Category: Church structural organization and discipline

The Early Christian Community

The first summary description of life in the early Christian community is found in the Acts of the Apostles (2:42-47):

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

   – The teaching of the apostles referred to instructions for the members of the Christian community, explaining the scriptures in the light of the life and teachings of Jesus.
   – The communal life (or brotherhood or fellowship) referred to the sharing of goods and possessions which expressed and strengthened the community (or communion) of spirit.
   – The breaking of the bread referred to the Jewish meal at which the presider pronounces a blessing before dividing the bread (or distributing the food). For the early Christians, it denoted the Eucharist.
   – The prayers referred to the prayers in common (later, especially, the prayers of the Divine Liturgy or Mass).
   Verse 46 says:

Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes.

   It seems to refer to a simpler version of what later evolved into what we now call the Divine Liturgy or Mass, before it became elaborated with ritual ceremonies and vesture and presided only by an ordained minister.
   This “communion” implied not only communion with the Lord, but also the communion of their common faith and fidelity to the apostolic teachings, of their sharing of goods and unity of spirit, and of their remembrance and thanksgiving for salvation in Jesus and unity in the one Spirit.

   “Common”—“communal”—“community”—“communion”—even “communism” are all related words, although they certainly have a very wide range of meanings and usages nowadays.
   But, it helps to know what they share in their root meanings and how they have evolved and changed in their usage. It may help us to use and understand them better.
   Under Pope Pius XII, archeological investigations were initiated to unearth the grave and relics of St. Peter the Apostle.
   According to tradition, the main altar of St. Peter’s basilica was built over his tomb.
   Researchers began to explore the area.
   Beneath today’s basilica were the remains of the first basilica. Beneath the remains of that Constantinian era basilica were the remains of a much earlier monument.
   That monument was built in a Roman cemetery, even damaging some of the nearby graves. The cemetery was next to the Circus of Nero on a road out of the city near the Vatican hill.
   How hard it is to imagine the original site of Peter’s crucifixion and burial as one stands in the great basilica of our day—but it is the very place!
   As the centuries passed and as one structure was built on and elaborated over another it became harder and harder to recognize the grave site itself.
   Our words are like that, especially our religious words. They sometimes have been elaborated and embellished, successively enlarged and rebuilt almost to the point that it’s hard to imagine their original meanings.
   Dig carefully for the original sense, but don’t destroy all the good, grandeur and development over the centuries!


2 May 2021

Teamwork & Middle Management

What are some things a good management consultant would advise about church organization? Probably the need for better teamwork and more middle management.
   How big should a team be? Are there limits to how many players are needed to make an effective team?
   In basketball there are 5; volleyball and ice hockey, 6; baseball, 9; softball, 9-10; football and soccer, 11.
   In most situations where a group of skilled and creative people are involved in complex and diverse tasks, there are limits to the number of people a leader can effectively supervise, coordinate, and manage.
   In the Bible, a favorite number seems to be 12—the number of the tribes constituting Israel, the number of the apostles/close collaborators of Jesus.
   What about the church? Are there limits to how many people are needed to make an effective collaborative and coordinated working church team?
   On paper, the organizational structures of the Roman Catholic Church are parish, deanery, maybe vicariate, diocese, province, maybe regional, national, and international conferences, and Holy See.
   However, in practice, the effective structures are parish, diocese, and Holy See. Each of them is well defined in canon law and usage; the others, less so.
   Suppose that a dozen is a good number for a collaborative, coordinated working team in the church That would imply that:
   – a parish team should consist of the pastor and no more than 11 other leaders;
   – a deanery should consist of the dean and no more than 11 other pastors;
   – a vicariate (or a small diocese) should consist of the vicar (or bishop) and no more than 11 deans;
   – a large diocese should consist of the bishop and no more than 11 vicars.


