April 2015
Feature
The term ‘minister’ has many uses in the Catholic Church. It refers to the person, ordained or lay, commissioned to act on behalf of the Church in a way that draws people to worship God more deeply through the power of the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ. Minister may be used collectively for members of the clergy, religious, lay pastoral leaders, and individually as a vocation or a profession.
Ministry roles may involve administration of the sacraments, liturgy, servers and ushers at Mass, taking Eucharist to the sick and homebound, welcoming new Church members, music and singing leadership, church-property care and maintenance, catechetical teaching, retreats, youth groups, counselling, ethnic and social chaplaincy, pastoral care and outreach, social justice advocacy, charity activities, education and more.
Wel-Com features some of the many ministry experiences among our Church communities.
Church ministry
Fr Patrick Bridgman
The Church and her mission, once thought to be the reserve of the Pope, bishops, priests, nuns, and brothers, is now understood as being the mission of all baptised. Lumen Gentium, the Vatican II document which considers the nature of the Church, speaks of a ‘priestly community’ made up of all who are baptised.
This understanding came from reflection on the life of Christ, his words to his disciples, and his actions throughout his public ministry.
‘As the Son was sent by the Father, so He too sent the Apostles, saying: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world”.’ (LG, 17)
This mandate is a responsibility that originates in baptism. ‘The obligation of spreading the faith is imposed on every disciple of Christ.’ (LG, 17)
Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world, writes, ‘In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples (cf Mt 28:19). All the baptised, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelisation, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelisation to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients’. (EG, 120)
This leads us to reflect on ministry in the Church today. For if we are all agents of evangelisation, then how are we ministering in our interactions with others, whether within the Church or outside to the peripheries? Are we aware that we are ministering in the everyday actions of our lives?
It is good to consider such questions during this Easter season as we will be going forth proclaiming with the early disciples, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (Jn1:41).
With the links accessible from this page, Wel-Com shares stories from a range of people involved in Church ministry in its many forms.
Fr Patrick Bridgman is parish priest for Te Awakairangi Parish, the Archdiocese of Wellington’s Liturgy Adviser and teaches at The Catholic Institute.
Professor Anne Tuohy
‘Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.’
This quote, attributed to St Francis of Assisi, perfectly sums up our present Pope Francis’ pastoral attitude to ministry as he reminds us the Church is called to ‘incarnate’ or make physically present the love of God in our world. And this is really what lies at the heart of good pastoral ministry – the ability to bring the Gospel to life so deeply in our own lives that it revitalises or ‘re-humanises’ the lives of those around us.
There are two elements involved in becoming gospel people. The first and most obvious concerns how we act in the world and the impact this has on the way we work and the people we work and interact with. The second element is more foundational and concerns the internal movement of forming or shaping ourselves as certain sorts of people – which for Christian ministry means shaping ourselves as gospel people. This formation of ourselves opens us up to being more fully engaged with other people and, therefore, to becoming more fully human ourselves. So how can people prepare for the challenges that pastoral ministry within our Church presents?
The Catholic Institute (TCI) was established by the Catholic Bishops of New Zealand as a national body to support their vision of an informed laity who are supported by qualified people working in ministry for the mission of the Church in the world. TCI has been commissioned by the bishops to provide accessible papers and qualifications for those engaged in Catholic ministry in every New Zealand diocese, whether it be in our Catholic schools and parishes, in the local hospitals and prisons, or with our young people and our Māori and Pasifika communities.
TCI’s Diploma in Pastoral Leadership, along with the Launch Out formation programme, has become the cornerstone of the Lay Pastoral Leadership positions operating in many of our dioceses. And the smaller Certificates in Prison Ministry and Hospital Ministry have proven invaluable for those working in these challenging areas.
Last year, TCI developed a new Certificate of Parish Life. This comprises four papers that explore our Scriptures and Church teaching and still offer the opportunity to meet any specific local requirements identified by a particular diocese, ie support for the RCIA and parish sacramental programmes.
