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Parish Ministry The following article originally appeared in Salt of the Earth. It is posted here for private use only. It may not be reprinted in whole or in part without the permission of Claretian Publications.   How to get a social-concerns ministry up and running in your parish Richard K. Taylor JESUS' FOLLOWERS ARE NOT MEANT to live and work alone. As Saint Paul says in Romans 12:5, we make up a living community, one body whose head is Jesus Christ. In the words of a popular song: To be your bread now, be your wine now Lord, come and change us, to be a sign of your love. Blessed and broken, poured and flowing, gift that you gave us, to be your body once again. Eucharist is love broken and given, love poured out and flowing. We are to be that bread, that wine, that love for others. Eucharist calls us to "break" ourselves, as Christ did, in the service of others. We are to be Christ's body once again. How can we be that body, acting for justice? How can we employ our many gifts to be peacemakers? BACK IN 1981, WE ASKED THIS QUESTION at my parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Philadelphia. After much prayer and discussion, we came together to form what we called a Parish Peace Ministry. For over a dozen years, our Peace Ministry has been a vital part of the life of our parish, using films, discussions, written materials, and workshops to educate all of us about social issues, helping us respond to important concerns facing our city, our nation, and the world. Some years after we began, the Arch-diocesan Commission for Peace and Justice adopted as a goal the creation of peace-and-justice groups throughout Philadelphia's parishes. When they began this work, only about a dozen such groups existed. Now, we have 90--covering nearly a third of the parishes in the archdiocese. New groups are formed regularly. Some struggle hard and feel frustrated and unappreciated. Others have been well received in their parishes and have done important work in education and action. Imagine if every American parish, congregation, and local church had a trained and effective group striving to live out the biblical call to work for justice and peace. God's passion for peace and justice would be expressed not just by a few religious leaders in their occasional statements or by a few national organizations and their limited membership--but in every city, town, and village across this land.   What is a social-concerns ministry? A SOCIAL-CONCERNS MINISTRY IS a group of Christians in a local church who work together for peace and justice. Living in a world torn by war, hatred, oppression, racism, poverty, and other evils, we want Jesus' prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," to be more than words on our lips. We know that God's kingdom will come in its fullness only by God's action. But, with Christ's help, we want to do our part to make this earth more like that kingdom. We've caught a vision of a world where the sacred human dignity of every person is respected, where justice is more the norm, where the earth is being freed from the torment of war, where people are learning to live in harmony with the environment, where all are moving toward full equality of opportunity and responsibility. Spread across the country and the world in a great variety of congregations, parish social-concerns groups are very diverse. We don't fit any mold. But the following are some qualities that many of us share and that give us our special character as peace-and-justice ministries. MOST CHRISTIANS SEE THE VITAL IMPORTANCE of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and otherwise helping those in need. But we also ask, "Why are so many of God's children hungry, or ill-housed, or dressed in rags, or at war?" We want to address the roots of social problems, not just the fruits. We hear God's call, not only to be charitable, but to work for social justice. Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister tells the story of "Big Boulder" to show the difference between charity and justice. It seems that a massive boulder had fallen into the middle of a highway. Cars would zip around the curve and crash into it. A family living nearby was horrified and moved to pity by the sight. They would help people from their smashed-up cars, tend their injuries, feed them, pray with them, and send them on their way. Finally, after years of compassionate care, one family member said, "You know, we really should try to move that boulder." Members of social-concerns ministries want to move boulders as well as care for hurting people. We know that the poor can be harmed by individual acts of cruelty or indifference, as in Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man. But we are challenged by the realization that many more are damaged by laws and social policies that fail to provide the poor with adequate housing, education, medical care, and other supports for their human dignity. Nations can act like the rich man and Lazarus. Therefore, we reach for a society that--in its laws, its policies, its institutions, its leadership--will treat its most vulnerable citizens as made in the