   But, in practice, this is rarely the case.
   – Increasingly parishes have qualified lay personnel and deacons for support services and various ministries. They function best as a team led by the pastor.
   – With younger, less-experienced, and isolated pastors, there is need for a functioning intermediate organizational structure between parish and diocese and for closer supervision and leadership than the bishop and his staff can supply. That’s where deans fit in.
   – A dean should be an experienced pastor who coordinates, supervises, and leads his team of pastors in a particular area.
   – In a large diocese, the bishop may have auxiliary bishops or senior priests serve as vicars, each coordinating, supervising, and guiding a team of about a dozen deans.
   – There should be weekly working meetings of the pastors, deans, vicars, and bishop with their respective teams, and they should regularly personally supervise and visit each of their team members.
   – Additionally, everyone should have a current position description providing his/her position title, reporting relationship, basic role, and a prioritized list of principal responsibilities.
   Each person’s carrying out of these responsibilities should be evaluated at least annually. Such performance evaluations should be a basis for decisions about remuneration and promotion, as well as retention or termination.
   Successful businesses, organizations, armies, and states do these things. Church work shouldn’t be incompatible with good teamwork and management.


13 October 2019

Upstairs, Downstairs

Perhaps the most popular BBC television series ever, “Upstairs, Downstairs” has captivated viewers worldwide since 1971. The story concerned the “upstairs” people, the sophisticated society folk, and their relations and interactions with the “downstairs” people, the live-in servants.
One   thing was clear — although they lived in different worlds, the lives of both were inextricably intertwined.
The history of Christianity and the Roman Empire has something of an “Upstairs, Downstairs” aspect.
Christianity didn’t really move into the Roman house in the first centuries; Christians were more like folks who broke in or who were squatters in an unimportant part of the dwelling.
Officially, living together started with the emperor Constantine. By the end of the fourth century Christianity and Christians were “in.” Christianity had become the established religion of the empire and the great city of Constantine, New Rome, flourished as a Christian capital city.
All this hardly changed the fundamental nature of imperial authority — in practice it was considered of divine right. One of the titles of the Christian Roman emperor was “coequal of the Apostles.” It was the emperor who presided over the first ecumenical councils and set their agenda.
   Church and State were certainly living in the same house, but State lived upstairs and Church, downstairs. In the Eastern Roman Empire this living arrangement and relationship lasted for a thousand years after the “decline and fall” of the short-lived Western Christian Empire in the fifth century.
In the vacuum of Roman authority in the west, the bishop of Rome, the pope, gradually emerged as the most significant authority figure. He began to use some of the trappings of imperial authority and to exercise some of its powers.

In 800, the pope constituted a “Holy Roman Empire” in the west, anointing Charlemagne as its head. Although relationships between civil and ecclesiastical authorities were often uneasy in succeeding centuries, the greater authority was always that of the pope.
Church and State were living together in the same house, but in the west the Church was living upstairs and State was downstairs.
This diversity in Eastern and Western history is reflected in diverse ecclesiastical traditions.
Orthodox Eastern churches are accustomed to be subordinated to civil authority, often need its confirmation to function, and more often than not are structured as national churches.
The Catholic Western church is accustomed to greater autonomy, once was supreme over civil authority, and is international.
The contemporary concept of separation of Church and State has not been welcomed by all Christians. Some see it as a disruption of a reasonably well-functioning household or, worse, as not only separation but divorce.
In countries where they were wedded, the process of divorce often has been painful and sometimes full of recriminations. In others, where they never lived closely together, both have been learning to flourish separately.
Today we take for granted the values of freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom of religion, but this is a relatively recent development. There is a long history of Christian martyrdom and many were martyred even under “Christian” authorities.
Jesus told his disciples to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” It has taken us a long time to begin to understand the implications of this teaching of the Lord.


