As a Catholic school teacher, I have sat through countless curriculum development meetings aimed at making more effective teachers. I should be an expert in writing objectives using Bloom’s taxonomy action verbs, limiting lectures to allow for student engagement, and incorporating technology in the classroom. In the end, I think what makes the best teacher, is one that puts his students first. The ultimate goal is that they learn. I am not teaching for myself, I am teaching for them. By the time of Vatican II, the Catholic Church began to make the realization that the Church is the people of God. The people of God are no longer just a collection of sheep that needed to be blindly guided by the shepherds (clergy). They clergy exist for the people of God. Thomas Rausch notes that this realization is evident by just looking at the order ordering of the chapters to Lumen Gentium, (Rausch 24). Chapter two on the Church as the People of God comes before chapter 3 on the clergy.

One lesson leaned in the countless curriculum meetings is that students also generally learn better when collaborating with one another. Students discover new ideas when engaging in conversation with other students. God did not design man to be alone. Even before sin, when the world was still perfect, Adam knew that something was missing, so God made a “suitable partner for him” (Gen 2:18). LG also notes that God does not save man as individual, rather as a communal people (LG 9). The Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops also notes the need for us to be in communion with one another, Call toFamily Community and Participation is one of its social teachings. In a productive classroom, students are united together and learning with the teacher, not merely under the teacher. In the same way, Christians are united together under the guidance of the clergy and with the clergy. The laity are now called to participate in all aspects of the common priesthood, such as serving the poor, participating in the Mass through being Eucharistic ministers, lectors, and active participation in the congregation.

Rausch, Thomas P. Towards a Truly Catholic Church: An Ecclesiology for the Third Millennium.     Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2005. Print.

Photo taken by me at the Jesuit Novitiate in Grand Coteau, LA

QUIZ: What Model of the Church are You?

The Church: Community of Disciples

Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet

 Tintoretto c. 1575–1580

 

 

Dulles’ piece on The Church: A Community of Disciples caught my eye because of the word disciple.  As a life-long member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and now pastor, discipleship is not only a part of our denominations tittle, but it is the term that we often used to describe ourselves to others, Disciples of Christ or in church geek language, DOC. 

In my church tradition we have a heritage that is firmly rooted in the idea that all members of “the church” are ministers that are called to serve the church with their individual charisms or gifts of the Spirit.  As Ronald E. Osborn, one of our notable DOC scholars stated in his book, The Faith We Affirm, “the Disciples of Christ church affirms that within the universal church we receive the gift of ministry in which every member is called to share.  In calling us to be disciples, the living Christ entrusts to each of us a responsible role within the church’s corporate ministry.  Discipleship, itself, is a form of ministry” (78).  It means getting use to stinky feet.

In my faith tradition we use the term of discipleship quite often.  We use it to describe any effort that involves the giving of one’s time and talent to the betterment of the church or the community at large.  For instance, our “kitchen ladies” who prepare for our hospitality luncheon every Sunday are engaged in discipleship efforts.  The leaders of our church board engage in discipleship efforts when they convene to take care of the “business” of the church.  Our deacons who prepare our sanctuary with the hanging of the proper liturgical colors and dressing the Lords Table each Sunday engage in discipleship efforts and our Elders who see to the spiritual care of our members engage in discipleship efforts each time they reach out to one of our congregants to offer guidance, encouragement, or just a listening ear.  As Dulles’ wrote, “the term ‘disciples,’ may be taken as a virtual synonym for Christian or believers” (202). For my community of believers and for DOC members in general, being a Christian means being a disciple of Christ.  It’s deeply relational.  It involves getting dirty and becoming a servant to others.  It involves humility, the ability to say to others, remove your socks and shoes and let me wash your feet.

As Disciples of Christ, we understand the word disciple to have different dimensions.  Discipleship consists of being followers, learners, and in community with one another.  As for being followers, Dulles said it best, “the way of Jesus is the way of the disciple, and discipleship consists of walking the way with Jesus” (201).  Concerning learning we understand as Dulles wrote that “faith cannot be …transmitted in …the classroom or lecture hall.  It is most successfully passed on by trusted masters [members of the church] in a network of interpersonal relations resembling the community life of Jesus with the twelve” (209).  This perfectly describes disciples as learners in community.

Discipleship in my faith tradition echoes much of what Dulles wrote of in this piece.  Discipleship ranges from the mundane to the intricacies of interpersonal relationships, and to the sacraments of the church. Discipleship is everything!

