Once upon a time, there were many viable faith communities and spire-topped churches dotting the rural landscapes of southeastern Wisconsin. These local farming and small-town communities had built their parish edifices stone by stone as a testament to their Catholic faith. These pioneer families remained spiritually attached to their parish communities over many decades as generations were baptized, married and buried there. More often than not, the very sites upon which these buildings sat had been donated by the great-grandparents of families whose descendants are still living there and working on their farms or in nearby towns.

The insides of these church buildings were as familiar to family members as were the walls of their own homes. Family lives were measured by parish celebrations and the cycles of the liturgical year; and the bells of their churches rang joyfully or mournfully, but always proudly, as a daily call to prayer throughout the surrounding countryside. That was once upon a time, but no longer. In recent years many of these parishes have closed their doors; others soon will. In this archdiocese, parish-based communities under 500 families are commonly deemed "non-viable" by ecclesial authorities. The decisions for closing and merging these parishes are made in chancery offices, far from the people being affected by such policies. In many cases parishes forced to close were both spiritually viable and financially sound. Nevertheless, such closings occur and will continue to do so.

One such parish was Saints Peter & Paul in rural and unincorporated Nenno, Wisconsin, 35 miles northwest of the city of Milwaukee. It was founded in 1867 and built by local farming families. For over 130 years it served the spiritual needs of its people; but it closed its doors seven years ago, when three parishes were merged into one and the parishioners of the two closed parishes were told to attend services some distance away at the one that still remained open. There is no end in sight to this merging and closing process, as our archdiocese follows a now familiar pattern. We continue to lose far more priests per year than we ordain.

Yet the Spirit is alive. As the Source of Wisdom and of the Unexpected, she is able to provide us with a direction bypassing ecclesial policies and obstacles. In this instance, the buildings formerly housing the Roman Catholic community of Saints Peter & Paul - church, rectory and school - were put up for sale despite the protests of parishioners. The beautifully crafted altars were ripped from the walls, as was the confessional, leaving gaping holes in the interior structure of the building. After a while, a benefactor came forward to purchase the buildings from the archdiocese. This man in turn supported the dream of a young woman, Karen, who wanted to open a much-needed children's daycare center in the former school building; so he made these buildings available to her.

With volunteer help, Karen and her husband Roger converted the former Catholic school into a comfortable, up-to-date, state-certified child daycare center that they named A Children's Garden. She, her husband and six children moved into the former rectory and made it their home - surely now resonating with more life than it ever did before! She then began - as time and money allowed - to refurbish the church building. She, her husband and a group of volunteers rebuilt the gouged interior walls, painted and cleaned the church, laid down new carpeting, did some tasteful redecorating, and soon had the church ready to serve as a nondenominational wedding chapel. The church itself retained many of its original assets, including beautifully stained-glass windows, a large choir loft, an old but reliable organ, handcrafted pews and excellent acoustics.

It was at this point in time that our paths crossed - Karen's and mine. After joining the Federation of Christian Ministries some years ago, I had developed a small wedding ministry. Occasionally, engaged couples, instinctively recognizing the sacredness of their vowed commitment, were looking for a church ceremony. I had heard of Karen's chapel and met with her to inquire about its availability. During our conversation, we shared our stories with each other. Karen, who had been raised Roman Catholic for the first eighteen years of her life, knew that there were still people in the area who were no longer active in parish life since the closing of Saints Peter & Paul a few years back. These people were disappointed by the archdiocese's decision to close their church and felt they had been left without a spiritual home.

A few months after this meeting, Karen surprised me by asking if I might be willing to reopen the closed doors of the parish church and start up a faith community for these marginalized people. Despite tremendous support from my wife Anne, I thought it helpful to have another priest on board to share the responsibilities. Soon afterwards, I met with David Gawlik (ordained for the Milwaukee archdiocese, married to Cathy, and currently editor of CORPUS REPORTS) at soon a local George Webb's to present him with the challenge of a shared parish ministry. His response was both positive and generous, so we embarked on this new journey together.

We determined early on that we were to be a Eucharist-centered and inclusive faith community that would be a home for prayer, song and worship for people of any and all denominations. Over multiple cups of coffee at Webb's (which had quickly become our weekly meeting place), we hammered out an identity and mission statement, established ourselves as a non- profit entity with a board of directors and tax-exempt status, and planned an inexpensive advertising campaign. Then on May 27, 2001 we officially reopened the doors of this time-honored church - calling our community Jesus Our Shepherd (JOS).

Immediately there were strong negative responses. First from Archbishop Rembert to Weakland, who referred to us in his "internal letter to God's people" as a "fly- by-night operation" with an "anything- goes" theology. He warned pastors to alert their local congregations that they were not to participate in our liturgies. Some pastors obeyed enthusiastically in their Sunday bulletins, referring to us as "former Catholic priests" who "want their cake and eat it too" and who are "misleading the faithful." