« Closed Up | Main | Supremes »
June 27, 2005
Hardball
Staten Island pastor cleaning house
The pastor of a Staten Island Catholic church is playing holy hardball - kicking hundreds of kids out of religious ed classes because their families aren't showing up at Mass.
The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance.
He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April.
Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait.
Several points:
1)This was not, as you can see from the rest of the article, tied to donations. The pastor says empty envelopes can be turned in - I'm guessing it's how he tracks attendance of registered members.
2) I'm a former DRE, and believe me, this is one of the most nagging and serious issues for all involved in religious ed, and it has a very practical dimension, not to speak of a theological one. Practically, when you have children in class maybe 20 times a year, and that's the time you have to teach them about, say, the Mass, and they're not going to Mass...your impact is, to put it mildly, limited.
3) However, this is the wrong tactic. (Although who knows, perhaps the pastor has tried other things and this is just the last straw) Instead of finding a better way to serve, the population won't be served, period.
4) 150 religious ed fee?
To me, this is symbolic of so much that is wrong with Catholic religious education. When I was DRE, I think I charged a 20 dollar fee to cover texts, and I would have dispensed with that if the pastor had let me. This business of Catholic churches charging for religious ed programs (of all kinds - charging to go to an adult ed session is not unheard of either) is one of the more counter-evangelizing practices out there. There are, of course, costs involved in running a program, but to charge parents, rather than say to the parish as a whole, saying, "This is your responsibility....pay up - (as in, increase your contributions)" - is just wrong and in the end, counterproductive.
I understand the pastor's frustration. The environment in Catholic parishes regarding children has become totally consumer-oriented, just as education in general has - provide this for my kid, give him the paper, so we can move on - and who knows what he's tried up to this point.
But it seems there could be a better way.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
I do agree that the $150 religious ed fee is unfortunate. But I think the pastor did the right thing.
We give children the sacraments on the founded hope that they are receiving proper formation (not necessarily catechesis, but at least formation) in the home. If this isn't happening, then we are simply treating sacraments like either cultural rituals or magical events. Education and pastoral practice is not enough to correct these misperceptions. Clear expectations and consequences must be applied.
Grace must be cooperated with. If parents aren't going to be serious about at least attempting to live their faith, then we CAN'T give their children the sacraments, because no one is forming them. No one is teaching them to cooperate with the grace they are receiving. It simply isn't just. This isn't about being mean to little kids. This is about needing to stop being cruel to them. Our past practices have been setting them up to fail.
It is unfortunate when it has to come to this, and I don't rejoice at all about this story. But I do wish there were more pastors like this man who takes his role of shepherd seriously.
Posted by: Greg Popcak at Jun 27, 2005 9:16:06 AM
I go to mass every Sunday and drop an offering in the hat, but I never use the donation envelopes and never have. I don't like having to bother with those things. So I would show up as absent by that scheme.
I agree with you that this is the wrong approach. Why kick the kids out because the parents don't come? Shouldn't the parish be glad that the kids are getting at least that much exposure? The strategy should be an upsell, not "our way or the highway."
Greg
Posted by: GregK at Jun 27, 2005 9:18:17 AM
I understand the pastor's frustration. The environment in Catholic parishes regarding children has become totally consumer-oriented, just as education in general has - provide this for my kid, give him the paper, so we can move on - and who knows what he's tried up to this point.
The parents lack of - dare I say it - shame in this matter for failing to live up to their responsibilities is revealed in their willingness to complain to reporters about the priest's 'insensitivity'.
If his parish is anything like mine, I suspect that this was the last straw. Our priest first will issue a letter or make a phone call to remind parents of their obligations. Twenty bucks says this priest did the same thing.
Posted by: Rich Leonardi at Jun 27, 2005 9:20:08 AM
Same here. I lose those envelopes easily, so I throw in cash. Do many parishes track attendance this way? And how do they account for people who may attend Mass regularly at more than one church?