 

Models of the Church for Ministry

        I was burdened by the lengthy presentations of the models of the Church. My impression is that the historical models of the Catholic Church reflected the perspective of its hierarchy who pushed and shaped its clergy and lay members to conform to its level of comfort, physical and emotional, in serving and living among its active members. The increasingly educated and readily available means of information in society calls the Church to be frank and honest in its positions with its members and the world at large. I believe the models of the Church reflect its relationship with its members as its members become more involved in its operations.

        

         The dilemma remains to reach and include those who are alienated, whether self-imposed, imposed by fellow lay members, or imposed by the Catholic Church. Do all Christian believers believe they are called to be disciples and part of the community of the disciples as Avery Dulles claims in his “enlarged” notion of “post-Easter community of disciples” (“The Church: Community of Discipleship,” 202)? What does the Church want of believers who are not faithful? I know, repent and return. For the divorced and remarried, return to what? How can the healing and unifying Eucharistic Liturgy be required of its members and exclude those not in good standing? Who enters any liturgy in good standing? None of us “measure up” (205); the wonder is that God offers to reconcile all of us poor and needy folks. And, yes, I recognize that the cloak of discipleship entails commitment and dedication to an external and internal life of worship and discipleship while living in a world not affiliated with the Church community (206, 209-10). The Church’s outreach to those who fall short in the discipleship category remains a challenge for the community and for me. It is easy to commune with those who want to belong; it is harder to commune with those who believe they are not included.

         I participate in different liturgies in several parishes and faiths around New Orleans, but principally worship in a small faith community, St. Ignatius Chapel, on Loyola’s campus, that has called me to participate as a Eucharistic minister, bread baker, and liturgical artist. In this latter discipleship I have collaborated with another artist and shared with the Loyola community my love of images, symbols, color and design to communicate the Liturgy of the Word in a series of liturgical season quilted art cloths. As Adrian Kellard, an American artist known for his woodcuts and sculptures of religious imagery, said, “…some hear the Word better with their eyes…”

         Now, in my last semester of LIM, I am beginning a sewing class with a small group of older citizens at Mercy Endeavors, a program in the Irish Channel that encourages living a full life with independence, self respect and social engagement, education and recreation. I hope to welcome the students into a blessed community that celebrates creativity and play and curiosity. I view my role as servant and nurturer of the wisdom of the elders in my community; I will be teacher and taught.

What is church (ekklesia)?

There was a lot of information to sort through in the readings this week.  It was no surprise to me that my emotions were affected by the beautiful scripture readings with the many references to Jesus and the building of what we have come to think of as church (ekklesia).  In his book, “Towards a Truly Catholic Church” Thomas Rausch points out that “The New Testament gives us first, the word for church, ekklesia” (46) which “can mean the local congregation or church as well as church in a universal sense” (47).  I was particularly drawn to his description of the mission of the church as “that of Christ, to reveal God’s love through Word and sacrament and to be itself a sacrament or instrument of the communion of all people with God and with one another” (46).  At this point on my spiritual journey, this description rings true for me.  In retrospect, I can see how my own vision of “church” has changed as I have grown-up, both literally and spiritually. 

In the 50’s and 60’s the church was to me as Dulles describes in his “Models of the Church” church as Institution, “the view that defines the church primarily in terms of its visible structures, especially the rites and powers of its officers” (30).  When I reflect prayerfully, I can see how over the years, the work of the Holy Spirit has moved in both the church and in me to broaden this vision of ekklesia. 

Today, when I think of “church” I perceive it as “Paul’s most powerful metaphor for church” (Rausch 57) “the Body of Christ.”  My view encircles all elements of what church has become for me - the tradition and guidance of the institution, the faith sharing and love of the community, the role of steward and servant that comes out of discipleship, the graces that flow from the sacraments, and the mission to continue growing in love as I carry the gospel message of Christ into the world.

LumenGentium describes Christ as “the head of the body which is the church.”  “He continually distributes in His body, that is, in the Church, gifts of ministries in which, by His own power, we serve each other unto salvation so that, carrying out the truth in love, we might through all things grow unto Him who is our Head”.

As I minister to others in the context of spiritual direction, it becomes obvious to me that people can often be stuck in a certain vision (or model) of what the church is for them or what the church should be.  Spiritual direction can help them to cultivate an expanded view of “church” which encompasses the strengths of all Dulles “Models”.

Photo credit:  conciliaria.com