“The Times, They Are A-Changing" - A Series of
Articles
“The Times, They Are A-Changing:”
Changing Demographics and Clustering
Note: This is the first of a series on “the big
picture” of the changing realities and emerging trends facing the Diocese of
Cleveland. On March 12, 2007, Rick Krivanka from the Diocesan Pastoral Planning
Office, John Maimone, Chief Financial Officer of the Diocese of Cleveland, and
Fr. Lawrence Jurcak, Secretary and Vicar for Clergy and Religious gave a
presentation at the Central West District meeting. The data presented in this
article is from their presentation, as well as the presentation given by John
Maimone at the First Friday Club of Cleveland on April 5, 2007.
The numbers tell a now-familiar story. In a country with a growing population
(which recently reached 300 million), Northeast Ohio – the area encompassed by
the Diocese of Cleveland – has basically stayed flat. But in the last few
years, the population has been shrinking. Cuyahoga County has been losing
population (a recent article claimed that 26,000 people left last year), while
surrounding counties have grown. Large cities and their inner-ring suburbs have
lost population as out-migration has continued. Some numbers:
Eight County Population (i.e. Diocese area)
1960 - 2,754,820
1970 - 3,004,834
1980 - 2,841,802
1990 - 2,766,206
2000 - 2,855,129
2005 - 2,839,103
2010 - 2,863,520(est.) (+4% from 1960)
Population Changes by County, 1960-2000
Ashland : + 35%
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Medina: + 131%
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Lake: + 53%
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Lorain: + 31%
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Geauga: + 91%
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Wayne: + 48%
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Cuyahoga: - 15%
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Summit: + 6%
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Cuyahoga County Population
· 1970 – 1,721,300
· 2000 – 1,393,978
· 2005 – 1,330,428 (-23% from 1970)
· 2030 – 1,274,020 (est.)
Cleveland Population
Early 1900’s – approaching 400,000
1950 – 915,000 (7th largest)
1970 – 750,879
1990 – 505,616
2000 – 478,403 (43rd largest)
Early 2000’s – approaching 400,000
What are the implications of these trends for our Church? There are several.
The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel “to the ends of the
earth” (cf. Mt. 28) and to provide pastoral care and ministry for the people
of God. There are Catholic parishes in every area of Northeastern Ohio. As
people moved into new areas, in most cases they found a local Catholic parish
already existing. With an increasing population, those parishes have grown. What
were small, rural parishes have become large, suburban parishes. In some areas,
the influx of new housing has led to establishing a new parish. In areas where
there has been growth, the Church has grown, too – in size, in activity, in
ministry.
At the same time, especially in the urban areas and (more recently) the
inner-ring suburbs, the population has declined. There are fewer people, and a
higher percentage of those people are poorer. What once were large, flourishing
parishes have become much smaller faith communities. Many city parishes were
created to serve immigrants of a particular nationality, who needed and wanted
pastoral care in the own language and within their own cultural traditions. In
our Central West District, 13 of the 19 parishes are considered “nationality”
or “ethnic” parishes. Although immigrants still come to Northeast Ohio, most
of the nationality groups have long-since assimilated and are part of mainstream
American life and culture. Often, these nationality parishes are supported by
people who once lived in the neighborhood, but now come back to “the old
neighborhood” – and the number of those willing to do so shrinks each year.
The result? Parishes in growing areas struggle to meet growing needs, with
their facilities often stretched to the limit and city/inner-ring suburb
parishes struggle with shrinking populations and facilities that are much too
big for their current needs. As a church, we have only partially adjusted to
changing demographics. We have grown to meet increased need, but have not
downsized where the population and needs have decreased. Often, where there has
been population decline, we have more parishes and larger facilities than we
need, either now or in the foreseeable future.
There is a second aspect to changing demographics: the changes in the
Catholic population. There are fewer people in Northeast Ohio who consider
themselves “Catholic” and are registered in any parish.
Catholic Population of the Diocese
·1975 – 965,000
·2006 – 780,000 (-19% since 1975)
Additionally, since the 1960's the number of Catholics who attend
Saturday/Sunday Mass has continued to decline.
Catholics at Mass
· 1970 – 900,00 x 56% = 504,000
· 2006 – 780,00 x 29% = 226,000
Decrease: (278,000) (-55%)
i.e. 55% fewer Catholics at Mass, active in parish, financially supporting etc.
A simple way to make the numbers real is to think about how many people are
in church every Sunday and how many more are in church for Christmas or Easter.
