This is one of my first attempts for using the CB board. I thought it might be best to try to communicate here. No medium is perfect, and email threads get lost, but here goes..
So, 2 Tuesday's ago, at the end of our Zoom choir, the recent FutureChurch event that was viewed on FB by apparently 11 people from St. Pat's was brought up. Ok, not great timing, but there's a lot to talk about these days, and it's not clear to me who, when or where to relate our thoughts ( except via the survey ). Laura said something about waiting for the results of the survey, and I said ( or tried to say ) something about being concerned that the results of the survey may be influenced by what I feel is a " bias " by the Advocates, that to try to fight our closure with a Canonical process would be fruitless, and cost a whole lot besides. I said this with some emotion, and apparently this was felt as attack by some, but I didn't mean it that way. I am concerned that the Advocates have made know their collective opinion, ( Jenny Farrell told the congregation that most/ all of them were decidedly not in favor of that option months ago, and Dennis has said in Parish Council meetings, * see Council minutes , that he is opposed to this action .) And Jenny Farrell and Dennis's opinions carry a lot of weight in our community. And they are paid by the Archdiocese, so there is some potential for conflict of interest.
I am concerned that what I said may be at least partially the reason we got a talking to by Dennis at the end of Mass on Sunday. I am also concerned that expressing one's opinion will be henceforth interpreted as " divisiveness ", and therefore not permitted. I hope that is not the case, because if it is, we've already lost St. Pat's. He then quoted I Corinthians 13 which is wonderful, but felt like spiritual bypassing because the issue isn't a lack of love. . Asking questions should not be perceived as threatening the order - that's not St. Pat's way. .I said something because I love this community, not because I don't love the Advocates, and want it to continue, and and I'm sorry I got a little worked up. It feels to me like the Advocates have an inordinate amount of the responsibility for any action we do. For instance, it's not clear to me if we have/ need permission to do any group action unless we have permission from the Advocates. Are FutureChurch discussions allowed ? ( This would not likely be an Archdiocesan friendly activity. ) What is the role of the Parish Council ? Are they leading, or waiting for input from the parishoners ? I think they were the ones responsible for the " protest " with St. Mary's - and that was wonderful. It's not clear to me who has permission to do what. Do we have to stay inside the box that the Advocates are carrying ? It feels to me that is how it is, and this places a HUGE burden on their shoulders, and leaves the rest of us out and feeling somewhat frustrated.
Hope you are all enjoying our 2 days of glorious sunshine! And Laura, Ben, Betsey, Youth, Sharie, and dear choir members: way to go on the last recorded number!! It was simply marvelous!
Looking forward to seeing you in a bit! Wanted to let you know that Betsey is coming to rehearsal again tonight to record us on Zoom like she did with Christ in Me Arise. This time it will be Roll Away the Stone; we will have another choir video for Easter Sunday, and the recorded audio will be what we did last year. So all we have to do is "sing" with the recording tonight and Betsey will capture some footage. Here is the music attached so that you can sing with conviction and have the lyrics in front of you. Bless you all for the beauty you create! We can talk tonight about our experience of watching Christ in Me Arise as well.
Dear Choir,
This is one of my first attempts for using the CB board. I thought it might be best to try to communicate here. No medium is perfect, and email threads get lost, but here goes..
So, 2 Tuesday's ago, at the end of our Zoom choir, the recent FutureChurch event that was viewed on FB by apparently 11 people from St. Pat's was brought up. Ok, not great timing, but there's a lot to talk about these days, and it's not clear to me who, when or where to relate our thoughts ( except via the survey ). Laura said something about waiting for the results of the survey, and I said ( or tried to say ) something about being concerned that the results of the survey may be influenced by what I feel is a " bias " by the Advocates, that to try to fight our closure with a Canonical process would be fruitless, and cost a whole lot besides. I said this with some emotion, and apparently this was felt as attack by some, but I didn't mean it that way. I am concerned that the Advocates have made know their collective opinion, ( Jenny Farrell told the congregation that most/ all of them were decidedly not in favor of that option months ago, and Dennis has said in Parish Council meetings, * see Council minutes , that he is opposed to this action .) And Jenny Farrell and Dennis's opinions carry a lot of weight in our community. And they are paid by the Archdiocese, so there is some potential for conflict of interest.
I am concerned that what I said may be at least partially the reason we got a talking to by Dennis at the end of Mass on Sunday. I am also concerned that expressing one's opinion will be henceforth interpreted as " divisiveness ", and therefore not permitted. I hope that is not the case, because if it is, we've already lost St. Pat's. He then quoted I Corinthians 13 which is wonderful, but felt like spiritual bypassing because the issue isn't a lack of love. . Asking questions should not be perceived as threatening the order - that's not St. Pat's way. .I said something because I love this community, not because I don't love the Advocates, and want it to continue, and and I'm sorry I got a little worked up. It feels to me like the Advocates have an inordinate amount of the responsibility for any action we do. For instance, it's not clear to me if we have/ need permission to do any group action unless we have permission from the Advocates. Are FutureChurch discussions allowed ? ( This would not likely be an Archdiocesan friendly activity. ) What is the role of the Parish Council ? Are they leading, or waiting for input from the parishoners ? I think they were the ones responsible for the " protest " with St. Mary's - and that was wonderful. It's not clear to me who has permission to do what. Do we have to stay inside the box that the Advocates are carrying ? It feels to me that is how it is, and this places a HUGE burden on their shoulders, and leaves the rest of us out and feeling somewhat frustrated.
Love,
Molly
March 23
Hi All!
Hope you are all enjoying our 2 days of glorious sunshine! And Laura, Ben, Betsey, Youth, Sharie, and dear choir members: way to go on the last recorded number!! It was simply marvelous!
So here is your invite for tonight! https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83836862647?pwd=MEtZamYyVTB2NUNDdStSRjRrdmp6QT09
I’m off to chase invading ants inside and weeds outside!
Sandy