Establishment of the Council of Elders
Dear Parishioners:
I am enclosing with this letter one of the most important documents of
the twenty-five years’ history of our parish, our Covenant! It is the re-establishment
of lay governance in union with the pastor and the bishop of Richmond, Virginia.
While its importance may not be readily recognizable, it will become
more important in the years ahead of us when a struggle about serious issues
might erupt.
It corrects the errors of clericalism within the Roman Catholic Church,
not to mention other errors of autonomous congregationalism, pseudo-democratization,
and anti-Gospel Americanism (the majority rule).
Jesus left us few guidelines, but extricating all the germane texts and
attitudes of Jesus about impartiality, etc., we rightly conclude (especially
from the Acts of the Apostles) that He founded a church that relies upon
consensus of the faithful, achieved by prayer, reflection, discernment, and
sometimes serious fasting – not on votes, cliques, power-grabbers, or individual
or group interests.
The poor and the marginalized are always at the center of both our ministries
and our expenditures. Everyone in our church is equal, beyond the founding
fathers of this country’s wildest dreams.
Not only can the pastor call a special meeting in times of emergency
or a true crisis, but also the Elders and/or ten percent of the registered
parishioners can do the same. At any time an individual parishioner can
fill out page 13 of the Covenant, bring it to his/her Elder, and have it
placed on the agenda of the next regular meeting or a called meeting.
This Covenant, ratified on January 12, 2003, should not become a legalistic
document or rule of order, but should primarily be a guide, based upon our
best understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the early church as
to how we are to discern our mission and ministry in the local, diocesan,
and universal Church.
It will energize our prophetic role as a Catholic community in the city
of Virginia Beach and in the diocese of Richmond, Virginia.
May our feeble attempts to imitate the Apostolic and sub-Apostolic church
enhance our Catholic Way of Life in the twenty-first century.
Full of confidence in the mission and ministry of all, I am
Gratefully,
(Rev.) Thomas J. Quinlan
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