Catholics and the House Church Experience
A RECENT SCENARIO: An Hispanic man attended a House Church gathering
with his wife and family. He loved the fellowship and could feel the presence
of God during ministry moments. He has examined the fruits of those who
attend and he has no doubt that this House Church his wife is occasionally
dragging him off to is definitely of God.
Problem? He's enjoying it far more than he ever imagined he would. He
admitted that he's attending Mass less frequently and is even feeling guilty
about his spotty attendance at the Catholic Church. He confesses that he has
entertained thoughts that he is a poor Catholic father and husband for not
insisting that his family attend Mass. He's worried about what his Catholic
relatives would think.
The House Church leaders listen to his concerns and, while assuring him of
their love, also encourage him to continue to attend Mass if that is the way
the Holy Spirit is leading him. After all, we must always obey the Holy Spirit.
He is reminded that where the Legacy Church is concerned, it's NOT to be
considered "them" vs. "us" - it's just US, the Body of Christ.
WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME...?
What in Heaven's Name is going on within America's Catholic Church? The
following statistics came from Kenneth Jones' Index of Leading Catholic
Indicators. Other dismal statistics can just as easily be provided to describe
many other Institutional churches as well. In this article, however, we're
highlighting America's Catholic Church:
Priests. After skyrocketing from about 27,000 in 1930 to 58,000 in 1965, the
number of priests in the United States dropped to 45,000 in 2002. By 2020,
there will be about 31,000 priests--and only 15,000 will be under the age of 70.
Right now there are more priests aged 80 to 84 than there are aged 30 to 34.
Priestless parishes. About 1 percent of parishes, 549, were without a resident
priest in 1965. In 2002 there were 2,928 priestless parishes, about 15 percent
of U.S. parishes. By 2020, a quarter of all parishes, 4,656, will have no priest.
Seminarians. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped
from 49,000 to 4,700--a 90 percent decrease. Without any students,
seminaries across the country have been sold or shuttered. There were 596
seminaries in 1965, and only 200 in 2002.
Sisters. 180,000 sisters were the backbone of the Catholic education and
health systems in 1965. In 2002, there were 75,000 sisters, with an average
age of 68. By 2020, the number of sisters will drop to 40,000--and of these,
only 21,000 will be aged 70 or under. In 1965, 104,000 sisters were teaching,
while in 2002 there were only 8,200 teachers.
Religious Orders. The religious orders will soon be virtually non-existent in the
United States [article did not elaborate].
High Schools. Between 1965 and 2002 the number of diocesan high schools
fell from 1,566 to 786. At the same time the number of students dropped from
almost 700,000 to 386,000.
Parochial Grade Schools. There were 10,503 parochial grade schools in 1965
and 6,623 in 2002. The number of students went from 4.5 million to 1.9 million.
Sacramental Life. In 1965 there were 1.3 million infant baptisms; in 2002 there
were 1 million.
Mass attendance. A 1958 Gallup poll reported that 74 percent of Catholics went
to Sunday Mass in 1958. A 1994 University of Notre Dame study found that the
attendance rate was 26.6 percent. A more recent study by Fordham University
professor James Lothian concluded that 65 percent of Catholics went to Sunday
Mass in 1965, while the rate dropped to 25 percent in 2000.
ARE CATHOLICS WISING UP, TOO?
A growing number of American Christians - Catholics and Evangelicals alike -
are down-sizing the established Church as we know it. The rise of House
Churches, Simple Churches, Organic Churches, Cell Churches, Open Churches
and Church-planting Movements indicate the growing level of discontent with
Church-As-Usual by Christians of every flavor. This is true among Church
leaders as well as the Christian populace. As one Blogger wrote: "The era of
spectator Christianity is now ending because the urgency of our present
cultural crisis in America and abroad simply won't permit it!"
While Christianity seems to be flourishing in Africa, Asia and Latin America,
many believe it is dying in the U.S. and is wheezing on its deathbed in Europe
and Canada. As America enters what many refer to as the "Post Christian Era"
(I prefer the phrase Post Edifice Era), with Islam on the rise and the level of sin
in our culture soaring out of control, an alarm seems to be going off deep
within the hearts of many followers of Christ. Something needs to change. I
contend that, if we want something we've never had, we must do something
we've never done. Today's Catholic must recognize that they were born for
such a time as this. Then they must ask themselves if God isn't requiring
something more of them than He has ever required of Catholics for the past
1700 years
Is the Holy Spirit moving in the USA today just as He has in third world
nations for decades?