Visit www.tci.ac.nz to read about our graduates’ experiences of studying for ministry with TCI and to find help to support you in your own ministry.
Professor Anne Tuohy is the Director of The Catholic Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand.
During the Second Vatican Council in order to renew and enrich the life of the contemporary Church the bishops looked at the practices and liturgies of the early Christian communities, and the adult catechumenate was restored back into the life of our Church. The Church’s Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) is now the norm for all who desire to become Catholic.
Fr James Lyons
An excerpt from The joys and hopes of a priest on the road.
Fr James Lyons
The priesthood into which I was ordained viewed itself as quite separate from the laity. We were ‘set apart’ by a special and exclusive sacrament (Holy Orders), we dressed differently, lived our own rhythm, took our recreation separately (Monday was the ‘clergy holiday’) and were told to be ‘very careful’ about getting too friendly with lay people. This was, in part, for our own protection and the safe-guarding of celibacy, but it helped t
o foster a ‘clerical culture’ that reinforced the gap between clergy and laity.
The perceived status of the priest as ‘a man apart’, a status endorsed by the social and cultural mores of the day, set him up for a role that put him ‘out in front’, ideal for a ‘one man band’ approach to ministry. The shepherd set the pace and the sheep followed, obedient, passive, mostly silent but very supportive. Called, in their commitment, to lead, nourish and strengthen God’s people and to give their lives in service for God’s people, priests were cast in a role from which it was difficult to withdraw.
Sheep have played a major part in the economic life of New Zealand. There are fewer nowadays (40 million down from 70 million 25 years ago) but they are still everywhere and make the human population of less than five million look very small indeed. Differing from the biblical model, the New Zealand shepherd does not lead the sheep. The sheep do not follow the shepherd; they go ahead, moving forward, guided by the experience of the shepherd. There is relevance in this ‘revised’ model for the collaborative style of ministry that engages priests today. Rather than being ‘out in front’ of the people, the priest needs to be more an ‘enabler’, identifying and encouraging the gifts of the people to become the energy that drives and sustains the community. The priest cannot possibly ‘do everything’ and should never have been allowed to think he could, or was expected to. By standing behind his people, the priest is more easily seen as one of them; from this position he is also seen to trust the people, believing in their ability to make right decisions, to plan well and to take the community forward. There is a togetherness in this style of leadership that speaks of teamwork from which friendship and belonging are more likely to emerge.
I claim no special expertise, but finding myself as the only priest in parishes that have traditionally had as many as four, working with and among the people has been the only sensible option. And it has paid great dividends. It is as though the Holy Spirit has been guiding us to this point, deliberately and subtly shifting the goal posts, taking the initiative and forcing the exposure of the priesthood that lies within the baptismal gift of the people. Fewer priests does not have to signal ‘game over’ for the Church.
While it is a critical moment for the Church, I really believe it is opening the door to a new way of being Church, a way in which the gifts of all are recognised and called into service. The Church can truly be the People of God.
At the practical level, I have been freed of the burden of administration through the service of parishioners skilled in these matters. Ordination did not make me an accountant. Balance sheets and reconciling bank statements bring on nightmares; monthly accounts, wages, GST, ACC levies and the like are heavy weather. I have been blessed over many years with parish secretaries and financial advisers that have taken all that away from me. The parish is better served by a pastor unencumbered by the headaches of administration.
The love I feel for parish work is centred on people. Being invited into their lives is a huge privilege and the one that, more than anything else, has signposted my growth both as person and as priest.
Fr James Lyons is parish priest of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and a member of the Archdiocese of Wellington Pastoral Council.
Fr Andrew Kim
It’s been five years since I left Korea to start my new life in New Zealand. After coming here, I had a year of discerning, a year at Holy Cross Seminary, and a pastoral placement.
I clearly recall my ordination two years ago as a blessed day. I felt full of love from my family, friends, congregations and, most importantly for me, from the hand of Cardinal John and other senior priests.