image of God. We want to act justly in our personal relationships, but we also try to remember the prophet's call to change "unjust statutes" and "oppressive decrees" that deprive the needy, "robbing my people's poor of their rights" (Isa. 10:1-2). WE WANT EVERYONE--FROM WHATEVER BACKGROUND--to be treated fairly and justly. But we remember Christ's special concern for the poor. Therefore, we not only try to aid the poor, but we wrestle with how to help empower them and how to stand with them in their struggle for justice. We try to keep in mind the intimate relationship between justice and peace. We remember Isaiah's insight that "justice will bring about peace; right will produce calm and serenity" (Isa. 32:17). We want to be peacemakers in our personal relationships. But we also do what we can to support peaceful ways of resolving conflict and nonviolent methods of working for change in the local, national, and even the international scene. We are inspired by a vision of a world like the one the Psalmist saw when he sang, "Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss" (Ps. 85:11).   Seven Key Characteristics of a Social-Action Ministry 1. Ministry. The term "to minister" means "to serve." It reminds us that one of our main purposes is to serve the Christian community. Our role is not to criticize or judge other members of the parish. We must avoid the temptation to feel superior or "farther along" because of our commitment to peace and justice. Rather, we should look for ways to help fellow Christians on their journey so that they too can hear God's call to be peacemakers and justice-seekers. We must be prophetic without being arrogant. We can minister in the faith that the Holy Spirit is already at work in our local congregation. Christ's Spirit is drawing people to "make justice your aim" (Isa. 1:17) and to "live at peace with all" (Rom. 12:18). We cooperate with the Spirit when we help this to happen. Together, all of us in the local church are the community of Christ's disciples. Together we can find the peacemaking and justice-seeking tasks Christ uniquely calls each of us to. This can be an exciting adventure of discovery, rather than a burden weighing us down.  2. Persistence. We must be realistic about the difficulty of bringing our concerns to the parish and the community. Many parishioners are not familiar with the social teachings of the Catholic Church. They may even oppose our efforts as "too controversial" or "not having anything to do with religion." In some parishes, ironically, "peace" and "justice" are fighting words! Also, work with the poor and efforts to bring about social change are not always easy. All of these difficulties, however, can be a challenge to our creativity and resourcefulness. 3. Prayerfulness. A big temptation in working for peace and justice is to become so concerned with issues, actions, and programs that we forget the spiritual roots of our witness. This is a prescription for burnout. We need to remind ourselves that the source of our work is Christ's gift: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27). Prayer opens us to receive this gift. Therefore, we need to pray individually and as a group. We'll be most open to the Spirit if we, like Jesus, take regular time for prayer, spiritual retreat, and ongoing conversation with God. We are not secular peace activists but followers of Christ who are trying to be channels of God's passion for justice and peace. 4. Friendship. Because the issues of peace and justice are so urgent and often so heart-rending, it's tempting to let our meetings be completely taken up with pressing business. But if we serve the God of love, then it's important to remember the call to express that love to one another. Our "business" shouldn't exclude our "bondedness." Therefore, time can be set aside in meetings for personal conversation so that we become acquainted on more than one dimension. Outside of meetings, we can strengthen our friendship through picnics, potlucks, parties, retreats, sports, or just getting together to talk. 5. Reconciliation. Peacemaking and justice-seeking will not be authentic unless members of a social-action ministry are at peace with one another. We have no greater peace or justice to give to the world than the quality of peace and mutual respect we experience in our Christian fellowship. We dare not forget Saint Paul's words, "Love one another with mutual affection" (Rom. 12:10). This means having patience with each other, trusting and forgiving, working out problems and conflicts. It does not mean that we never have disagreements or discord. Far from it! It does mean that we try to resolve them and learn from them. It does mean that we try to remove violence and injustice from our own hearts and lives as well as from the world. 6. Education. The issues that social-concerns ministries deal with are complex. Therefore, we're challenged to spend time in self-education and in sharing information with one another and with other members of the congregation. We can take advantage of well-informed speakers, study guides, books, magazines, films, videos, and other resources that can help us become better informed. We can join local and national peace and justice organizations whose publications provide both information and inspiration. 