Chapter 16: every tradition · Christianity
Catholic Church
A parish of the Latin (Roman) Rite of the Catholic Church in the United States: Mass on Sunday and its Saturday vigil, and on weekdays, at an altar with the tabernacle, the crucifix, and statues; seven sacraments; a pastor appointed by the bishop. Parishes range from small rural ones to suburban parishes with several weekend Masses, some in Spanish, and a parish school.
All 80 traditions · its profile in Faiths and traditions, with how to play it; How people feel, what every factor is.
At a glance
| Faith | Christianity |
|---|---|
| Its words | parish, church, nave; the priest leads the Mass; the homily; Sunday; the Bible |
| Worship | sacrament focus, reserved, high formality (1.00 of 1); seated on pews |
| Music | organ expected; song leader expected; recorded discouraged |
| The room's sound | likes a ringing room (organ and choir) |
| Its year | western; full observance; fasts light |
| Leans | conservative on moral questions, liberal on economic ones |
| Polity | episcopal; leaders come by appointment; property denomination |
| Leaders | one leader, full time, trained by seminary; marriage any |
| Belonging | moderate commitment, pastoral discipline, admitted by clergy; a parish of where one lives |
| Giving | tithing not emphasised; collected by plate, online; also stipends, rentals |
| Way of life | alcohol permitted, dress church clothes, sabbath observed |
The week's services
| Day | Time | Service | Led by | People look for it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 8:00 am | Mass | the priest | optional |
| Sunday | 10:30 am | Mass | the priest | expected |
| Sunday | 12:30 pm | Mass (in Spanish, contemporary) | the priest | optional |
| Saturday | 5:00 pm | Mass | the priest | expected |
- Leader: a priest. With none (a vacancy, or no one hired), the parish holds a Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest in place of its own, led by the laity, which costs everyone at it 0.04; on sabbatical a supply priest stands in ($800 a month). A small parish shares its priest with another, who leads only its first service of the week; each later one costs 0.03.
- Communion (every week), served at stations: it needs an altar, communion table, rail, or communion station with clear floor in front of it, or communion can't be given that week. People receive from age 7; anyone younger who comes forward is blessed instead.
- Baptism: needs a font, a baptistry, or an immersion font, built and installed; until there is one, those wanting baptism wait.
- Eucharistic Adoration needs a tabernacle: without it the rite is missed, and its regulars mind.
- Lay helpers at each service: Required: 2 altar servers, a lector; Expected: a crucifer, 2 extraordinary ministers (at communion).
Rites
- Confirmation (yearly, +0.025 to those there): After a season of classes, young people (and adults) are confirmed: they affirm the faith they were baptized into, and the bishop or pastor lays hands on them and prays for the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Reconciliation (weekly, +0.02 to those there): Penitents confess their sins privately to a priest, receive counsel and a penance, and are absolved. Parishes keep regular hours for it, often on Saturday afternoon.
- Anointing of the Sick (on request, +0.02 to those there, asked for 0.05 times a year by a household, 20 minutes): A priest or the elders pray over someone who is seriously ill, lay hands on them, and anoint them with oil, following James 5. It is usually done at home or in the hospital, sometimes at a communal service.
- Holy Orders (on request, +0.03 to those there): A deacon or priest is ordained by the bishop with the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination, after years of formation. It is a great day for the parish the candidate comes from.
- Holy Matrimony (on request, +0.02 to those there): A couple marries before God and the parish, exchanging vows before the priest after a course of marriage preparation.
- First Communion (yearly, +0.03 to those there): Children of about seven, after a year of preparation, receive communion for the first time at a festive spring Mass, the girls often in white dresses and the boys in suits.
- Catechumenate (weekly, +0.01 to those there): Adults preparing for baptism or to be received into the church meet each week with a catechist to learn the faith, pray, and be welcomed in stages before they are received, usually at Easter.
- Eucharistic Adoration (weekly, +0.015 to those there): The consecrated Host is placed in a monstrance on the altar, and people come to pray before it in silence, with volunteers keeping watch in turns. It often ends with Benediction.
- Stations of the Cross (yearly, +0.02 to those there): On the Fridays of Lent, and above all on Good Friday, the faithful walk the fourteen stations of Christ's Passion around the church, stopping at each to pray and meditate.