After 20 years of discerning, on the day of my ordination I felt a strong sense of certainty in my life as a priest.
Coming from a different culture was a challenge. I’ve had to deal with a new language and a new culture, which I continue to learn about.
Being a priest means endurance, effort and prayer. Having the congregation’s support, prayers and love gives me hope and energy. I’ve had some challenges in my two years as a priest, but I believe these experiences have been a blessing and stepping-stones to become who I am today.
Fr Andrew Kim is assistant priest at Te Awakairangi Parish, Lower Hutt.
David Dobson
I was born and bred in Wellington, where I attended Catholic schools and Victoria University. I studied organ under Maxwell Fernie during the early 1970s as part of my music degree. I first played for Saturday Novenas at St Gerard’s Monastery, Mount Victoria, at the age of 19, before being invited by Max to play for Masses at St Mary of the Angels.
From 1972, I taught at Kuranui College, Greytown, and played at, and composed music for, several Wairarapa churches until returning to Wellington in the early 1980s.
I am one of the musicians regularly providing liturgical music at Ss Peter and Paul’s Parish Johnsonville and the principal organist at St James Anglican Church, Lower Hutt, where I play nearly every Sunday. I welcome not only the opportunity to play a very fine organ but the opportunity to share in the liturgies of our Christian brothers and sisters.
The selection of music in my parish of Ss Peter and Paul, is largely autonomous and sometimes challenging because of the variety of musicians available. In every case the wish is to provide music that enhances the prayer of the assembly.
It is an absolute delight for all of us when the selection of music dovetails perfectly with sentiments expressed in the homily. I believe settings of the Psalms are the backbone of our liturgical music.
A very simple guideline to music created for worship might be to ask, ‘Do I feel lifted up when I listen to this music, or do I simply like it?’ This longstanding dichotomy is often evident in our choices of liturgical music today.
Early church music was entrusted to choirs, bestowing on them power to draw the congregation closer to God through the beauty of the music and its performance.
There was a time when liturgical music threatened to become a concert
Perhaps the resistance in some quarters to having music returned to the choir is a reaction to that.
So, today the congregation as a whole shares in the music, led by the organist or a musical group. The nature of that historic ‘power’ has changed to today’s ‘do it yourself’. Quite a responsibility there.
During the early 1980s I was organist for a brief time at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, under the direction of Fr (now Monsignor) Charles Cooper. Fr Cooper’s well-researched and carefully thought-out collection of hymns and psalms in his hymn book Sing Praise represented a multitude of musical settings from Gregorian chant to
then-current Catholic worship music.
I recall the reception of his hymn book was not as kind as it should have been. It was, as if in the few short years since Vatican II, all the history and beauty of Church music prior to its establishment was to be abandoned.
I try to select music that draws people that may appeal and lift people through its beauty.
David Dobson is a parishioner of Ss Peter and Paul, Johnsonville, president of Wellington Organists’ Association, and a performer, composer and arranger, as well as an organist and choirmaster in a number of Wellington churches for nearly 40 years.
Mika Teofilo
The Archdiocese of Wellington’s Samoan Chaplaincy facilitates and meets the pastoral and spiritual needs of the Samoan people, enabling them to express their faith in their own language and culture.
The aim of pastoral ministry is to preserve Samoan customs, traditions and values while promoting full integration into multicultural New Zealand society. Pastoral care, formation programmes and administration of the Sacraments are provided in the Samoan language.
As lay pastoral leader, I lead the chaplaincy, supported by the chaplaincy team. This team includes the chaplaincy executive Sauni Malolo, chairperson Tauloa Fa’atau vice-chairperson Lesina Nanai, secretary and Toluma’anave Mena treasurer.
We also have the head-catechists Paulo and Nive Sava’inaea, Sunday-school leader Fiu Ioane, youth leader Sililo Scanlan, and ex-officio priest in Sacramental Ministry Fr Petelo Mauga.
