The bits I couldn’t include in my Catholic church worker story
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Part of the fun of a blog, I’m discovering, is reinserting the parts of a story that one’s editors remove. This morning DoubleX ran a story of mine that examines the Catholic Church’s firing of lay ministers, women and men who work as parish administrators, directors of religious education and the like.
The story was slimmed down to focus purely on those women who lost their jobs because the church hierarchy perceived them as too progressive, regardless of whether they voiced those views publicly. The editing undoubtedly strengthened the story. But as a writer, my reaction is, “Hey! I had to look that stuff up!” and cuts inevitably trigger an overwhelming urge to find another home for the information.
The story’s focus on progressive Catholics obscures the fact that they’re not the only ones who lose their jobs arbitrarily. Because church workers lack basic workplace protections, they are vulnerable even when they do quote chapter and verse along with the bishop. They can lose their jobs when parishes close or combine, or even when a new pastor takes over a parish and wants to bring in his own team, according to the Cleveland-based church reform organization FutureChurch. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops alluded to this possibility in “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord,” a landmark document on the role of lay ministers published in 2005. The document says that when a new pastor comes in, “it may be desirable in some situations that the term of the lay ecclesial minister conclude, even if subject to renewal. … The potential for tension is present in every transition.”
Call to Action, another church reform organization, is running a campaign for church workers centered on Ruth Kolpack, a pastoral associate fired from her Wisconsin parish. FutureChurch has run a campaign for years calling for the just treatment of all church workers. You can find more information here, including a great quote from Irene Dykmar, former director of the National Association of Lay Ministry.
“Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’ He didn’t say, ‘Be a sheep.’”
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The best stuff often ends up stuck in our notebooks — blogs are a great way to offer it back out there.
Ain’t that the truth. By the time you include all the information you *have* to include for a story to make sense, it seems there’s no room left for the parts that pop and crackle.
Travel writer Rolf Potts published a book last year that mostly compiled his previous work, except at the end of each story he wrote a “commentary track,” like a DVD, that showcased all the interesting fragments he had to sacrifice at the altar of story structure. Often, it was great stuff. But then — that’s writing. The pearls do not a necklace make. It’s the thread that matters.
In response to another comment. See in context »Claire, great reporting, great writing on both ends.
Thanks, Dawn. Much appreciated.
In response to another comment. See in context »