(Published in
one, 37:4, July 2011)

Communion Is a Network

A turning point in the history of Christianity was its establishment as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Christianity not only was tolerated but also became an integral part of the structure of civil society.
How did Christians see themselves and their interrelationships before being organized into territories (dioceses) under religious leaders recognized and empowered by the government?
Early Christianity did not have the complexity of structure we are familiar with now. Fundamentally, Christians understood themselves and recognized each other as disciples and followers of Jesus.
A “church” was a local assembly or community of believers, united in the Spirit and guided by duly constituted leaders, the successors of the Apostles and those appointed by them.
The bond of union of these local Christian communities was pax et communio. They communicated with each other by letters or delegates, recognizing each other as fellow believers and exchanging peace in the Lord.
The community of communities — the universal church — was held together in the early centuries not primarily by juridical or sacramental ties but by the action of the Holy Spirit and personal relationships among its members. This unity, as the word “communio” suggests, was nurtured by frequent and regular communication.
From this point of view, the church is a kind of network — a network of communication among its members with and in the Spirit of Jesus. This is a concept that today’s world understands very well. It is the essence of the internet, the powerful communication tool that is revolutionizing modern society.
The mysterium or complex reality of the church always can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, each with its own merit and validity.

Viewing the church as a communion of persons, as a communications network, can shed some new light on many issues.
For example, the question of the pastoral care of Eastern Catholics living outside their homelands: Traditionally, the jurisdiction of Eastern Catholic patriarchs is limited to their historical territories. From the perspective of the church as a personal network, geography is less significant and restriction of patriarchal authority, less appropriate.
Another example, the ancient principle of one bishop for each place: If participation and communication in a personal network is a defining element of a local church, then there is no problem in having many different personal networks, different churches, in the same geographic area.
Communio grows with increasing, deeper and more effective communication.
From this perspective, looking at Christian churches around the world that are overcoming their isolation one from the other and regularly and frequently communicating, the church of Christ is gradually becoming more and more “one.”
The challenge of establishing and developing interreligious relations is also a matter of extending communio — of increasing personal communication in spite of differences.
Through visits, dialogue, and sharing of resources as well as better understanding of ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences, personal networks can and will grow. Our goal should be to build networks that not only join together Christians and believers in the one God but also join together all men and women of good will — ultimately, the whole human family.


(Published as “Networking” in
one, 36:6, November 2010)

The Brotherhood of the Orthodox

When the Christian community — the church — began to grow from its origins in Jerusalem, it spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. The westward expansion of the church in the Roman Empire is better known through the New Testament writings.
Christianity also thrived in the empire’s three great urban centers: Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome. After the foundation of a new Christian capital, Constantinople, it took a prominent place among them.
The four Christian centers or patriarchates of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the daughter churches that sprang or separated from, them are usually described as Orthodox churches — although the title reflects a later period of history when these churches sought to distinguish themselves from Rome.
Many of them share the same liturgy, customs, and traditions; others, different but similar ones.

The ancient Eastern patriarchates. Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem are “autocephalous” or independent churches, each headed by a patriarch.

Daughter churches of Constantinople. Over the centuries, the Patriarchate of Constantinople constituted or recognized the independence of other churches.
Five are headed by a patriarch: the Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Georgian churches. Five others are headed by an archbishop or metropolitan: the Cypriot, Greek, Polish, Albanian, and Czech-Slovak churches.
The churches of Finland and Estonia are autonomous but not independent.
Five other churches in North America and one in Europe are under Constantinople.

Daughter church of Jerusalem. The monastery of Mount Sinai is autonomous.

Daughter churches of Moscow. The Patriarchate of Moscow constituted the Orthodox Church in America as autocephalous and granted autonomy to churches in Japan and China.

Oriental churches. At the 451 Council of Chalcedon, three churches separated from communion with the others while retaining it among themselves. They and their descendants constitute the Oriental Orthodox churches.
Ancient Armenia was a nation situated on the fringe of the Roman Empire. Its autonomous church was until Chalcedon in communion with the others.
The Coptic (Egyptian) church gradually departed from the usages of ancient Alexandria finally becoming autonomous under its own patriarch. A similar process was repeated in modern times when the Ethiopian church separated from the Coptic and the Eritrean from the Ethiopian.
The Syriac church similarly separated from the Antiochian and, in turn, part of the Malankara (Indian) from the Syriac.