7. Action. Education is vital, but equally important is not getting bogged down in what Martin Luther King, Jr. called "the paralysis of analysis." We hear the call, therefore, to engage in a wide variety of actions, both on our own initiative and in cooperation with others. Action can be controversial, but faith, by its very nature, demands action. "Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17).   Issues A Social-concerns Ministry Might Address A SOCIAL-CONCERNS ISSUE EMERGES ANYWHERE that God's will for peace and justice on earth is not being done. Therefore, the issues on which a social-concerns ministry might take action are superabundant. Later, we'll discuss how to discern which issues your own ministry might take on. For now, let's note just a few of the many issues that a social-concerns ministry might address. Poverty. How not only to help the poor, but to stand with them in the struggle for justice and to create a society where the weakest among us have first claim on our efforts and priorities. Affordable housing. How to ensure that everyone, especially the poor, live in housing that supports their human dignity. Homelessness. How to respond compassionately to the homeless in our midst and to work for a society in which no one will have to live on the streets. Unemployment. How to help the jobless find work while at the same time lobbying for public policies to assure that all those who can work are able to do so. Health-care reform. How to respond compassionately to the sick while striving for a system that guarantees access to high-quality, comprehensive, affordable health care for all people without regard to health status, employment, or income. Racism. How to form alliances between majority- and minority-group people in the struggle for justice while building a society where people will be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skins. Ecology. How to be ecologically responsible as individuals, families, and congregations while working for public policies that support conservation, recycling, clean air and water, alternative energy, and other ecologically sound measures. Human rights. How to work effectively to free political prisoners unjustly jailed and often tortured in so many countries around the world and to create structures that prevent such unjust imprisonment. War and peace. How to contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflict in one's neighborhood, city, nation, and world and to find creative nonviolent substitutes for violence. Military spending and disarmament. How to responsibly reduce military spending, channel the funds to meet civilian needs, and provide jobs for those unemployed by military-budget cutbacks. International injustice. How to support people fleeing persecution while challenging powerful governments (including our own) when they use their power to try to dominate, control, and exploit weaker countries. World hunger. How to eliminate hunger, not just by supporting soup kitchens or donating food or money for relief, but by changing government policies and priorities so that we'll no longer have 450 million people in the world malnourished or facing starvation. Some other important issues that a parish social-concerns group might work on are: capital punishment prison reform abortion sexism and women's rights rights of the mentally ill support for families and children tax reform domestic violence mistreatment of the elderly, the impaired, and the disabled working conditions and workers' rights violence in the mass media war toys discrimination against homosexuals welfare reform urban violence and gun control neighborhood development political corruption substance abuse crime reform of the justice system education violence in schools church renewal agricultural policy affluent lifestyles exploitation of farmworkers long-standing conflicts (as in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, and South Africa) international trade policy peace and justice in Central America nonviolent conflict resolution refugees and immigration policy international arms sales foreign policy and foreign aid ending the testing of nuclear weapons. I'm sure you could add other important issues to the list.   How to start a social-concerns ministry HERE IS A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH for starting a social-concerns ministry in your local congregation. It is written in "one, two, three" order, but probably the real-life situation in your local parish will not be so neat. So just use the following as a general guideline. Step 1: Look at your own calling and motivation. Why do you want to start a social-concerns ministry in your church? Have you prayed about this? Is the Holy Spirit inviting you to initiate this work? Do you have gifts to start such a group? Can you imagine this involvement giving you joy and peace? Can you deal with the inevitable pain that comes with trying to respond compassionately to human suffering? Why do you believe your parish has the potential for starting such a ministry? Can you deal with the fact that some people