The Samoan Chaplaincy provides: help for Samoan Catholics to find a parish to celebrate Mass in Samoan and/or English; support for parishes and schools with resources in the community; assistance with promoting events within the Samoan Chaplaincy; help as an interface between schools and parishes and the Samoan community; and retreats for various groups.
The chaplaincy is accountable to Cardinal John Dew, Archbishop of Wellington. He is very supportive and generous with his time, and what a joy it is to see the chaplaincy growing.
Auaunaga Faale-agaga Samoa
Fa’atofala’iga
O le Auaunaga Faale-agaga Samoa ua faatuina e faasoa atu ai le tausiga faaleoleomamoe mo Tagata Katoliko Samoa uma, o lona uiga, o i latou ia o totino o Aulotu faapea foi ma i latou e le o ni totino o Aulotu i totonu o Palisi.
O lenei Auaunaga sa faavaeina e le Akiepikopo ina ia faasoasoa, fetuutuuna’i ma faaaoga ai le malosi ma le sosia o loo i totonu o le Laumua Katoliko ma le Auaunaga Faaleoleomamoe ina ia atina’e ma faatupulaia ai le malamalamaga Katoliko, e ala i a’oa’oga, aso mafaufau ma faatalatalanoaga ma A’oga Aso Sa.
Matou te galulue faatasi ma Ositaulaga ma Ta’ita’i o Palisi. “Ta’ita’iga so’oso’otauau ma le auaunaga e faavae i luga o le fefaaaloaloa’i, talitonu, faalologo ma le naunauta’i e galulue faatasi atoa ai ma le fefaasoaaiga o matafaioi.” (Faatofala’iga mai le Sinoti.)
O lenei Auaunaga foi e faasoasoa mai ai le Faafailelega faauau mo Ta’iala ina ia tumau lo latou malamalamaga ma mautinoa ai o loo lava tapenaina i latou e auauna atu i le Nuu o le Atua.
Otootoga:
O le auaunaga faale-agaga mo tagata Samoa o loo alaala i le Puleaga Faa-Akiepikopo a Ueligitone. Ua matou vaavaai toto’a e puipui agaifanua, aganuu ma measina a o matou faalauiloa atili le fegalegalea’iga o aganuu eseese i totonu o le atunuu o Niu Sila. O le tausiga faaleoleomamoe/faale-agaga, o polokalame mo le a’oa’oga o tagata ma le faatinoga o sakalameta o loo faaaogaina ai lava le gagana Samoa. O le Auaunaga Faaleagaga o le Matagaluega Samoa e sefulu aulotu o loo auai i totonu. O lenei Auaunaga o loo faauluulu ai le Ta’iala mo Tausiga Faaleoleomamoe ma lagolagoina e le Auvaa o Tausiga Faaleoleomamoe. E aofia i lenei auva’a le Faauluuluga o le Ofisa, le Ulugali’i ta’ita’i o Fesoasoani Katoliko, le Faauluuluga o le A’oga Aso Sa, le Ta’ita’i o Tupulaga Talavou ma le Ositaulaga o loo gafa ma le Auaunaga o Sakalameta.
O le Matagaluega Samoa e i lalo o le fa’amalumaluga, ta’ita’i ma le pule a lana afioga le Epikopō o le Pule’aga, o Katinale John Dew.
Mikaele Teofilo works out of the Catholic Centre in Wellington.
Karen Holland
She stood at the Ambo and without notes prayed the prayers of the faithful in Rwandan, her first language. As she prayed tears streamed down her face. We all knew for Costanzia to pray for us in her first language took courage and love.
This image of pastoral ministry inspires me because by empowering Costanzia to share her gift of language, our community was ministered to, giving us the opportunity to reciprocate by listening and loving her in return.
Lay Pastoral Leaders are formed through the Archdiocesan Launch Out Formation Programme. They lead communities by looking for and releasing the giftedness of others. Leaders know all the gifts a community need are already there waiting to be recognised and to be given an opportunity.