Fewer Catholics at Mass means fewer resources. There are fewer people who are
active in the life of the parish, fewer people to serve as lectors and
Eucharistic ministers, fewer people to serve on Parish Council, fewer people
contributing in the collection, fewer people to reach out to the poor and the
needy.
Fr. Tony Schuerger
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“The Times, They Are A-Changing:”
Changing Realities: Priests and Clustering
Note: This is the second of a series on “the
big picture” of the changing realities and emerging trends facing the
Diocese of Cleveland. On March 12, 2007, Rick Krivanka from the Diocesan
Pastoral Planning Office, John Maimone, Chief Financial Officer of the Diocese
of Cleveland, and Fr. Lawrence Jurcak, Secretary and Vicar for Clergy and
Religious gave a presentation at the Central West District meeting. The data
presented in this article is from their presentation, as well as the
presentation given by John Maimone at the First Friday Club of Cleveland on
April 5, 2007, Vibrant Parish Life II Educational Documents and the Diocesan
Directory.
For the past 30 years, American Catholics have “known” that there are
fewer priests being ordained. As a result, there are more older priests and
fewer younger priests. For many years, this has had little practical effect on
many Catholics in the Diocese of Cleveland. As one priest said, “we just keep
showing up.” In more recent years, the effect has become more obvious:
associate pastors are reassigned from a parish and not replaced, a pastor
retires (or moves) and a Parish Life Coordinator is appointed, with a priest “coming
in” to say Mass. The following charts show the changes dramatically:
In Numbers: an Overview of Key Diocesan Realities: Priests in the
Diocese
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Active Diocesan and Religious Order Priests, Jan, 2007 |
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330 |
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Religious Order Priests, serving 16 parishes
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(30) |
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Active Diocesan Priests, age over 70 (i.e. retirement age) |
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(27)
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Active Diocesan Priests, under 70, Jan 2007
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273 |
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Active Diocesan Priests, Age 65 to 69, at present
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(36) |
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Projected Diocesan Priesthood Ordinations through 2011 |
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21 |
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Projected Diocesan Priests, 2011, under 70
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258
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Note: Projection for 2030: 151 active Diocesan priests
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Note: Currently 231 parishes; 38 priests in non-parish posts |
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Note: Peak, 1940: 582 Diocesan priests (258 parishes) |
To be more specific, our Central West District has 18 parishes and one
Pastoral Center. St. Andrew Kim (which is served by a diocesan priest from the
Archdiocese of Taegu, South Korea). Two parishes (Our Lady of Mount Carmel and
St. Rocco) are served by a religious community, the Mercedarian Fathers. The 16
remaining parishes are served by 15 diocesan priests. Of these, three have
diocesan assignments and serve the parish part-time (including one “Presbyteral
Moderator” who is assigned at St. Procop Parish, where there is a Parish Life
Coordinator). As of January, 2007, the diocesan priests in our District range in
age thus: 0 are under 55 years old; 5 are between 55-60; 5 are between 61-65; 4
are between 66-70; 1 is over 70. Considering the numbers of priests, if we keep
the same number of parishes we currently have the day will come in the next
10-15 years when we have more parishes than we have priests.
Another reality that cannot be described precisely is work-load. Each parish
is different and the demands that are placed on a priest in a particular parish
are, to some extent, unique. It is also true that pastoral ministers can provide
pastoral care in many areas that, in the past, typically were done by a priest.
It should also be remembered that deacons can provide some sacramental ministry
(e.g. baptizing, officiating at marriages and funerals outside of Mass).
However, most sacramental ministry can only be done by a priest.
Consider: the current diocesan policy is that a parish must have 2,800
households in order to have an associate pastor assigned. This means that a
parish with 2,500 households and perhaps 25 weddings and 65 funerals has one
priest assigned, the pastor. In our district, to reach 2,500 households might
mean totaling the population of 5 or 6 parishes, the weddings from 5-6 parishes
and the funerals from 4-5 parishes. In other words, in our district 4-6 priests
are providing essentially the same sacramental care that 1 priest is asked to do
in a larger parish. Can we understand if that one priest (and that parish’s
parishioners) ask: “How is this fair?”
Fr. Tony Schuerger
A Projection of Priests for the Diocese of Cleveland, Study by CARA, June 2005 |
“The Times, They Are A-Changing:”
Changing Realities: Parish Finances and Clustering
Note : This is the third of a series on “the big
picture” of the changing realities and emerging trends facing the Diocese of
Cleveland. On March 12, 2007, Rick Krivanka from the Diocesan Pastoral Planning
Office, John Maimone, Chief Financial Officer of the Diocese of Cleveland, and
Fr. Lawrence Jurcak, Secretary and Vicar for Clergy and Religious gave a
presentation at the Central West District meeting. The data presented in this
article is from their presentation, as well as the presentation given by John
Maimone at the First Friday Club of Cleveland on April 5, 2007.