won't be interested--or may even oppose your effort? You also should ask some practical questions. Do you have the time to take this on, given that it probably will involve at least one more meeting per month? Are there other, less important commitments that you could drop to free time for this? Do you enjoy working in collaborative efforts with others? Do you have some initial ideas for what a group like this could do? Are there certain social issues about which you feel particularly strongly and would like the group to address? If you have positive answers to most of these questions, then you're probably ready to take the next step of inviting others to join you. Step 2: Identify interested people. A social-concerns ministry begins when a group of people in a congregation become interested and start meeting together. No need for a big group. Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). Many effective parish-based social-concerns groups started with only two or three interested people. So don't worry if at first you can't think of many people who would join. If your effort is rooted in the Lord, it will bear fruit, whether the group is big or small. How can you locate potentially interested people? Here are ten suggestions: 1. Develop a relationship of trust with your minister/priest. Explain why you want to start a social-concerns ministry. Make it clear that this is your faith response, not just a political activity. See if your pastor will support your effort and suggest people who might be interested. (Sadly, some pastors are unsupportive. In such cases, great tact and wisdom are required to find ways to move forward in spite of this lack of support.) 2. Talk to members of your parish's governing or advisory bodies--the pastoral team, parish council, vestry, session, etc. Ask them who they think might be interested in a local social-concerns group. 3. Think about your own friends and acquaintances from the parish. Who has expressed interest in social issues or seemed concerned about human suffering, injustice, violence, or war? 4. Does your parish have a staff person who specializes in social concerns, e.g., a Parish Social Minister? He or she may be working with people who would be interested. 5. Does your parish already have groups that work on social concerns--a Prolife Group, a ministry to the homeless, a Social Action Committee, a race-relations group? Some of the members might be interested in your ideas. 6. Does your diocese, denomination, or conference have a social-concerns or peace program? Perhaps a staff or committee person there will know someone in your local parish who is on their mailing list or who has attended one of their events. 7. Don't ignore people who are concerned about patriotism and good citizenship. Make peace and justice a good citizenship issue that will attract their involvement. And remember new people joining your church. Greet them warmly, take an interest in them, and ask them if they would like to be involved. 8. Try writing a brief, one- or two-page description of your own concept of a social-concerns ministry. Circulate it in your parish and ask those interested to respond. 9. If your parish has a newsletter or parish bulletin, put a note in it explaining your ideas and inviting people to a meeting. 10. Ask for five minutes at the close of Sunday worship to state your plans, inviting those interested to meet you afterwards. Or get the pastor's support and ask him or her to make the announcement. Step 3: Call a meeting and invite interested people. Decide first what kind of meeting you want. Would the people you are inviting respond best to an inspirational meeting with a good speaker, a thought-provoking film, or a video? Or would the invitees prefer an informal meeting, perhaps in someone's home, where you can discuss the idea among yourselves? In any case, invite the potentially interested people. You'll get the best response if you contact as many people as possible personally or by phone. However, it's also effective to send out mailings, put up posters, distribute flyers, and put a notice in the parish bulletin. Ask your minister to announce the meeting from the pulpit and to lend support. Ask parish groups to announce the event at their meetings. With your minister's support, you might even be able to send a letter of invitation to the whole congregation's mailing list. Give people at least a couple of weeks' to a month's notice so they're less likely to have conflicting commitments. Step 4: Prepare for the meeting. Make arrangements for the location. If you are having the inspirational kind of meeting, invite the speaker well ahead of time and get the equipment necessary for the film or video. In either type of meeting, give some thought in advance to what you want to say and how to gauge people's interest in starting a group. Also, plan a good group process for the meeting (see Step 5) so that people will share honestly and fully. Prepare refreshments. You may want to have some literature available from a local or national peace-and-justice group for people to take home with them. If you've written up your own ideas, be sure to have copies available for everyone. Step 5: Hold the meeting. Prepare your refreshments and put out your literature ahead of time. If you're having a film or video, set up the equipment and test it well before the meeting begins. Here are some suggestions for the first meeting: 1. Open with prayer. 