Other churches. Four or five small churches, mostly in Eastern Europe, are in varying degrees of separation from the rest of the Orthodox world.

All these churches take pride in their “orthodoxy” — their fidelity to authentic doctrine. Their faithful witness is part of the precious patrimony of the one Church of Christ.


(Published as “Classifying Orthodox” in
one, 33:2, May 2007)

Catholic Varieties

The Catholic Church is actually a family of churches united not by discipline, customs, nor rites, but by their common faith and common understanding and acceptance of the primacy of the bishop of Rome.
This creates confusion in terminology: all Catholic churches are linked to the bishop of Rome, but every Catholic Church is not Roman Catholic.

The Roman Catholic Church. The largest Catholic Church by far and the most international is the Roman Catholic Church. Sometimes called the Western or Latin Church, it refers to all those peoples, places, and churches that trace their evangelization directly or indirectly to the Church of Rome.
The Roman Catholic Church is loosely organized into ecclesiastical provinces headed by the bishop of the metropolitan diocese (archdiocese) — who may use the title of metropolitan archbishop or simply archbishop. Also, in most countries there is a mechanism for collaboration among bishops called an episcopal conference or conference of Catholic bishops.
Strictly speaking each diocesan bishop in the Roman Catholic Church is not bound by these structures; his immediate superior is the pope, the bishop of Rome.

Patriarchal churches. From ancient times, the bishops of certain major cities like Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem have been known as patriarchs. They have a special role of authority and preside over other dioceses and even over other metropolitan dioceses.
These patriarchal churches have their distinctive rituals, use particular languages in their liturgy, and have their own internal discipline, with a special emphasis on the role and authority of the synod of bishops.

The six Catholic patriarchal churches are the Armenian, Chaldean, Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, and Syriac.

Major archiepiscopal churches. Similar to the patriarchal churches are those headed by a major archbishop, with authority a little less than that of a patriarch.
The four Catholic major archiepiscopal churches are the Romanian, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Ukrainian.

Metropolitan churches. Some smaller Eastern Catholic churches not yet canonically organized into major archiepiscopal churches are called metropolitan churches. Presently there are two: the Ethiopic and Ruthenian.

Bishops under Rome. In several countries, bishops have been appointed by the Holy See for Catholics who are not members of patriarchal, major archiepiscopal, or metropolitan churches. Such eparchies and exarchates exist in Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Other Eastern Catholics. In Albania, Belarus, Georgia and Russia, there are some Catholics of the Byzantine tradition without a bishop of their own.

This rich variety of traditions, practices, and disciplines is the precious patrimony of the whole Catholic Church. What an impoverishment it would be if there were no other Catholics than the Roman kind.


(Published as “Classifying Catholics” in
one, 32:3, May 2006)

Unity – Same Page or Same Place?

My dictionary defines a community as, “1. a) all the people living in a particular district, city, etc. b) the district, city, etc. where they live 2. a group of people living together as a smaller social unit within a larger one, and having interests, work, etc. in common . . .”
“Community” has a strong sense of place — of people living together. This comes from the word’s Latin root, the verb communire, which means to fortify thoroughly on all sides.
A good example of community in this sense is group of people living in a walled village, banded together in defense against a common enemy or threat.
More positively, a community may be a group of people who have so much in common that they want to be identified as such and distinguished from others.
Such like-minded people don’t have to be living in the same place or physically banded together. With the rapid advance of communications, the element of place — geography — is no longer important.
If you take territory away from the meaning of community, you have “a group of people [functioning] together as a smaller social unit within a larger one, and having interests, work, etc. in common.”
The best word to describe that kind of community is “network.”
Going back to the dictionary again, a network is, “1. any arrangement or fabric of parallel wires, threads, etc. crossed at regular intervals by others fastened to them so as to leave open spaces; netting; mesh 2. a thing resembling this in some way; specifically . . . a group, system, etc. of interconnected or cooperating individuals.”