Posted by: hieronymus at Jun 27, 2005 9:21:24 AM
I disagree completely. I finished the entire course of Sunday school and I don't recall going to Mass at all besides Christmas and Easter.
It took a long time, but I did start going on my own, and parts of catechism class are still very powerful memories for me and important to my faith today.
I feel that any punitive tactic that involves cutting anyone off from the church and the sacraments is the wrong decision 99% of the time.
Posted by: Allen White at Jun 27, 2005 9:26:24 AM
Allen,
I am glad to hear that God found you. He has a way of doing that. ;-) But there will always be personal anecdotes that say, "Hey, it worked for me." and of course, it does and it did--for you and lots of others.
But the fact is, only 28% of Catholics attend Mass weekly. Clearly, the present way of doing things isn't working. 72% of Catholics were let down by the system that sometimes works for some of us.
In any family--including the metaphysical family that is the Church--the members need clear expectations about their behavior and a clear understanding of the consequences.
The church is not a vending machine. It is a family with obligations on both sides. We need to insist that everyone do their best to contribute to the good of the family of faith.
GregP
Posted by: Greg Popcak at Jun 27, 2005 9:37:09 AM
Given the financial scandals that some parishes have experienced, putting cash in the collection basket is never a good idea. Even if everything in one's parish is squeaky-clean, why tempt people? Write a check. (Checks also make it easier to track one's donations come tax time.)
A $150 fee for parish religious ed. is excessive. Children have a right to religious education.
Posted by: Lauda Jerusalem Dominum at Jun 27, 2005 9:38:19 AM
I dislike the implication that donations are tied to attendance. Why not have the parents sign in on a sheet in the back? And who knows if the parents attend a different Mass due to work schedules or convenient Mass times, or prefer the Latin Mass or the Byzantine rite? As frustrating as it is that people do not bring their children to Mass this is the wrong tactic. Instead why not require the parents to attend meetings. Where my children go to school, the school requires attendance to a lecture series on the Faith. They are offered twice weekly- Thurs night and Sunday after Mass for a series of 8. So if the parents don't attend they may be asked to remove their children from the school. The school recognizes that although Catholic they cannot require attendance at a certain parish or certain Mass. And the whole barcode on the envelopes thing just smacks of big brother. And those things are foolproof? Come on.
Posted by: Mary Alexander at Jun 27, 2005 9:40:49 AM
Mary:
the only thing you're missing is that the problem is not just that the parents aren't going to Mass - it's that they're not taking the kids.
Posted by: amy at Jun 27, 2005 9:44:46 AM
Amy,
If you think it's not about the money I suggest you contact the families in the article. $150 is cheap these days at a lot of parishes. And don't expect *catechesis* for you money either. Who the hell submits an empty envelope? I've never used one of those envelopes in my life!
The best thing is for the religious education teacher to bring the kids to Mass. Are you trying to evangelize kids or shake down mom and dad? What about kids who don't come from Catholic families, or those whose folks are divorced/remarried and can't receive communion?
I'll bet those families who paid the $150 won't be getting it back - follow the money. It's always about the money.
Posted by: Ian at Jun 27, 2005 9:45:13 AM
What about kids who don't come from Catholic families, or those whose folks are divorced/remarried and can't receive communion?
(1) Why would children who aren't from Catholic families be going to CCD?
(2) Living in an irregular marriage and being prohibited from receiving the Sacraments does not relieve one of the obligation to assist at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Parents who are divorced-and-remarried are still obligated to go to Mass on Sundays whether they can receive Holy Communion or not.
I'm not altogether certain that Fr. is handling this in the right way but at least he's doing something instead of maintaining the status quo.
Posted by: Lauda Jerusalem Dominum at Jun 27, 2005 9:52:11 AM
Practically, when you have children in class maybe 20 times a year, and that's the time you have to teach them about, say, the Mass, and they're not going to Mass...your impact is, to put it mildly, limited.