2. Have people introduce themselves, telling who they are and why they came to the meeting. 3. Explain your own concerns--why you called the meeting, why you think it's important to start a group, any ideas you have for its focus, and how it could be gotten off the ground. (Don't take too much time--long enough to express your concerns clearly, but not so long as to dominate the meeting. Encourage others to give their ideas.) 4. General discussion. What do others think? 5. Commitment. Who would like to meet again to start work on organizing a social-concerns ministry? Have a sign-up sheet and get the names, addresses, and phone numbers of those interested. Ask if one or two people would like to work with you to help plan the next get-together. 6. Set a date, place, and time for the next meeting. 7. Closing prayer. 8. Refreshments, informal discussion.   Discernment of issues SOMETIMES A GROUP WILL COME TOGETHER with a strong sense of the social issues that members want to work on. If there's a high degree of consensus in your group about its focus, you may not need a discernment process. Many groups, however, begin with a general belief that their faith calls them to work for peace and justice--but without having specific ideas about which particular issues the group should give its energy. Or, the group may be pulled in several different directions, with some people caring about one set of questions, some about another. Other groups are formed at the pastor's request, but with very little guidance as to their expected focus. Such groups need to spend some time in discernment. The same God who cares about the poor and works for peace on earth also knows your group, loves every member of it, and has a special mission for it. The work of discernment is to discover how God wants your group to use its members' gifts to work on behalf of God's kingdom. Obviously, not every group is called to the same issues or tasks. I know of no simple formula. Each group needs to spend sufficient time in prayer, discussion, study, and involvement until clarity emerges. At some point, the group will be able to say, "Yes, this is our focus, at least for now." Members will share a sense of excitement and energy, a feeling of rightness, of "fit." As Frederick Buechner says in his book Wishful Thinking, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Here are a dozen steps that groups might take to gain that kind of clarity: 1. Pray: In all things, keep asking God to clarify the group's call. 2. Trust: Don't worry about seeing the whole plan. Be willing to take one step at a time. 3. Be flexible: Don't assume that the whole group must agree to focus on exactly the same concerns. If differences persist in the group, set up subcommittees so that members can work on the different issues to which they feel called. 4. Study scripture: Reflect together on passages that touch especially on justice and peace. Ask how they might apply to us today. For example, what does Jesus' story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke l6: 19-31) say about our response to the poor and hungry in our own community and world? What would the compassionate Jesus do if he were a member of our parish and lived in this community? 5. Use a list of issues: Listed above were over 40 issues that a social-concerns ministry might address. Read them over in the group. See if any of them strike a bell. 6. Listen to outrage: Remember that the Bible gives not a philosophical description of justice, but an expression of God's outrage at injustice. What injustices outrage members of your group? Homeless people having to live on the streets? Children dying of hunger? Destruction of the environment? How is human dignity being violated? How are the poor being abused? Can your outrage connect with God's to give a sense of call? 7. Listen to one another's call: Are there individuals in the group who already have a sense of calling or a deep interest around certain topics. Might the issues that grip them also engage the group? Let them take some time to inform the group about what attracts them and why they feel strongly about it. 8. Brainstorm possible issues: In brainstorming, we write on a large piece of paper any ideas the group has for problems it might focus on. No criticism or discussion. Just jot them down as people articulate them. Then go through the list and ask whether any of the questions really "grab" people. If they do, look into them more deeply and decide how to work on them. 9. Note what other groups are doing: Does your denomination or its social-action agency have a social-concerns project that your group would like to support? What problems are local or national peace-and-justice groups currently addressing? 