Baptism, confirmation, and joining
- Baptized elsewhere: it recognizes any baptism in the name of the Trinity. Someone so baptized is received at a service after about 12 weeks (a week from another of its churches).
- Not baptized (or baptized where it doesn't recognize it): a candidate who prepares for 12 months (only months its class can meet count), then is baptized and received at the same service at the Easter Vigil.
- Joining age: 16.
- The church's children are baptized as babies, and are baptized members, without a vote until confirmed.
- Confirmation: from about 13, a class of 12 months (in a classroom or an office, led by the priest or a religious education teacher) prepares them, and the rite makes them full members at 14 or so. It's held only when there are candidates.
- Kinds of belonging: registered parishioners (may hold office); received by the priest.
- What it means: being baptized, confirmed, or received is worth +0.1 to the person, +0.05 to family there, and +0.03 to everyone else at the service. It roots them: a rooted household drifts away only 0.6 times as often, and if it does fall away, it has a 25% chance of coming home each Christmas Eve and Easter for ten years.
Giving, and what goes up
How its people give and what else comes in, as Money explains it for every faith.
- How it's given: the collection, by a plate passed at each main service, and giving online. A visiting household puts $5 to $25 in the plate. Those who give online give whether or not they come (8% more a month).
- Tithing isn't emphasised: people give 10% less.
- Mass stipends: $15 a service, and more with weddings and funerals.
- Renting space: its congregations are known for it, so tenants pay 15% more.
- Fundraisers: any it allows (below).
- Owed above: Diocesan assessment, 10% of what it takes in, to the Diocese; not kept, it costs the wider body's regard.
The priest, the staff, and who decides
- How the priest comes: sent by the Diocese, which moves them on; you can't advertise for or dismiss one, but can ask for a move.
- Paid: full time, at the wider body's scale; housed by the congregation.
- Who they are: trained at seminary; men; never married (celibacy is required).
- Tenure: a term of 6 years.
- Staff it can hire or name (see Staff and volunteers):
- Bivocational priest ($22,000–$38,000; cares for 75)
- Priest ($55,000–$85,000 + $18,000 benefits, full time; cares for 150)
- Associate priest ($42,000–$62,000 + $15,000 benefits, full time; cares for 100 more)
- Deacon (up to $6,000; from the members; cares for 30 more)
- Choir director / organist / pianist ($15,000–$35,000; leads the music (up to +0.06))
- Caretaker ($18,000–$30,000; slows the building's wear)
- Parish secretary ($20,000–$35,000; runs the office (+50 to the leader's reach, once))
- Youth director ($20,000–$40,000; up to +0.08 for households with young people)
- Its boards: the finance council (advising, over the money); the pastoral council (advising, over calls and the spiritual life).
- Renovations: The priest decides, advised by the finance council.
- New construction: The Diocese decides.
- Who votes: no kind of belonging votes, so what would go to the members goes to the board.
Life together
What its Community screen offers it, with the dilemmas only its own faith or family meets; see The congregation in its community.
- Ministries of its own: Choir.
- Ministries every tradition can run that it's offered: Blood drive, Day school, Food pantry, Health clinic, Preschool, Youth group.
- Fundraisers of its own: Lenten fish fry, Soup supper.
- Shared fundraisers it may hold: Auction, Bake sale, Bingo night, Car wash, Casino night, Parish festival, Raffle, Rummage sale.
- Tenants it can take: A Masonic lodge, A scout troop, A twelve-step group, Another congregation, Dance classes, Parties and receptions, Polling place and forums, Wedding receptions.
- Auxiliaries: Altar and Rosary Society, Knights of Columbus council.
- Outreach: invitation Sunday (Community → Evangelism).
- Dilemmas of its own faith (besides those every congregation meets): A petition for cushions, The bells, again.
- Dilemmas its code of life brings: A candidates' forum, A Masonic funeral, A recruiter asks for the hall.
What the building needs
- required AltarBelief in Christ's real presence in the Eucharist calls for an altar, the focal point of the sanctuary.
- required Baptismal fontInfant baptism by pouring needs a baptismal font, traditionally near the entrance as a sign that baptism is entry into the church.
- required TabernacleThe Blessed Sacrament is reserved in a tabernacle between times of adoration. Consecrated elements are reserved after the service, which needs a tabernacle.