The church has both kinds of communities — communities linked to place and communities as networks.
For example, there have always been territorial parishes (parishes defined by a geographic area) and personal parishes (parishes for certain groups of people with the same language, nationality, etc.). In practice, more and more people act as though their parish community is a network rather than a geographical area.
Authority can be exercised in both senses as well. For example, three patriarchs live in Damascus — Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, and Syrian Orthodox. Each is titled Patriarch of Antioch, but they are spiritual leaders of separate networks of Christians, not of all the Christians who live in the one place.
Religious communities have always been considered groups of people united by a common spirituality and tasks, even though they may be scattered all about.
Actually, a good model for the whole church is that of a network, even a network of networks. From this point of view, Christian unity is all about building interconnections and cooperation.
This is almost the way church unity was described in the early centuries. Unity was considered to exist if there was “peace and communion” among the churches.
Banded together behind common walls doesn’t make for unity, but functioning together in the Spirit of the Lord does.


(Published as “Networks” in
CNEWA World, 30:3, May 2004)

All the King’s Men

On 30 December 2000, the new Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria, and of Jerusalem, Gregorios III, took possession of his see in Damascus, Syria.
The newly elected patriarch, born Lutfi Laham 67 years ago in Syria, came back to his native land after 18 years of service as Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem — in effect, the local Melkite bishop for Jerusalem and the nearby areas of the Holy Land.
He succeeded 92-year-old, Egyptian-born Patriarch Maximos V who resigned a few months ago after serving 33 years as patriarch and, before that, 24 years as bishop of Akka in Galilee.
I first met Bishop Hakim, later Patriarch Maximos, during the Second Vatican Council. His predecessor, Patriarch Maximos IV was a strong voice for the Eastern churches at the Council.
Following Roman tradition, the working language of Vatican II was Latin — and it was often eulogized as “the language of the Church.” I remember when Patriarch Maximos IV startled the council fathers by speaking in French.
His rationale was that we are urged to speak “the language of the Church” and that the language of the Church was Greek , of course, until Rome adopted the vernacular — Latin — in the fourth century! Knowing that almost all the council fathers could not understand Greek, he said rather than use Latin, I will use a more familiar vernacular, French!
His challenges to the fathers of Vatican II echoed those of his namesake, Gregorios II, at Vatican I who left Rome before the vote on the doctrine of papal infallibility.

Later he accepted it, “all rights, privileges, and prerogatives of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches being respected.”
   The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is described as the most Orthodox of all the Eastern Catholic churches — which Melkite Catholics clearly take as a compliment.
   Originally “Melkite” referred to Eastern Christians who remained faithful to the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Since the council was presided over by the Byzantine Emperor, the faithful Christians were known as the King’s men, from the Syriac word for King, Melech.
   In 1724 there was a split in the Patriarchate of Antioch. The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople recognized one candidate for the See of Antioch. The rival candidate, later recognized by the Pope, was known as the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch.
   The Melkite Greek Catholic Church today numbers over one million members from Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and, in modern times, the Americas, Europe, and Australia.
   They embody the best of both worlds. Not only are they found in the Old World and the New, they remain faithful to the traditions of the Byzantine East and still are in communion with the See of Peter.
   Patriarch Gregorios III, you have an illustrious past and predecessors to follow — all the King’s men!


