CHANGE - Part ONE of a Three Part Series

MANAGING CHANGE SUCCESSFULLY
Rev. J. Ronald Knott

(originally written for the Diocese of Lafayette, Indiana)

for a video version

  

As a seventy-six-year-old priest, ordained fifty years, I have seen my share of changes. The first six years of my seminary training took place in the pre-Vatican II church, the second six years in the post-Vatican II church. I have served as home missionary, country pastor, Cathedral rector, vocation director, campus minister, seminary staff member, international priest convocation presenter, Parish Mission preacher, a fifteen-year Catholic weekly columnist and now a volunteer in the Caribbean missions. 

The most important charism of a diocesan priest just might be his ability to embrace change. A monk’s charism it is to settle in one place while a diocesan priest’s charism is a willingness to move from place to place. The most appropriate symbol of a diocesan priest’s charism could be a tent. His “promise obedience” is a promise not to be overly attached to his own preference and point of view for the sake of the unified diocesan ministry. 

The laity of the diocese share in the charism of the diocesan priest when they embrace one pastor after another over the years. They, too, are called not to be overly attached to their preferences and points of view for the sake of a unified diocesan ministry. For priest and parishioner, moving from a point of view to a viewing point is the very best way to insure that unified ministry. 

Diocesan priests need to manage their own life changes, but also develop their expertise in teaching the dynamics of change to the people they serve. 

Phase One – Managing an Ending

We all face “changes” these days, some of them are welcomed and some are unwelcomed, some go smoothly and some do not. Even after lots of changes, our transitions are often left unfinished. It is important therefore to understand the difference between a “change” and a “transition.” 

A “change” is anything that can shake up our understanding of the world and our old priorities. Familiar examples of “change” are: marriage, graduation, divorce, unemployment, the arrival of a new pastor, leaving the seminary, moving from pastoral assignments, locating to a new city, a new baby, ordination, a suicide in the family, children leaving home, entering a nursing home, the publication of a new missal, entering a pandemic, welcoming a new bishop, death of a parent or reaching retirement age. 

A “transition,” on the other hand, is a three-phase psychological reorientation process that people go through when they are coming to terms with a “change.” In that process, there is typically an ending and a neutral zone before a new beginning. 

A “change” is what happens outside us! A “transition” is what happens inside us! People in transition often go through stages similar to the stages of death and dying. They can respond with denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. It begins with an ending—with people letting go of their old reality and their old identity. Unless people can make a real ending, they will typically be unable to make a successful new beginning. Let me cite two personal examples here: one from my next-to-last assignment and the other from my last assignment. 

When I was leaving the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville as its pastor, after fourteen years of nationally recognized revitalization and restoration, there was a movement to name me “pastor emeritus.” That movement was revived, after the three intervening pastors, when I returned in retirement to help-out on weekends. I would not allow it because I did not want to become a “shadow pastor.” In fact, I gave a homily series before I left preparing the people to “let go.” I told them I could not keep coming back to celebrate weddings and funerals. I affirmed the strengths of the new pastor. I let them know that I had given all I could give. I used an image to compare our contributions. “I was good at hacking through the jungle and setting up the town, but I do not make a good mayor. Your new pastor will make a great mayor of the new town that we have built together.” 

When I left Saint Meinrad as the founding Director of the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates and went into retirement, I mistakenly thought I could keep the retirement part of the program and implement it from Louisville. As attractive as that idea seemed, it severely threatened my replacement and triggered a period of extended personal pain. Instead of making a good ending, I thought staying on part-time would benefit the program. In hindsight, I was probably trying to hang on rather than embracing the pain of a clean break. I should have known better. 

When dealing with change, attitude is everything. Change, without embracing the pain of going through the psychological reorientation of the neutral zone is to invite long-term anger, resentment and confusion into your life. In the next column, I will write about this second phase in a typical transition.