Peter Kreeft would call that religious inoculation. By getting a little religious education the kids build an immunity to the real thing, just like a weak dose of cowpox builds up immunity to smallpox. The children grow up thinking they already know about their religion and tend to scorn anyone who challenges that simplistic understanding. Thus they are inoculated against the difficulties of the Truth.
Posted by: Jordan at Jun 27, 2005 9:54:04 AM
Amy,
Yes, it sounds like the Pastor is trying to send a message on the seriousness of the situation. Unfortunately, it's easy for the message to get twisted into the "persecutor" and "victim" pattern.
My experience with "religious ed" is very negative. It would help if DREs supported the Church's teaching that the parents are responsible for teaching the Faith to their children. Evangelization starts at home. If parents refuse to fulfill their responsibilities to their children, "religious ed" will not fill the void. Rather, we simply enable the parents to avoid their responsibility while pretending that the job gets done. The children do not learn the Good News; instead, they learn that Christianity is a masquerade.
Yes, I know this is idealistic. However, if we do not work from the worldview that this is a parental duty and joy, we undermine their roles (often unintentionally). There is a difference between on one had doing everything we possibliy can to support and help parents and, on the other, pretending to do the job for them.
What--parents don't know enough about their Faith to evangelize their kids? Hmmm--sounds like another problem . . .
Posted by: brsebastian at Jun 27, 2005 10:01:58 AM
Envelopes: My parish uses the envelope system to track attendance for school admission purposes. It works fine. The pastor has carefully reminded people of the policy several times and emphasized that they can put an empty envelope in the basket. They can also mail the envelope within the week if they attend another Mass.
Fees: Religious instruction should always be provided free or at cost. Fees beyond cost are totally inappropriate.
Kicking the kids out: Having had a number of experiences teaching CCD to classes where the majority of kids came from non-practicing families, I think it's mostly a waste of time. Not only do most of the kids get nothing out of it, but they bring a cynical spirit that makes it more difficult to teach the practicing Catholic kids.
Posted by: Simon at Jun 27, 2005 10:02:59 AM
This is horrible. Its treating Catholics like Children who have to sign the attendance sheet, and that patronizing attitude is what drives so many people away from the Church to begin with. Yes, it is a terrible shame that so many people don't go to mass regularly and just put their kids through the system. But at least those kids are getting SOMETHING, if only a little Catechesis and a cultural idendification as a Catholic that they may return to someday. By kicking them out, they are just being left alone to fend in a cultural and spiritual vacuum, or possibly drawn into Evangelical Churches and then turned into Anti-Catholics, which is worse than a lukewarm Catholic. And as for the family example, yes, families have obligations, but families also ALWAYS love the members born into them and never "Kick them out" for not fulfilling obligations, but gently prod them on to do better. Children born into the Church through baptism are OURS, no matter how holy they or their parents are. They are OUR children and OUR family, and they have a right to be Catechized.
Posted by: Elizabeth at Jun 27, 2005 10:10:07 AM
If parents refuse to fulfill their responsibilities to their children, "religious ed" will not fill the void. Rather, we simply enable the parents to avoid their responsibility while pretending that the job gets done.
This is exactly right. Unfortunately these classes are often filled with children from non-practicing families whose parents seem mainly focused on the "rite-of-passage" ceremonies -- First Communion and Confirmation -- with little interest in transmitting the living Faith. Beyond "being a good person" of course.
That may sound harsh, but that's pretty much what religious ed for the culturally Catholic boils down to.
Posted by: Simon at Jun 27, 2005 10:12:16 AM
My parish uses the envelope system (but not bar codes) to establish whether a family is "participating" (i.e. parishioner) or not for the purpose of granting the parochial school's parishioner discount. It is very easy to keep the envelopes in a handy place and to fill one prior to going out the door on Sunday morning. One must submit envelopes on at least 2/3s of Sundays during the year (which allows for out-of-town travel etc) and multiple envelopes tossed in on a single day count as one attendance. It works for us.