- required sacristyVestments, sacred vessels, and paraments are kept and prepared in a sacristy.
- expected CrucifixA crucifix belongs on or near the altar.
- expected LecternScripture is proclaimed from an ambo or lectern near the altar.
- expected Pipe organThe parish expects hymns led by an organ.
- expected Sanctuary lampA lamp burns before the reserved sacrament, a sign of Christ's presence.
- expected StatueStatues of Christ, Mary, and the saints are expected in the church.
- expected reconciliation roomConfession needs a private room, with a screen for those who want one. The sacrament of reconciliation needs a private place to hear confessions.
- discouraged Flaming chaliceThe flaming chalice is another tradition's symbol.
What people here feel
- Architectural style: Colonial brick -0.012; Modern synagogue +0.006; Gurdwara +0.012; Japanese temple +0.024; Islamic +0.03; Shinto shrine +0.03; Chinese temple +0.036; Dravidian temple +0.042; Nagara temple +0.042; Thai temple +0.042; Jain marble +0.048; Gothic +0.054.
- Building fit: up to ±0.15 for everyone, the average fit of the characterful items in its worship rooms (the table below).
- Acoustics: it wants a ringing room, about 2.8 seconds of reverberation: stone, plaster, a high ceiling. Up to ±0.05.
- Seasonal decor: it keeps the church year: paraments and the season's decor are worth up to ±0.040.
- Solar panels: leaning liberal, it's glad of them (+0.02 at every service).
- The homily lands by its topic and the tradition's leaning (below); the priest's preaching adds or costs up to 0.08 more.
- Communion: each communion service runs longer; a slow one costs 0.05 for every 10 minutes the service runs over (0.2 at most).
How each homily lands
The topics its leader can choose from (some are only for one faith or family), and what each is worth.
- Fire & Brimstone+0.08
- Marriage as God Designed+0.06
- Sanctity of Life+0.06
- Social Justice Call+0.06
- The Last Days+0.06
- Care for Creation+0.04
- Faith & Family+0.04
- Faith of Our Fathers+0.04
- Healing for All+0.04
- Obedience & Discipline+0.04
- Personal Holiness+0.04
- Resisting Temptation+0.04
- Spiritual Warfare+0.04
- The Authority of Scripture+0.04
- The Great Commission+0.04
- Wealth & Poverty+0.04
- Welcome the Stranger+0.04
- Biblical Stories+0.015
- Blessed Are the Peacemakers+0.015
- Called by Name+0.015
- Doubt & Faith+0.015
- Eternal Life & Resurrection+0.015
- Grace & Forgiveness+0.015
- Gratitude+0.015
- Hope & Comfort+0.015
- Joy in All Things+0.015
- Love One Another+0.015
- Sabbath Rest+0.015
- Saints & Witnesses+0.015
- Servant Leadership+0.015
- Songs of the Psalms+0.015
- Stewardship & Generosity+0.015
- The Church Year+0.015
- The Life of Prayer+0.015
- The Parables of Jesus+0.015
- Interfaith Understanding-0.05
- Reading Scripture in Context-0.05
- Swords into Ploughshares-0.05
- The Prophets' Call-0.05
- Women Who Led-0.05
- Racial Justice & Reconciliation-0.075
- Radical Inclusion-0.075
Every item, for this tradition
Fit runs from −1 (jars) to +1 (just right); the building fit is the average over the characterful items in the worship rooms. An item with no character (a table, a toilet) has no fit. A rule applies wherever the item is.
Sources
- CARA, Frequently Requested Church Statistics (link)
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (link)
- General Instruction of the Roman Missal (USCCB) (link)
- Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds (USCCB, 2002) (link)
- Code of Canon Law, Book IV (link)
- Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) (link)
- Catholic Information on Lenten Fast and Abstinence (USCCB) (link)
- Archdiocesan properties transfer follows US dioceses (Detroit Catholic) (link)
- Canon 515 upholds bishop's right to close parishes (National Catholic Reporter) (link)
- Stewardship: A Disciple's Response (USCCB, 1992) (link)
- Fiducia supplicans (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, 2023) (link)
- Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture, and Worship (USCCB, 2000)
- Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest (Congregation for Divine Worship, 1988)