HOUSE CHURCH: A MODEL THAT WORKS, EMBRACED BY CATHOLICS
House Churches are everywhere among Catholics in China as well as Cuba.
What many are NOT aware of is that similar small groups are alive and well
in the American Catholic Church, too.
Yes, House Churches ARE within the tradition of Catholicism and a recent
study identified 37,000 small faith communities, and some estimates place the
number at 45,000 to 50,000. Like the rest of us, the Roman Catholic Church
appears to have recognized the need for laity leadership and a more intimate
level of fellowship as a stop-gap to rapidly decreasing numbers in their own
ranks.
In 1988, Father Art Baranowski published Creating Small Faith Communities:
A Plan for Restructuring the Parish and Renewing Catholic Life. His book was
a blueprint for establishing small church communities of faith and prayer.
(SOURCE: U.S. Catholic, Jan 2002 (Vol 67, No 1, Pages 18-23).
From the back cover of Baranowski's book: This is the story of a pastor's
vision of church and a parish's journey to renewal. Baranowski brought the
church into the homes of his people by restructuring his parish into Small
Basic Christian Communities. The people of his parish do not just go to
church, they are the church. His story can become your story. "I believe
that our deliberate pastoral attempt to bring parishoners together into small
groups can serve as a model for any parish, for all parishes. This book is an
effort to share the vision which inspired us as well as the nuts and bolts of
how we did what we did," says Baranowski. Church leaders say the time has
come to renew Catholic life through the faith and love discovered in the
small group experience.
On a website called OurLadysWarriors.org, a 1998 conference was
promoted entitled: "Imagining Future Church: Small Christian Communities."
The course description was as follows: Robert Pelton, CSC, and Rosemary
Bleuher, ask what tomorrow's Church will look like. Will leaders emerge from
communities, regardless of sex and race? Will the parish be a community of
communities? Indications around the world say 'yes.' Pelton, specialist in
Latin American/North American Church Concerns at the University of Notre
Dame, was at the 1997 Bishops' Synod for America, where Small Christian
Communities (SCCs) were emphasized. Bleuher, the Joliet, Ill., Diocesan
Director of RENEW 2000, on a team preparing a follow-up to the Synod.
Both have been involved in the development of SCCs for years. They here
lead a process envisioning pastoral implications of SCCs.
THE RCC AND THE SCC
The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) is hearing more and more from their own
adherents regarding the growing House Church movement and somthing
referred to as "Small Christian Communities" (SCC's). In the book entitled
"Small Christian Communities Today," co-author Joseph Healey writes, in
the first chapter entitled "Promoting SCCs via the Internet":" I live
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania... Here in the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam alone
we have over twenty-three hundred Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in
forty-nine parishes. Yet as I travel around the world people often ask, "Do
you have SCCs in Africa?"
He continues, "How can we get this message out? How can we share our
good news of SCCs with people in other continents? The young people in
Dar es Salaam tell me: "That's easy. Use IT [information technology]." It's
true! E-mail, Internet, Web sites, online PowerPoint presentations, online
education, and so on open up an exciting window of opportunity to mutually
share our experiences of SCCs in our global society and world church. If we
are convinced about SCCs, we must also be convinced about the importance
of the Internet - especially in reaching young people today."
ROMAN CATHOLICS: WHY SO IMPORTANT TO THE REST OF US?
With so many of the world's Christians coming from an RCC background, it
seems apparent that these people not merely be strengthened in their
Catholic practices, but become strengthened as a faith family as well, sharing
their lives and not merely an hour a week. House Church appears to be an
excellent vehicle that the RCC has recognized as a means for developing a
sense of familial commitment to each other and to the denomination.
Here's a question that The Church at large MUST answer: If Catholics were
to fall away at their current rate, would future generations of ex-Catholics turn
to cults or irreligion at best? If so, how would this impact ALL evangelistic
efforts both at home and abroad?
Much of what Catholics already believe coincides with the beliefs of
Evangelicals as it is. How difficult would that make the advancement of the
Kingdom if multitudes left Roman Catholicism for the cults? The Evangelical
Christian world needs to examine the worst-case scenarios as the ramifications
could present many difficulties.
THE EUCHARIST: POSSIBLE IN HOUSE CHURCHES?
