Criteria of the Excellent Parishes - Essay Example

Excellent Parishes Introduction Christianity teaches the lesson of love, grace, compassion, and honesty for its adherents. These values reflect the special relationship between God and man. They help in strengthening the faith through positive actions and behaviors. Believers can enjoy guidance through the presence of parishes. These play a prominent role in the lives of the community. The parishes help individuals to seek solace and comfort with God by leading a righteous life. My experience with a parish was excellent and exceptional because I learned about new behaviors and actions. It also helped to change my personal notions and attitudes. Parishes must adhere to high standards of excellence and quality in order to achieve success in the community. Wilkes criteria are a set of broad guidelines which help to define the characteristics of excellent parishes. An excellent parish should be proactive and dynamic with respect to the challenges of contemporary society. It should be able to devise innovative solutions to problems and obstacles. The parish should adopt a pragmatic approach in attracting new members. It should develop the spiritual values of the community. Further it should not adhere to a set of strict rules and dogmas. It should be flexible and responsive to the needs and requirements of the community. This paper will assess my parish in the light of Wilkes criteria. Common Traits Parishes need to demonstrate commitment and dedication towards the faith by taking proactive and dynamic steps to integrate with the community. The inherent tensions between sacred and secular knowledge should act as a stimulus to develop innovative solutions to problems. This can be achieved by developing a theological framework that caters to the needs and requirements of the community. My parish has been able to achieve such an objective by realigning its goals with that of the community. Most members of the community belong to the worker class who work for factories and industries. A leading automobile manufacturing plant had been negligent in the provision of safety equipment for the local workers. This had been catastrophic as some senior workers were complaining of ailments. The parish successfully mobilized the community to fight for the rights of the workers. The result was a major lawsuit in which senior workers were awarded compensation by the company. According to Wilkes criteria, parishes must be able to develop personalized messages that are in harmony with the needs and requirements of the company (Wilkes, 158). The above incident demonstrates that the parish was successful in accomplishing the objective. Parishes must be able to constantly question their basic goals and objectives. This approach helps them to respond to the challenges posed by contemporary society. Specific values like compassion, mercy, love, and affection should be extended to all sections of society (Wilkes, 159). My parish has been actively engaged in a number of neighborhood programs and services. It initiates food kitchens, temporary shelters, and counseling programs for drug addicts. These activities demonstrate that the parish is able to offer spiritual guidance and counsel to deprived sections of society. Wilkes criteria specifically describe parishes as being responsive to the needs of any individual. The use of positive and affirmative messages can help rejuvenate the faith of Catholics who have been negligent about their religious duties. My parish has been unable to attract teenagers to its primary mission and objective. This is a significant limitation that can hinder the ability of the parish to devise innovative solutions to contemporary problems. This can be blamed on rigid attitudes and notions that fail to take into account the rapid changes in modern society. My parish does not believe that teenage criminal offenders should be rehabilitated in society. It insists that justice should involve prison sentences for criminal activities. Wilkes criteria specifically mention that parishes must be able to devise flexible solutions without compromising the core values of Christianity (Wilkes, 159). Further an effective parish should seek to create unity and integration in its community. This approach helps to unite the people among the common values of faith, belief, and action. Institutional Policies and Procedures The Roman Catholic Church has a number of broad guidelines, rules, and regulations. These policies provide a structural framework for the management and administration of parishes. An ideal parish should adhere to the formal rules and regulations in order to ensure conformity with Catholic beliefs. However Wilkes criteria argue that a pragmatic and practical approach should be developed towards such procedures (Wilkes, 161). My parish has been conservative in its approach towards contemporary problems. It assumes a negative attitude towards abortion by supporting the pro-life segment. The parish has launched campaigns to highlight the problems caused by abortion. Parishes must be distinguished in their ability to rid the community of ideological issues and problems. This approach helps to promote tolerance, harmony, and acceptance for divergent worldviews. The community that attends that parish focuses on the core values of Christianity like compassion, mercy, forgiveness, patience, and brotherhood. Despite the conservative nature of my parish, it has been able to embrace people with different attitudes and notions (Wilkes, 161). This creates an atmosphere of tolerance and forbearance without compromising on the fundamental rules of the Catholic Church. Wilkes criteria mention that parishes should use motivation and stimulation to create a flock of believers (Wilkes, 161). This approach helps to create positive attitudes and notions about the Catholic Church. It creates a spiritual environment in which individuals are willing to listen to sermons and lectures. They are ready to implement Christian values in their daily activities and affairs. My parish invokes the messages that the Old Testament and New Testament carries for the believers. It does not unnecessarily engage in debates about contemporary issues. It does not impose its beliefs because it respects the diversity of the community. The basic tenets of Christianity must be presented in an articulate and eloquent manner. It should not merely consist of lectures that are taken from the Gospel. It is essential to develop the understanding and perception of the community towards the true faith. My parish often talks about the benefits of leading a righteous and virtuous life. It enjoins the believers to have true faith in order to create a just and humane society. It constantly warns about sins as transgressions that can destroy the fabric of society. The parish focuses on creating a society that is filled with love, compassion, and mercy. Wilkes criteria argue that an experienced pastor should guide the proceedings of the parish (Wilkes, 163). This is due to the fact that experience and wisdom can come only through constant engagement with the community. My parish has a number of experienced pastors who attempt to integrate the basic values with the community. They constantly focus on social and cultural issues that the community faces. An experienced pastor was responsible for creating a program that helped drug and alcohol addicts. This program has been