Working with St Anne’s community in Newtown, I have found it takes time to build the trust required to work collaboratively. Once it does, both the people and the community begin to experience the joy of not only using their own gifts but encouraging and looking for gifts in each other.
We are also formed to work in a team with other lay and ordained leaders responsible for the pastoral and sacramental care of our communities. This is my preferred method of organising pastoral ministry within the parish because I understand this way of ministry. It creates a safe environment for people who are new or perhaps fearful. It enables them to work with others both inside and outside the Church. It draws natural leaders to lead and far more is accomplished than if only the leader or the ordained members of our team were to carry the entire pastoral ministry ourselves.
As our community has been preparing for Holy Week, our teams of dedicated men and women move out into the community leading and co-ordinating in many ways.
Lenten reflection groups, taking Holy Communion into rest homes, to the sick, picking up elderly for Mass, practising with the children, visiting the bereaved, learning and rehearsing music, writing and translating prayers, welcoming visitors and new people, preparing families and children for Baptism, writing rosters and preparing the liturgies for Easter.
Where do we find the people to minister and lead ‒ we find them sitting in the pews, just waiting to be included.
This Easter Sunday as our parish family gathers around the table of the Eucharist we know in our own small way we are all responding to the needs of the people of God here in our own part of the world.
We are ministering to and making a difference in each others’ lives as well as the lives of those we meet each day.
Karen Holland is Lay Pastoral Leader, St Anne’s Church, Newtown, in the Welling
ton South Pastoral Area.
The Tokelauan community
Fr Pene Patelehio
The Tokelauan chaplaincy provides for the spiritual education and needs, pastoral care, and faith strengthening of the Tokelauan Catholic community throughout the Archdiocese of Wellington. This is carried out by priests, catechists, council members and Kaulotu (parish) communities.
Our catechists have pastoral and spiritual responsibilities for formation and the Eucharist. They conduct evening services on the Tokelauan Capital radio programme.
The council encourages support between the chaplaincy, Kaulotu and parishes. We prepare liturgy, youth and Sunday school programmes and each Kaulotu holds a monthly Tokelauan Mass.
Our Kautalavou youth chapter has five youth groups with 20 leaders who plan seminars, youth Masses, and cultural and religious events. Akoga Ahoha is our Sunday School network. Kauwhaipehe, our four choirs, lead singing at our Masses.
We have printed a prayer book in Tokelauan and English. Our young people are growing in their faith and making a commitment to communities and parishes. And as the older generation ages, we need to encourage the younger people to take on leadership roles.
Fr Pene Patelehio is Chaplain for Wellington’s Tokelauan community.
My ministry is to find out more
‘The more I find out, the more I realise there is still much to know.’
Nick Wilson
Education in its many forms is a key part to anyone’s life. We are all on a constant journey of discovery. Humanity has progressed on its new learnings and understandings to advance to a next level.
In a sense, we strive to understand better the world around us so we can be more comfortable, faster, more competitive and so on.
Working for TCI is much like this. I see this organisation as providing an education ministry to our Catholic population.
I don’t know people’s hearts and whole histories and I’m certainly not judging anyone; but over the years I have often wondered how much people know about our faith? How has faith experience changed from the ‘penny catechism’ days to the digital era and para-modern times?
The rumblings and questions around the New Mass is an example of this. Why is Jesus not worthy to enter under my roof now? Why is there this new, approved music list? What were the ramifications for us as Church at the end of the Second Vatican Council? What happened in the Reformation that still affects Church now?
How can I understand the Sunday readings at Church? Feminine aspects of God? Mercy? Grace? Spirituality?
Have you ever met someone who tells you they are Catholic but don’t belong to a Catholic community or never attend Mass? What an injustice! What a sadness!
What a lack of understanding and relationship! When was the last time WE invited a ‘resting’ Catholic to come back home? It would appear there is much work to be done in showing the joy of living a Gospel-centric life.
