type of intentional community. Kim Franke and Jim Rose, co-chairs of the Kalamazoo branch have worked to form an intentional community for a number of years, and now a seed of hope is germinating. “We began out of our frustration with parish liturgies that were not inclusive, nourishing or life-giving,” said Kim. “We are all tired of wasting time, energy and talent on trying to influence the hierarchy.” The group meets twice monthly to break celebrate Eucharist, open Scripture and enjoy one another’s company. Group size varies from six to eighteen. The group plans some outreach activities in the future. Barb Huber, one of the members, finds that there is more work involved than belonging to a parish where you just show up and someone else does all the work behind the scenes. “Yet these liturgies are meaningful to me whatever the attendance, and I liked preparing the two times I was ‘in charge’ as well as guiding the process where almost everything was done in community – praying etc.”

Kim offers sound advice for those thinking about starting an intentional community.

Be patient. We have tried for about five years to get a consistent group going in Kalamazoo. If it is of God, it will take root and flourish at the right time.
Rotate responsibilities.
Discern what each member needs or wants and then try to find a way to meet those needs and use the particular talents each person offers.
Avoid becoming a gripe session about the Church.
Don’t fret over numbers. Where two or three are gathered…
Be open to new ideas and welcome new members, but a core group seems essential for continuity.”

The CTA-MI Board of Directors is committed to helping facilitate this process for anyone trying to form an intentional community. We would be happy to meet with anyone and share some basic principles. One of the things I learned at the mini-retreat on intentional communities that I attended at the CTA National Assembly was that most people are coming together not around a project or a cause. Rather, people are looking for communities that provide spiritual support and nourishment. “What could bring us together is dealing with our grief in losing our Church,” said one presenter. We have to find a way to open our hearts wide enough to hold the tension between what is and what could be. Intentional communities are one way to do this.

Our Future as Church - continued ...
(from Spring 2011 Newsletter):

In previous essays I’ve highlighted the various forms intentional communities can take – priest-led or lay-led; meets weekly or monthly; social justice focus, community focus or ritual focus. Whatever brings the group together and enriches their individual and collective spiritual lives is fine. At first there is the initial act of getting together and hashing out those particulars that are important. For those considering forming an intentional community (IC) I would like to offer another experience of getting started.

Nine years ago, about 20 members of my church made the painful decision to leave our parish. We tried to make things work for over a year with the new pastoral leadership, but the parish became a battleground, not a place of service and worship. The group met several times and decided to use a structure that was familiar – a parish. The intentional community formed finance, worship, education and service committees. We took up free-will offerings so there would be money available if any needs came up – either the community’s, or iindividuals in need, or organizations we wanted to support. Some members planned our liturgies. Other members with specific talents presented education sessions. A nurse did several informative talks on how to visit and pray with the sick. Another member presented information on her experience as a lesbian in the Catholic Church. We still had contacts with the parish, so we kept track of those who were sick or in the hospital and we visited them. We developed a healing ritual for one of our members suddenly stricken with cancer. We surprised one of our members with cerebral palsy with a birthday party. Some members demonstrated on Ordination Saturday in front of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral and supported Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance activities. At Christmas, we sang at a nursing home and brought gifts and smiles. We shared pot luck dinners and prayed together. This intentional community lasted a number of years.

Pastoral leadership again changed in the parish and some members chose to return; other members moved away. The intentional community fulfilled its role and disbanded as a group but many remain friends to this day. It filled a tremendous void and allowed us to continue to be a community of faith, prayer, friendship and service.

A few months ago someone remarked to me: “Just because we’re seeking doesn’t mean we’re lost.” Some have argued that the second largest Christian denomination in our country now are those who were practicing Catholics – 23 million people. It is my sincere hope that those Catholics who no longer belong to a parish or who are thinking about leaving, consider themselves seekers – not “fallen away” or “ex-Catholics.” Let me be clear, I am not advocating people leave their parishes. There are some remarkable, vibrant parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit. I belonged to one for 23 years. But if a parish is no longer a source of spiritual growth, we have the responsibility to go where we can be nourished. If you know of other “hungry souls,” get together, talk, see if an intentional community in your future.

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