Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century - Hardcover

Zech, Charles E.; Gautier, Mary L.; Gray, Mark M.; Wiggins, Jonathon L.; Gaunt, Thomas P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0190645164 ISBN 13: 9780190645168

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2017

Synopsis

A seminal moment in the study of U.S. Catholic parish life came in the 1980s with the publication of a series of reports from the ground-breaking Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life. These reports are now badly outdated, as Catholic dioceses grapple with new challenges that didn't exist in the 80s. Topics that were not considered then, like greater Catholic mobility, increased cultural diversity, and structural re-organization as well as the rise of lay leadership, have attained new significance.

This timely book, based on more than a decade of research, provides an in-depth portrait and analysis of the current state of parish life and leadership. Unique in the scope of the research and the timeliness of its findings, the book critically examines the current state of parish life. The authors draw on data from national polls of Catholics, national surveys of parishes, and thousands of in-pew surveys which explore parishioners' needs, experiences, and satisfaction with parish life in the twenty-first century. The book provides a unique 360-degree view of parish life from the perspective of pastors, parish staff, parishioners, as well as the larger Catholic population.

About this title

About the Author:

Charles Zech is a professor of economics in the Villanova University School of Business and the Director of Villanova's Center for Church Management. He is the author or co-author of over 50 articles and 12 books on the topic of church management.

Mary L. Gautier is a sociologist and senior research associate at CARA. She specializes in Catholic demographic trends in the United States. She edits The CARA Report, and is the co-author of eight books on Catholicism.

Mark M. Gray is the director of CARA Catholic Polls and a senior research associate at CARA. A political scientist, he specializes at CARA in attitudinal and polling research. He teaches in Georgetown University's Catholic Studies and Liberal Studies programs.

Jonathon Wiggins is a CARA researcher whose primary focus is helping parishes to plan for the future through Parish Life Surveys. He teaches part-time at Georgetown University, where he once served as a chaplain-in-residence.

Thomas P. Gaunt, S.J. is the executive director at CARA. Prior to CARA, he served in Jesuit governance on the national and province level for sixteen years, and earlier on was a pastor and director of planning in the Dioces of Charlotte for ten years.

Review:

"Much needed, intellectually rich, and clearly written This ambitious project is a highly commendable work that is a vital resource for understanding American Catholic life and, specifically, how parishes operate and function in the context of the twenty-first century. The book illuminates how religious structures like American parishes are currently adapting to serve the needs of their parishioners in this changing context."--Aprilfaye Manalang, Sociology of Religion

"The book provides an excellent background for scholars of religion, pastoral experts, and theologians to bring the best of our methodological tools to weigh on the information available. We ought to be grateful for the groundwork done in this book."-Hoffmann Ospino, Reading Religion

"Parish life is a topic of fundamental importance to the Catholic Church in the United States and its 70 million-plus members. Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century: The Challenges of Mobility, Diversity, and Reconfiguration provides a treasure-trove of data about every key aspect of life in these institutions. Of particular value to those who lead parishes, the book may well transform their approaches to ministry. At the same time vocation directors, too, will find vital information that leads them to new considerations in the way they work."--Horizon

"This book will be of great assistance to pastors and parish staffs in their pastoral work of assessing their local parish by helping them situate their own parish in the broader context of US parishes and by summarizing mounds of data into social/ecclesial trends parish staffs should consider in their parish pastoral planning."--Catholic Book Reviews

"Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century is an essential resource both for scholars of American Catholicism and for those involved in parish and diocesan planning. The authors have produced a timely and important study that reveals the close relationship between demographic shifts among American Catholics over the last three decades and the changes and challenges faced in their parishes. Rich in statistical detail, the book's analyses paint a fine-grained portrait of a living Church seeking to respond pastorally to the increasing diversity of its flock."--Mary Ellen Konieczny, Associate Professor of Sociology and Henkels Family Collegiate Chair, University of Notre Dame

"Though ecclesial and apostolic movements have rightly gained growing recognition among Catholic leaders in recent decades, in the United States the parish remains the basic organizational unit of the Church. Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century is the most comprehensive demographic and statistical snapshot of the changing realities within these faith communities. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in the present and future of parish life."--Timothy Matovina, author of Latino Catholicism: Transformations in America's Largest Church

"Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century informs and illuminates on every page. Demographics, finances, clerical and lay leadership, administrative strategies and more: So much is addressed here. It is an essential sociological snapshot for anyone wanting to think clearly about U.S. parishes in all their complexity and amid the various trends and challenges that affect them today."--Jerome P. Baggett, author of Sense of the Faithful: How American Catholics Live Their Faith

"Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century...paints a portrait of a church that is challenged not so much by hot-button political and cultural issues as it is by the quotidian concerns of leaky roofs and aging priests. Researchers from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) surveyed priests and parishioners at a representative sample of churches across the country to create a fascinating census of the church's strengths and challenges, packed with more details than it seems like this slim book could hold."--America Magazine

"A number of demographic forces have been reshaping the Catholic landscape for decades, causing concem in some places, offering opportunity in others, and changing the church in ways that couldn't be decreed by synods or ecumenical councils...Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century gathers those dots in one place, begins to connect them and provides a timely...outline of a new image of parish life."--National Catholic Reporter

"Catholic Parishes of the 21st Century presents a treasure trove of research and data on parish life in America, among other things capturing the ethnic transformation of American Catholicism and also the impact of growing mobility."--Crux

"A must­read for church leaders, diocesan and parish councils, committees, and staff. An
invaluable resource in understanding contemporary Catholic parish life."--National Federation of Priests' Councils

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0190645164
• ISBN 13: 9780190645168
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176