Community organizing can bring Gospel to bear on local needs
Reprinted from the Catholic Anchor Newspaper, August 1. 2003
By Most Reverend Roger L. Schwietz, O.M.I., Archbishop of Anchorage
You may have begun to hear the words “congregation-based community organizing” here in the archdiocese. This process, while new to Anchorage, has renewed parishes and brought the Gospel to bear on the social issues of local communities throughout the United States.
Examples of successful congregation-based community organizations abound in the United States. In Kansas City, Church-Community Organization successfully fought for legislative protections for borrowers of payday loans. In Florida, Action Network congregations joined forces to address youth recreation needs. The San Diego Organizing Project called upon city leaders to support a multifaceted plan to address affordable housing issues. In New York, Rochester Interfaith Action called attention to the need for increased police presence and zoning and code enforcement.
In each of these examples, people of faith came together to bring the Gospel to bear on community needs.
At the heart of community organizing is the knowledge that being in just relationship with God and one another requires an intentional commitment. In community organizing, this commitment is first manifested in one-to-one conversations among parishioners.
My own experience with congregation-based community organizing dates back to my days as a parish priest in Duluth in the 1980s.
An ecumenical group of us pastors formed an organization that received training, listened to the people about the social needs of the area, and worked together with local officials to address those needs.
After I became bishop of Duluth, I was able to support another such organization outside the Duluth area that accomplished a great amount of good, especially for the elderly.
In January, I hosted here in the Anchorage Archdiocese Father Norman Rotert, a board member of the Pacific Institute of Community Organizations. Father Rotert spent several days in the archdiocese, meeting with priests and ministers from many denominations to share his own experience as a parish priest building community organizations.
In the months that followed Father Rotert’s visit, eight pastors from four denominations, including three Catholic priests, agreed to begin the process in their own congregations and formed the Anchorage Interdenominational Sponsoring Committee.
Building faith-based community organizations in our Catholic parishes comes at a critical time in our church, in our community and in our state.
In the past decade, our communities have become increasingly diverse. The local parishes are a wonderful reflection of that diversity, but with diversity comes the challenge of how to best welcome the stranger among us.
We bishops recognized this challenge in our pastoral letter, “Welcoming the Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity.” Community organizing — beginning with intentional one-to-one visits among parishioners where they share their hopes and dreams and struggles — is a significant step in building relationships and bringing parishioners together across ethnic lines.
The state of Alaska currently faces difficult economic times, as evidenced by the difficult choices that confronted us during the last legislative session.
These challenging times are most evident in the lives of the people — when parishioners leave church on Sunday, many must struggle with securing affordable housing and health care, keeping their children safe and their families intact, all while trying to balance two or more jobs to stay out of poverty.
Through community organizing, we can create a web of relationships within our parishes, and with fellow parishioners, friends, and neighbors we can solve the problems that so many of our people must face.
In “Reclaim the Fire: A Parish Guide to Evangelization,” Franciscan Father Martin Pable describes community organizing as “reaching out and bringing the good news of God’s presence into a troubled neighborhood” and “working with people of good will to transform society with the values of the Gospel.”
In the past few months, St. Anthony Parish in East Anchorage adopted community organizing as a tool for evangelization and parish renewal. One-to-one visits began in the parish this summer and those conversations will continue in the months and years to come.
Other parishes have committed to following St. Anthony’s lead. I applaud their efforts and pray for their success.
We in the Archdiocese of Anchorage must continue to be an evangelizing force in our local communities. Community organizing is one tool for evangelization that may well transform individuals, parishes, and the community. It is a way of bringing hope to many brothers and sisters.
+Roger L. Schwietz, O.M.I.
