Last weekend’s Sun Gazette featured a front-page article about the merger of two of our neighboring Protestant congregations. Like a similar article about us a few weeks ago, reasons for the transition were listed out. The vision for the future was described. I hope and pray it goes well for them.

But, I could not help noticing a couple of things. First, whenever Catholics talk about changing demographics or the need to alter parish structures we get some advice. We hear people say: If the Catholic Church just lightened up, more people would come. If the Catholic Church just ordained women and married people, we’d have the priests we need. But, other Christian traditions—who have shifted on questions of sexual ethics—can’t fill a church on a Sunday either. And congregations who have been ordaining women for some time and married persons since the Reformation don’t have the leadership they need. Seems pretty clear that the issues that face religious communities today are probably more rooted in questions of evangelization and commitment.

Secondly, the article talked—and I presume the best of intentions here—about how “They’ll be welcome at our church.” I hope we avoid—or, better yet refuse to use—that sort of language. It’s not St Boniface’s church, not St. Ann’s church, not St. Lawrence’s church. It’s Christ’s Church. We were all made welcome at our baptism. We like to sing “One Bread, One Body.” Let’s live those words as we navigate our way to our future.