There is so much to know and so much to find out. We are invited every moment in everyday life to experience the Living God; to deepen our relationship and come to know we are infinitely loved and infinitely lovable.
I am grateful for the formation and education I have had. My ministry is to keep learning myself, and to help facilitate your learning – so as the Church, we journey into a new awareness, a deeper understanding and an informed appreciation of what is it to be a follower of Jesus.
In John 1:39, Jesus invites the disciples to come and see. By verse 41, they ‘clicked’ that Jesus was the Messiah!
Once we come to this realistation, we can only be compelled by powerful desire to learn more because, without such learning, we don’t know what we don’t know ‒ right?
Nick Wilson is The Catholic Institute and Adult Education Coordinator for Palmerston North Dicocese.
Hospital chaplaincy ministry: ‘inspiration through faith, hope, love and endurance’
Angela Fleming
When Fay Evans, the Catholic Chaplain at the Hawkes Bay Hospital in Hastings, invited me to help as a Catholic Chaplaincy Assistant volunteer 10 years ago, I felt honoured and apprehensive. Fay was a wonderful role-model with her compassionate interaction with patients.
After my training, Bishop Peter Cullinane commissioned and sent me out with his blessing. I now work with Catholic Chaplain Margaret Harding and feel privileged to journey with patients and their families during difficult times. We are grateful to our parish priests and the Marist priests from Greenmeadows who support us. When a patient is dying or may wish to see a priest there is a real sense of security knowing their support is at hand.
We have training in Palmerston North, and we meet with our ecumenical colleagues at the Hastings hospital.
I enjoy a great sense of fulfilment in what I can offer through prayer and caring to people who are suffering. In their illness and pain, they are truly an inspiration through faith, hope, love and endurance.
Angela Fleming is a Catholic Volunteer Chaplaincy Assistant at Hawkes Bay Hospital, Hastings.
Mieke Davies
I panicked a little inside when 30 young adults, expecting a feed after Mass on Sunday night, streamed into the kitchen at Te Ahi Kaa – Palmerston North’s Catholic
Young Adult Community. Maurice (my husband) had anticipated half that number. So a quick prayer for a miracle over the pot of bacon bone soup was in order. We all dug in and with some to spare! Not 12 baskets full, but you get the idea. Everyone piled sardine-like into the lounge for an hour of ruckus praise and intimate prayer.
It was a classic example of two of the four focuses of Te Ahi Kaa: Hospitality and Prayer; the other two being Service and Formation.
Te Ahi Kaa is a core element of young adult ministry in this diocese. A handful of young people live in community, with us as their mentors, for a year of formation. We provide a disposition for inward-faith development and outward service in the wider community. The chaplaincy extends all over the diocese, including those in the workforce and tertiary education. Massey students reap the benefit of our culinary skills after Mass at campus on Wednesdays.
After only a month into this ministry we could already see God moving. We have learnt the key is relationship. Socialising is crucial to encourage a sense of belonging especially for new and international students. Coming from youth ministry at St Mary’s Parish in Blenheim, Maurice and I have made a fast but exciting transition into new territory.
We anticipate great things from God and a plethora of new learning and insights for ourselves. As a couple, we are passionate about seeing growth in young people and being creative in all areas, especially in hospitality, visual arts and liturgy. We believe three things in life go together well; art, music and food!
Challenges are an expectation. Engagement that turns to participation from young adu
lts and connecting school, parish, and tertiary-chaplaincy ministries together are ongoing areas of development. They are made more difficult through the reality of a young-adult population in a state of flux.
But we are confident God equips the called; and knowing we are the right people in the right place at the right time is enough to get started.
Mieke and Maurice Davies are the new co-ordinators for Te Ahi Kaa. Maurice is Tertiary Chaplain at Massey University and Young Adult Minister for the Diocese of Palmerston North and Mieke provides a supporting role.