highly successful in reducing addiction rates in the community. Community Relations A parish can survive only by enjoying good relations with the community. This means that it should genuinely look into the interests and aspirations of the members. It should devise appropriate mechanisms to solve the problems of the community. This approach helps to create high levels of devotion and dedication towards the parish. Wilkes criteria mention about parishes as enjoying congenial relationships and associations with the members (Wilkes, 163). This helps to foster a climate of cooperation and collaboration between members of the community. My parish strives to create an environment in which the members can discuss their problems and concerns. This approach helps the parish to become a source of spiritual guidance for many people. It offers special services during grief, tragedy, and calamity. A strong sense of community support has helped in the viability of the parish. It has created a conductive environment in which the community can seek solace and comfort. The parish should develop excellent standards that enable it to become an integral symbol for the community. The members should be vibrant and dynamic to spread the teachings of the Gospel to other individuals. They have a cheerful and bright attitude towards life and its challenges (Wilkes, 164). Eventually they understand that the world is a temporary place because it acts as the transition towards eternal life. My parish has always tried to adopt an affirmative view about the world. It tries to motivate individuals to focus on their inner strengths and advantages. Further it encourages them to use strengths to overcome limitations and weaknesses. An excellent parish is distinguished by its ability to integrate divergent communities. It does not attempt to create uniformity and consistency in religious beliefs and ideas. It values the different methods to find the truth. The true purpose of parishes is to enlighten the divergent communities about the common values of Christianity. These values are essential for achieving self actualization and self esteem (Wilkes, 164). My parish constantly motivates its members to redefine their basic objectives every day. This approach helps to create a cheerful and positive attitude towards life. However there are some problems that my parish has not been able to overcome. Its conservative attitude towards contemporary issues is often reflected in its sermons and lectures towards the members. These issues can sometimes cause disputes and conflicts. This can hurt the main purpose of parishes as spreading the knowledge of the Gospel to the masses. Wilkes criteria argue that it is essential to focus on universal values, norms, and beliefs. This approach helps to create a collaborative environment since every individual with diverse beliefs can identify with the parish. Nature of Work Every parish must be able to implement honesty and integrity in its values. This approach helps it to become interlinked with the happiness of the community. The common people should be perceived as being intelligent and smart. They should be able to perform the tasks and duties that were exclusively the domain of trained ministers and pastors. Wilkes criteria argue that parishes must accommodate the common men into the ministry. This approach helps to develop understanding and sympathy about the spiritual responsibilities of the parish. Unfortunately my parish has not been able to understand this point as it continues to focus on having trained pastors for its services. Quality is crucial for the parish in managing and administering its activities. The requirements of contemporary society stipulate that excellent remuneration packages should be offered for staff members. This approach helps in retaining a talented and qualified work force. My parish has a brilliant program that assesses the specific competencies of potential workers. This program assesses skills like patience, communication abilities, trustworthiness, honesty, and integrity. It uses assessment instruments to retain talented workers. This approach has paid dividends because the workers are responsive to the needs of the parish. They are able to act as intermediaries between the parish and larger community. Spiritual Responsibilities Spiritual development and enlightenment must be the core activities of parishes. This can be accomplished through the extensive use of prayers and worship. Religious rites and rituals play a critical role in the spiritual development of the masses. It helps them to achieve a sense of satisfaction with God. They repent for their sins and offer thanks for the blessings given by God. A parish must be able to create a powerful spiritual environment that nurtures the members (Wilkes, 165). My parish has a systematic program for prayers that is based upon special circumstances. Every festival like Easter or Christmas has specialized prayers that reflect on the core message of Christianity. The events of Jesus Christ and Apostles are eulogized in prayers. The lessons of the Old Testament and New Testament stories are elucidated in a clear and precise manner. Parishes should focus on the purpose and meaning of humanity as elucidated in the Gospel. This mission is to serve God by creating a just and humane society. It involves the application of right actions and behaviors. Human beings should respect and admire each other (Wilkes, 167). They should take steps that do not cause harm or injury to other individuals. Such an attitude can help eradicate the problems of egoism and selfishness in contemporary society. My parish regularly holds programs that serve the interests of the marginalized sections of society. It has a temporary shelter for homeless people while it runs an orphanage to place children into foster homes. Conclusion Wilkes criteria provide a set of comprehensive guidelines and regulations about excellent parishes. It helps to create a consistent and uniform policy to improve the efficacy of parishes. My parish has acted as a source of strength and nourishment for the community. It has created a sense of unity and integration while promoting Christian values. It has helped to establish a collaborative and conductive environment where brotherhood, tolerance, and acceptance are promoted and practiced. The parish has a number of activities that helps it to become an essential part of the community. It tries to safeguard the rights of marginalized members of society. It offers guidance and counsel to troubled individuals while helping to rejuvenate faith in lapsed Christians. The parish regularly offers food kitchens and shelters to deprived individuals. It has a special program to treat alcohol and drug addicts. One of the greatest features of the parish is that it uses special prayers depending upon the situation. However a certain conservative mindset prevails in the parish. They are reluctant to compromise on key issues like celibacy and abortion. Further many disputes and problems break out in the parish. There is a formal structure of management and administration that can sometimes become unbearable. The parish should seek to adopt a proactive and dynamic approach towards contemporary problems. This can be achieved through the presence of clear and precise goals. Works Cited Wilkes, Paul. Excellent Catholic parishes: the guide to best places and practices. Paulist Press, 2001. Print. Read More