To call the economic situation of Northeast Ohio “challenging” is an
understatement. For the second time in three years, Cleveland is rated “the
poorest big city in America.” Although there are areas of economic growth and
innovation, the Northeast Ohio area continues to suffer from continued loss in
manufacturing and the replacement of manufacturing jobs with service jobs.
To assess the economic health of the Diocese of Cleveland, it is necessary to
assess the financial health of the parishes. The weekly collection is the
primary source of income for parishes. “Assessments” can be thought of as a
“diocesan income tax” on the collection that each parish is required to pay
to the diocese (the rate is 11.5% for parishes with schools and 16.5% for
parishes without schools. There is no assessment charged on bequests, special
gifts, fund-raising activities or school tuition). The totals of parish
collections and assessments collected by the diocese for the past eight fiscal
years are:
Diocesan-Wide Parish Offertory & Assessment Trends
($millions)
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| Fiscal Year |
Parish Offertory |
Assessments |
| 1998-1999 |
$ 96.1 |
$10.7 |
| 1999-2000 |
$100.1 |
$11.3 |
| 2000-2001 |
$103.1 |
$11.0 |
| 2001-2002 |
$105.9 |
$11.4 |
| 2002-2003 |
$103.4 |
$11.1 |
| 2003-2004 |
$104.3 |
$11.1 |
| 2004-2005 |
$104.5 |
$11.3 |
| 2005-2006 |
$106.1 |
$12.3#
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(Years ended June 30th) #
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- collection efforts re: old balances |
Parish Revenues and Expenses Trends:
• Offertory collections are $106.1 million, up just 3% from 2001 to 2006 (5
years). This was the first year that collections exceeded the 2001-2002 totals
(i.e. the year before the sex-abuse crisis)
• Offertory collection growth is not keeping pace with increasing expenses
• In 2004-2005, expenses exceeded revenues at 86 parishes, 37% of the 232
parishes; in 2005-2006, expenses exceeded revenues at 104 parishes, 45% of the
231 parishes
• Revenue trends for parishes and the Diocese are flat – while expenses
keep increasing
• Considering all parish grade schools, expenses exceeded revenues by $25.9
million
Parish Financial Obligations -- Assessments, Insurance & Benefits Payment
Trends:
Examining parish payment of diocesan assessments, 80 parishes (34%) have
problems with these bills. Of these, 18 parishes are not paying; 23 parishes are
making sporadic or partial payments; 30 parishes are carrying assessment debt
but have returned to paying at the current bills; and 9 parishes are 3 or more
months past due in their assessment payments.
Insurance on all diocesan property, parish churches, rectories, school (and
other) buildings and all personnel benefits (i.e. health insurance and
retirement) are carried by the diocese and funded by each parish and diocesan
offices. Benefits are obligations which parishes are required by law to pay.
However, currently 26 parishes (11%) carry past due balances and only 9 of these
parishes are able to stay current with their payment plan
Parish Savings:
Looking at the savings held by parishes, the 231 parishes combined have
checking, savings & investments of $154.9 million, with total liabilities of
$58.2 million for a combined net savings of $96.7 million. Divided by 231
parishes, this averages to $419,000 per parish. The reality, of course is
that some parishes have much more, others have much less and some parishes have
no savings. There are 17 parishes whose net savings are less than $60,000 – a
low reserve for emergencies. Much more significantly, 60 parishes have negative
net savings (that is, their liabilities exceed savings) and, of these, 27
parishes’ debt does not involve a mortgage.
Concern -- Erosion of Parish Finances:
• Some parishes are using savings to fund deficit spending.
• One way a parish can reduce costs is by cutting back/deferring needed
maintenance. Deferred maintenance of many parish facilities is a huge and
increasing concern. In the past, it has led to the need to demolish buildings,
including churches, because the parish did not have the money for needed
maintenance. Some parishes have had to close for this reason.
• Catholic assets are being used in our Diocese just for the purpose of
maintaining more buildings than we can realistically support due to the changed
demographics
• The only available pool of Diocesan emergency funds is the Bishop’s
General Purpose Fund, which currently has $4.4 million. However, in 2006,over
$300,000 was required to deal with the financial collapse of a school and
another parish. The Diocese will not be able to respond financially to an
extended string of parish and school failures.