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 27:1, January 2001)

Beyond the Pale

A friend of mine once told me about how he and his wife resolved differences with their teenage children — for example, whether they had to go church on Sunday.
The parents would discuss it with the children and try to persuade them to do the right thing. But if the family couldn’t find some common ground, my friend felt it was up to him to decide the issue:
“For me, it’s simple — the rule in this house is that everybody who lives here goes to Mass. When my kids are living independently, they can make their own decisions about what they choose to do.”
Generally, the father’s norm for his children’s behavior was that, while they lived under his roof, they had to live within the boundaries their parents set for them.
Was this a diminishment of the children’s freedom? Of course. It was part of the price they had to pay for being members of a family and living at home as minors.
Similar things happen in the Church. As in all big families, there is always a fair share of internal disagreement and feuding — and name calling — among the Church’s members.
Also, as children often vie for their father’s attention and approval, so do individuals and groups in the Church, for the attention and approval of the Holy Father. They want him to be on their side.
For example, Pope John Paul II recently extended a few disciplinary canons of the Church’s law to clarify for its members their obligations to adhere to certain categories of church teachings.
There were exaggerated reactions both applauding and bewailing the Holy Father’s action.

There were expressions of delight by some that the “liberals” were being made to tow the mark. Others reacted as though the decree represented a victory of the “conservatives” in the Church.
The loving task of the father or mother of any family is not to pick or place one child over the other, but to maintain peace and order so that all their children live harmoniously together.
As in the family, the Holy Father tries to resolve difficulties and persuade the Church’s members to do the right thing. But, if this fails, it’s his responsibility to make clear norms of belief and behavior that must be observed by those who want to remain part of the Church family.
Is this a diminishment of their personal freedom? Of course. It’s part of the price they are willing to pay for being members of the family of the Church and living in it.
The Holy Father’s special responsibility is to keep the Church together in unity. As he presides over that diverse, international, and dynamic assemblage in the Spirit which is the Church, from time to time he has to set boundaries.
When the Anglo-Normans conquered sections of Ireland in the 12th century, those who chose to live outside Anglo-Norman governance were considered to be “beyond the pale.”
With the Church, too, alas, some are unwilling to pay the price of unity and choose to live “beyond the pale.”


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 24:6, November 1998)

Sons of Eagles

Here’s what St. Paul says about the qualifications of a bishop:

. . . a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money . . . He must also have a good reputation among outsiders . . .

Here are the men whom Pope John Paul II recently chose as bishops for Albania:
— Franco Illia, 74, spent 20 years in prison, accused of being a Vatican spy.
— Robert Ashta, 74, was forced to give up ministry as a priest and employed for 11 years as a construction worker.
— Zef Simoni, 64, spent 12 years in jail.
— Rrok Mirdita, 53, for 20 years provided pastoral care to Albanian immigrants in New York City.
In a dramatic and moving ceremony in the cathedral of the city of Shkodër on 25 April, the pope himself ordained these four priests as bishops and, by so doing, restored a Catholic hierarchy to Albania.
Until the collapse of its hard-line communist government, Albania was the most totalitarian nation state in the world.
Immediately upon assuming power in 1944, the Marxists began to persecute all religious groups. Clergy and laity were arrested and often sentenced to death.
In 1967 religions and religious activity were forbidden by law; all churches, monasteries, mosques, and other religious institutions were closed. The Albanian government proudly proclaimed that, having eliminated all religion, it was the first totally atheist state in the world.

Christianity probably arrived early in Illyria (ancient Albania), after its conquest by Rome in 168, and flourished there for centuries. However, since the Ottoman Turkish conquest of the Balkans in the 15th century, the majority of Albanians have been Muslim.
By the end of World War II, probably one third of the Albanian population was Christian, and about one third of the Christian population was Roman Catholic. Today Catholics in Albania may number as many as 360,000.
Historically, the Orthodox Christians were under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Constantinople, but once Albania became an independent nation in 1912 there was a movement to create an independent, national Orthodox church. In 1929, an autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church was declared, and in 1937 it was recognized by Constantinople.
Curiously, the Albanian Catholic (Byzantine) Church is in Italy! When many Orthodox from southern Albania fled the Turks in the 15th century, they sought refuge in southern Italy. In 1596 they entered into full communion with Rome and became the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church.
Today they have two dioceses, one in Lungro in Calabria and the other in Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily, and the territorial abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata near Rome. They number somewhat over 60,000.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 19:3, May 1993)