10. Use resource people: Who in your local area are respected advocates for peace and justice? Invite them to meet with you to share their ideas. Draw upon the experience of people who have worked for peace and justice for a long time. 11. Study: Read, read, read. Social issues often are complex. Know as much as possible about the ones that interest you so that your choice of an issue to work on is an informed one. The magazines and newsletters of national peace-and-justice organizations are often the best source of information on this subject. Many excellent books also explain the issues and how to approach them. Learn about peace-and-justice conferences and workshops that you can attend to become better informed. 12. Act: Remember Dr. Martin Luther King's warning about "the paralysis of analysis." Many people begin to hear a call when they become directly involved with the poor--by volunteering in a soup kitchen, building homes with Habitat for Humanity, demonstrating for civil rights, writing letters for Amnesty International on behalf of political prisoners. Since God is especially present with the poor and the oppressed, we can expect to hear God's call as we draw near to them.--END Other practical topics covered in Richard Taylor's book include: leadership, the work of planning committees, setting agendas, evaluating your social-concerns ministry, and specific examples of the many ways a parish might address particular social issues. Peace and Justice Ministry: A Practical Guide can be ordered for $7.50 by calling Brown-ROA Resources and Supplements, 1-800-922-7696. © 1997 by Claretian Publications _____________________________________________________ Ways to deal with conflict RECONCILIATION SHOULD BE A KEY ATTITUDE among members of a social-concerns ministry. Any serious conflict between members should be worked through, and minor conflicts should be dealt with before they become major ones. Here are some proven ideas for working together effectively: 1. Encourage people to take a different view of conflict and disagreement. It's not wrong, dangerous, un-Christian, or something to be avoided at all costs. It's inevitable and can produce creative problem-solving by looking at all sides of a question. Therefore, don't be thrown by differences of opinion. Encourage the expression of differences. Don't form cliques of the likeminded. Reach out to talk/listen to those with whom you disagree. The important thing is to listen respectfully to the differences and then work them through to a common approach. 2. Choose leaders or coordinators who have a positive attitude, are open to the ideas of others, and good at facilitating meetings. A good facilitator keeps the group on the topic with charity and flexibility, gently encourages hesitant members to speak up, and "leans on" those who talk too much. He or she reminds the group of its goals, spreads responsibility, and encourages an open, accepting, warm climate for discussion. He or she is a person who's good at helping the group decide what it wants to do and then to do what it decides to do. 3. Plan meetings ahead of time so that the group meets with a proposed written agenda before it. But let the group add to or change the agenda so they "own" it. 4. Spread out responsibility so that one person is not doing all the work. Set up subcommittees. Encourage and call forth the talents and gifts of each member. 5. If someone's behavior is especially irritating, have the courage to speak to him or her about it frankly and lovingly outside the meeting, rather than just letting it go. If people change for the better, let them know how much it is appreciated. 6. Find ways to counter unproductive behavior right in the meeting. "Excuse me, Bob, but I don't think Mary had a chance to finish her sentence before you spoke up." "Before we hear from someone who's spoken before, let's hear from someone who hasn't." 7. Encourage an atmosphere of loving affirmation of people and their ideas. Everyone should feel accepted and listened to. Encourage everyone to express their own feelings and opinions. Resist the temptation to pounce critically on another's idea, making them feel defensive or withdrawn. Instead, try to say something good about the idea before offering one's own opinion. 8. Encourage group members to really listen to one another. If this isn't happening, ask people to try repeating what the last person in the discussion said before offering their own opinion. 9. Forget the idea that there are "good guys" and "bad guys." Every person can back up their perspective with their own thinking and experience. Try to understand people's opinions and why they hold them. Stay in dialogue with a humble posture. Be open to the possibility that new truth may emerge that no one saw when the discussion began. 10. When people raise objections to ideas, encourage them to turn their concerns into proposals. "My concern would be resolved if (give concrete proposal)." 11. If you're really having trouble with someone, try the three-step approach found in the Bible and other spiritual traditions: (a) Ask, "Am I at fault? Do I need to apologize and set things right?" (b) Go to the person with whom you're having difficulty and honestly but lovingly share what's bothering you. (c) If you can't work it out between yourselves, ask someone else to help you. 12. A sense of humor is always helpful!--END  © 1997 by Claretian Publications