APBA, Community & Institution
I was thinking about community and institution at a recent meeting of the Association of Parish Business Administrators (APBA, the professional association for Catholic church administrators in our Archdiocese). Community and institution are two major ways to think about our church.
When APBA meets, church feels rather institutional to me. Officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis often come to make announcements. There’s a lot of talk of systems: financial, human relations, schools, insurance, pensions, communications and more. Systems are useful, but they tend to be impersonal. They’re primarily concerned with standardization, efficiency and effectiveness.
By contrast, life in community – e.g., St. Matt’s – tends to be personal. Communities are more concerned with uniqueness, caring and connection. (It’s no wonder which setting most people prefer.)
Part of my job is to work within both settings. Most of my time is spent within the St. Matt’s community. However, we are part of the Archdiocese, a large institution. (There are over 180 parishes in the Archdiocese.) I feel myself to be part of the Arch, but it’s more of an intellectual awareness than a warm feeling of attachment.
To its credit, APBA works to foster community among parish administrators. I go to APBA meetings in large part to see friends, learn from colleagues, and support each other.
Compare those features with the Archdiocese. It regularly sends out vast quantities of information, expectations, and mandates. Much is useful; little is personal. I pay attention because I want to do my part to ensure a future for my church.
Stations of the Cross on loan
We recently loaned a set of Stations of the Cross to the Church of St. Mark in St. Paul. We think they came from St. Matt’s convent chapel, after it was converted into Parish Center offices. By providential good fortune, we ran across them just a few days before the APBA bulletin board message from St. Mark’s, asking for a loan while they do some renovation work in their church building.
Have a great week!
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