I agree with Amy that the parish, not the families, should bear the burden of paying the costs of CCD.
Posted by: MaureenM at Jun 27, 2005 10:12:18 AM
You're right that offering catechesis costs money, and ideally it should come from the parish funds as a whole. But what if repeated calls, requests, and prayerful pleas for people to up their weekly contributions simply doesn't work anymore? My parish is strapped at the moment, as we've been regularly coming in below our weekly minimum for the last couple of years. It's probably like it is at most parishes -- 10% to 15% of the parishioners doing most of the heavy lifting when it comes to financial stewardship. I've responded to every appeal to raise my weekly contribution thus far, and I'm contributing a sizeable amount each week. I figure that since I'm single and without kids, then I can afford to pony up significantly more per week than those who are raising families. I don't have a problem with that in general, but I've about hit the ceiling at this point. I can't raise my weekly contribution any higher than it is, unless I hit the Powerball sometime soon. :)
Meanwhile, I'm struggling to put together and teach biweekly adult faith formation sessions with no budget at all. Oh, I have no doubt that the pastor would authorize some money for me if I asked for it, but with the collection as low as it's been week after week, I haven't felt right about asking. All the parish programs need money. We have a Catholic school in the parish, and we're trying to get a Ministry of Care off the ground as well to meet the needs of the elderly parishioners. I can generally work around the lack of funds for adult ed. by pulling together the presentations from scratch and making up my own handouts. It requires a lot more prep time on my part to do it that way, but it costs nothing but a few cents to run off some copies.
But every once in a while, I see a resource I really want to provide -- so I have to shell out the cash myself. I just spent $100 to buy some copies of the Rosary booklet that Amy and Michael put together, because I really wanted to pass it out to people after we spend some time reading JPII's Apostolic Letter on the Rosary.
I absolutely agree that it ought to be free for people to come to the sessions. I don't want to charge people for anything, especially since I know some of them are widows on fixed incomes. That's why I refuse to ask them to cover the costs themselves. But with the parish already stretched thin, the only other option is to foot the bill myself, which really limits me with the topics and resources I can use since I'm not made of money. And besides, I'm already giving a hefty chunk of change in the weekly collection. It's frustrating all around.
Posted by: Lori at Jun 27, 2005 10:21:25 AM
As a fairly new Catholic from an evangelical background I was shocked that children were charged to attend Religious Ed classes. What is our tithe being used for? Isn't it the responsibility of the congregation to support and educate people when they come through our doors. We are asked to give money to everthing else that comes down the pike so why isn't religious education a priority? I also worry that my children are becoming bibical illiterate after looking over the material they brought home from CCD but that is another topic.From what I have seen Catholic parents need education just much as the children. You can't teach what you don't know.
Posted by: susan at Jun 27, 2005 10:23:53 AM
Amy, MaureenM --
About the fee.
I generally sympathize with the "don't charge" point of view. On the other hand...
Regrettably, people value what they pay for.
Also, it can be very hard generating money from the parish for religious education.
At my parish, we have a total budget of about $900,000. Well over $500,000 goes directly to the school, the rest covers everything else; this is a parish of 800 families with a small staff. Religious ed goes begging. The comment frequently is, "isn't that what our school is for?"
Also, one year I volunteered to teach in CCD (at another parish). It was 7th graders. I was glad to do it, but -- I quickly found out there wasn't much accountability. I could discipline the kids, with the ultimate sanction being sending them to the office (they dreaded facing Brother "___" -- I forget his name); but there were no grades; no one could FAIL. That seemed odd to me. The kids would have known it was real stuff if they knew they could fail and have to do it over.
Posted by: Septimus at Jun 27, 2005 10:25:09 AM
I know we are having some of the same problems at my parish.
Our DRE has decided to have parents sign a contract when the kids enter CCD classes in the fall that they will attend Mass every week (he has no real way to check up on this; it is more a principled stand, I think). I believe the parents are also being asked to attend one or two meetings.