Participation in the Mass is a major part of Catholic tradition. The partaking
of the Eucharist, according to Church teaching, is paramount to the Catholic
experience. How would the rank and file Catholic fulfill this obligation in a
House Church setting?
According to an article entitled "The Abuse of Extraordinary Ministers" from
"Catholic Apologetics Information": "On January 29th 1973, an Instruction
was issued by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship that authorized
the introduction of Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist called Immense
Caritatis. This document does not grant some revolutionary indult for any
and every parish to permit lay people (including Nuns) to administer
Communion, it authorizes the use of extraordinary ministers in CASES OF
GENUINE NECESSITY which are listed as: * When there is no priest, deacon
or acolyte.* When these are prevented from administering Holy Communion
because of another pastoral ministry or because of ill health or advanced
age.* When the number of the faithful requesting Holy Communion is such
that the celebration of the Mass or the distribution of the Eucharist outside
Mass would be unduly prolonged."
While many Catholics might contend that the absence of the Eucharist and its
administration by an ordained Catholic Priest, a Deacon or acolyte, would
keep them from attending a House Church, the truth is, most of America's
43 Million monthly House Church adherents ALSO attend a Legacy Church,
therefore, a Catholic need not be any different. In other words, there's
nothing to keep a Catholic from participating in a Mass in a Catholic Church
on any given day while taking part in a House Church or Simple Church
gathering as well, if they so desired.
The things that Catholics appreciate about House Church are the same that
are appealing to the other 43 Million American Christians each month:
1) an intimacy of fellowship with others,
2) the development of their own spiritual and,
3) in most cases, a tangible presence of God, inspired by unconditional unity.
Armed with the truth, a Catholic CAN begin - and more and more ARE - taking
part in House Church communities of faith. And they're loving the fellowship!
ADDRESSING A BIG CONCERN
If we were all being honest, the thought of denominational House Churches
sound like quite a turn-off to most of us who are actively involved in the
movement. So, how does a non-Catholic House Church handle the Catholics who
desire to join their fellowship? (Yes, incidentally, Catholics do have the RCC's
blessing to fellowship with their Protestant counterparts). Frankly, in the same way they'd handle anybody else from any other denominational background: with love.
The rule of thumb for Any House Church Group is to keep any teaching
centered around the teachings of Christ. We run into trouble when that
focus shifts to manmade, denominational stuff that is not universally
acceptable. There's a church-split waiting to happen with ANY mix of
people!
True, the RCC claims to be "the one true church." My contention is that, though
the RCC is without question the world's first denomination, the truth is, the
REAL Catholic Church, that is, the real UNIVERSAL, Church is YET to arise.
That will happen out there, somewhere in our future. The Catholic Church we are
all familiar with is a poor substitute - a mere manmade denomination - fragmented
and as imperfect as anything the Protestants, Evangelicals, Charismatics, Mormons,
cults or anybody has come up with in an effort to launch their own "one true" church.
Anything with two heads is a freak. Jesus alone is Head over The Church. That
Church is not a building, a denomination or anything less than The Universal
Body of Christ. And it will never have its headquarters anywhere but upon
God's throne.
But I digress.
When the Body of Christ comes together, there is absolutely no need for
anyone to wax denominational. The House Church gathering is a great time
to leave one's manmade doctrine at the door and focus everything upon
the doctrine of Christ and on growing deeper as a family.
Perhaps this will help: I've been conducting a Bible study entitled
"Jesus Said" since 1999. My first group was 99% Catholic. Since then,
nearly every group has consisted of people from every mainline
denomination. As a Workplace Chaplain, conducting that same Bible study
wherever I go, the attendees are equally as diverse. You know, not once in
all these years has a fight EVER broken out!
In my own Texas House Church group, we have always had Lutherans and
Catholics in attendance along with the Baptists, Pentecostals and
Charismatic-types. They've grown spiritually just as we ALL have.
And we all love each other dearly. Some continue attending Mass. Others
remain active in their Legacy Churches. But we keep coming together, loving
each other as brothers, sharing our loyalty and love for Christ (1 Peter 3:8) by
doing unto one another all those "one another" Scriptures.
There's power in unity, friends, and we should strive to attain it. One day,
before God, I believe many of us are going to be quite surprised when we
see how this whole thing pans out...and how little all this "Churchianity"
had to do with the results.
If you have any questions regarding this subject, just ask!
Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
A servant of God
http://www.YourTown4Jesus.com
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