I had the chance to chat today with a priest from the diocese of Poitiers in France. He is here in Canada working on a degree and teaching at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. His particular area of study is in the way the Church communicates her moral doctrines in the world today. Given my interest in blogging and social media, he wanted to get my take on the subject.

This being said, once our interview was over it was my turn to ask questions. My own area of study was in ecclesiology, that is to say the study of the Church, and I wanted his take on things. In most dioceses in the Western world, parishes are merging into megaparishes, in part because of a shortage of priests, and in part because of a shortage of parishes where the faith is truly alive on the level of the community. In theory, these merged parishes should allow for a combining of resources (human and financial) to permit effective pastoral care. There are some who criticize this approach, however, saying that it creates a pattern of pastoral care that is too distant from the local reality of the people.

As it turns out, however, the diocese of Poitiers has been experimenting with a new ecclesiological model for some time now that actually runs counter to this current trend. Rather than necessarily merge parishes into megaparishes, the former bishop of Poitiers (just recently retired) gave them the option of re-forming into “local communities” whose leadership comes from a team composed largely of volunteers. This team has a standardized structure (and with the priest a part of that team), and all the members are confirmed in their appointment by the diocesan bishop, but the local community is responsible to come up with the lay persons who are part of the team (who then receive support and training from the diocese).

The Poitiers model has its critics. Some see it as the adoption of a more presbyterian or congregationalist model of governance for the Church, opposed to the traditional parish structure. Others even go so far as to propose that Poitiers is trying to create a church without priests. Supporters of the model, however, do point out that the Poitiers process has created local communities where the people cannot be merely passive recipients of pastoral services, but who necessarily must take responsibility for the life of that community. That’s a good thing.

It will be interesting to see how the Poitiers model will evolve (or not) now that the diocese has a new bishop. A similar structure has been used in many missionary environments, and I know this young priest I met is an enthusiastic supporter of it. In the end, though, a tree can only be known by its fruits. If this new way truly is of the Spirit, guiding the Church to become more missionary even in places that have known a more traditional Christian structure, then we will see those fruits of dynamic and joyful charity.

I’ve already written about my shifting of my e-presence to other media, but I’ll still a person occupying time and space (I’m not 100% virtual)! My new role means I’ve had to move office locations too, and try to get set up in that respect.

I must confess, I can’t stand moving. I am sure plenty of blog readers are with me on that. In my case, I don’t have to move my residence, just my office — but even that is quite enough! Thankfully, many amazing people have stepped up to give me a hand, with both the big stuff (furniture) and the little stuff (where to put the pens and post-it notes).

Of course, one of the positive sides to moving is you get a chance to take a look at all the stuff you’ve accumulated to see what you need to keep and what you can scrap. I’ve got myself a shredder and I’m not afraid to use it :-) so now what I need to do is run through the archives and decide what has past its best-before date. The sort of review process doubles as a good training exercise as well, especially for someone like me who is starting in a new role.

Finally, one of the fun sides of moving is the chance to put stuff up on your walls! A friend gave me an icon of Christ, the Good Shepherd, which I look forward to finding a place for, as a constant reminder of who the *real* shepherd is.

Today Bishop Lepine and I had a chance to offer our thanks to those at the office who helped organize the ordination — invitations, ceremony, reception, and so on. It was team effort, including someone from liturgy services, someone from the chancery, our communications people, the Cardinal’s MC, and so on, all coordinated by the Vicar General. The event was simple, just a bit of coffee and cake after lunch, but I do feel it is important to highlight how generous people were in giving of their time and talent to make everything such a success. For example, at least one person essentially sacrificed her vacation to play her part — wow!

Of course, there were many others involved who were not present at the celebratory dessert, so let me take this chance to post here my tremendous gratitude to all of them. The ordination was truly a celebration of the Church, not just in its liturgy, but in everything surrounding the event. I remain deeply honoured by the generous contributions of everyone.

While being a bishop is truly a remarkable experience, it can have its mundane side. Today was one of those days, in that part of assuming new responsibilities at the diocese involves changing offices. The filing cabinets came in yesterday, and I moved the computer myself, giving me a functional work area (as I told a friend who asked if I was still in my old office, “where my computer is, I am”). Today another friend helped me bring all the remaining odds and ends from the old office to the new one. Of course, it is all now just sitting on my conference table, waiting to be put away — something I’ll need to figure out before my next TV interview next week. But at least I no longer feel disconnected from the tasks at hand — it is amazing how important a good work area is to peace of mind.