I can understand his frustration. Apparently none of the fifth graders he asked knew what the Trinity is. Although, I agree that tracking the bar codes on donation envelopes is a bit "big brother-ish."
Posted by: Marie at Jun 27, 2005 10:27:34 AM
I was attending my parish every week for five years before I even heard that there was such a thing as "signing up" to be a "member". (Maybe because I live in an apartment instead of a house?) I didn't want to do it, didn't see any point doing it, and didn't see any particular need to do it to get a paper copy of the diocesan newspaper, either. The only reason I signed up in the end is that I got pressured by the choir folks to help get the numbers all correct.
Anyway, I haven't got a clue where the little envelopes are. I'm a cash donator. If you want another data point -- my parents also attended Mass every week, but usually mailed in a single envelope at the beginning of the month.
So this whole "attendance check through envelopes" is pretty darned dorky, not to mention being exactly the thing to put up people's backs. Especially if they attend every week. OTOH, it's probably going to be great for other parishes' attendance and donations!
Posted by: Maureen at Jun 27, 2005 10:29:37 AM
A few things:
- This tactic has no hope of being effective if it wasn't clearly spelled out in advance; that is: the expectation that every child enrolled in RE be brought to Sunday Mass regularly.
- The inoculation notion has a sad ring of truth. In fact, if the parents wanted to ensure the development of religion and faith, they would take the cheap way out: attend Mass regularly and skip the RE fee.
- Even in the NY suburbs, $150 is too steep a fee if the parish is trying to develop true stewardship. Everybody's Sunday envelopes should be supporting RE. A $25 book fee would seem enough.
- Some of the excuses for non-attendance were pretty lame. A parish that size probably has at least four or five Masses. I tend to doubt most people have consistent weekend time commitments that take both parents away from home, leaving kids to fend for themselves.
However, I wonder what would happen if the pastor hired a bus with his $150 fees and offered to drive kids to church if their parents didn't want to go?
Posted by: Todd at Jun 27, 2005 10:33:42 AM
I was attending my parish every week for five years before I even heard that there was such a thing as "signing up" to be a "member". (Maybe because I live in an apartment instead of a house?) I didn't want to do it, didn't see any point doing it, and didn't see any particular need to do it to get a paper copy of the diocesan newspaper, either. The only reason I signed up in the end is that I got pressured by the choir folks to help get the numbers all correct.
Registration is only paperwork. If you live in the parish boundaries and are a baptized Latin-rite Catholic, then you're a member of the parish and are entitled to all that the parish offers (including religious education for your children).
I'm a member of a personal parish so registration is necessary for me.
If you donate cash and don't use envelopes, then you might find it difficult to deduct your donations from your taxes at the end of the year. You might be keeping track of them but you're supposed to get a receipt if a one-time donation is over a certain amount ($250?). The parish can't give you a receipt if they don't know who's making the donation. It might sound altruistic to donate anonymously, but the net result is that you might wind up paying more in taxes than would otherwise be the case.
Posted by: Lauda Jerusalem Dominum at Jun 27, 2005 10:38:36 AM
"Religious Innoculation" Yes! That's the phrase I was searching for! Elizabeth above says that "at least the kids are getting something." The reality is that in some cases, getting something is truly worse than getting nothing.
I think the fact that 40 years after religious ed has taken a more accommodating approach only 28% of Catholics attend Church weekly is a pretty poor reflection on our pedagogical approach. It isn't that it doesn't work at all, but it doesn't work nearly well enough. Any new approach can't all be about discipline, of course, but I do think that is a significant piece that has been missing. Knowing that a pastor is willing to resort to discipline when necessary will increase his ability to be effectively pastoral and appropriately sensitive.
His sensitivity will not jst seem like cheap grace.
Posted by: Greg Popcak at Jun 27, 2005 10:43:48 AM