Clustering Challenges:
• There are parishes with financial concerns in every District of the
Diocese.
• Perhaps 20 or more of the 69 proposed clusters will have significant
financial / facilities issues within the cluster. This will have a major impact
on what those clusters will have to do and perhaps limit what is possible for
those clusters to do to enhance the vibrancy of the pastoral care and ministry
within the cluster.
Fr. Tony Schuerger
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“The Times, They Are A-Changing:”
Responding to Changing Realities:
Entering into Clustering
Note: This is the fourth of a series on “the big picture” of the
changing realities and emerging trends facing the Diocese of Cleveland and what
is required of us to deal with the challenges we face.
“In every age, the church carries the responsibility of reading the signs
of the times and in interpreting them in the light of the Gospel, if it is to
carry out its task.” (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World, #4)
The “signs of the times” are evident in the Diocese of Cleveland: a
flat/shrinking population base with continued out-migration from the
cities/inner-ring suburbs to outlying areas; fewer priests and an aging priest
population; parishes struggling with challenges of growth/decline, fewer
Catholics attending Sunday Mass and many parishes struggling with financial
challenges.
Clearly, the “signs of the times” require us to act, if we are to carry
out our mission as Church.
The way our diocese is doing this is by clustering parishes and calling the
parishes in the cluster to come together and collaborate to create a future
together. Each parish will be represented by the pastor, a member of the
pastoral staff, a representative from Parish Council, a representative of
Finance Council, and a person chosen “at-large.” During the next year, these
representatives of each parish will meet together as the Cluster Planning and
Coordination Team to create a plan for the future of pastoral care and ministry
for these communities.
One might ask, “How is this different from the kind of strategic planning
process that any business might do when faced with downsizing or a need to
restructure?”
“Keep your Church alert in faith to the signs of the times and eager to
accept the challenge of the Gospel.” (Eucharistic Prayer for Various Needs
and Occasions, III)
What makes what we are being called to do different from the kind of
strategic planning process that a business or a non-profit agency does is that
we are being called to be “alert in faith” to the challenges and
opportunities we face. Although we will be entering into a planning process and
will be called to use all the wisdom and best practices of the planning process,
for us as Catholics this is primarily a journey of faith. The key
question that we are called to pray and reflect on is:
At this time, what is God asking of us as a church?
The great feast of Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Spirit, given freely
and abundantly “to guide you to all truth.” (John 16: 13) We are called to
believe and to trust that the Spirit will continue to guide us as a church, if
we are open, willing to listen, and to follow as the Spirit leads.
This, in turn, requires us to root this process ever more deeply in prayer
and discernment. While it is vital for the leaders and representatives from each
parish to pray as they go through the planning process in their cluster, it is
just as important for every member of every parish to pray for the cluster
planning teams and for our whole diocese during this time.
The greatest enemy of openness is fear – fear of loss, fear of things being
different, fear of what is unfamiliar and new, fear of the hard work and cost
that change entails. We need to take to heart the words of Jesus: “Fear is
useless; what is needed is trust!” (Luke 8:50) We are called to trust – that
God is faithful; that the Lord is with us, according to his promise (cf. Matthew
28: 20); that it is God who is doing “something new” (Isaiah 43:19) and that
the Lord is calling us to fuller, more abundant life (cf. John 10:10).
The greatest enemy of growing together is selfishness and self-centeredness,
focusing on ourselves – on what we want, how we like things, what’s best for
us. We need to open ourselves to Gospel wisdom: “Whoever wishes to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”
(Matthew 16: 25); “For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do
not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and
individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to
the grace given to us, let us exercise them” (Romans 12:4-6); “Your heavenly
Father knows that you need these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.” (Matthew
6:32-33); “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. There is no
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John
15:12-13)
What we are being called to do requires a vision of the common good of the
larger community, rather than the particular good of one community; a
sacrificial love that can “die to self” for the benefit of that greater,
common good; the humility to be open to hear another’s (perhaps greater)
wisdom and receive another’s gifts; the patience and perseverance to journey
together and find a better way.
If we can be open and trusting, humble, selfless and loving, we will be able
to recognize the gifts, to see the possibilities, to embrace the at-times
painful and difficult work of change in order to meet the challenges we face
and, indeed, create something better – more faith-filled, more loving, more
effective in serving the needs of God’s people and sharing the Good News of
Jesus Christ.
Fr. Tony Schuerger
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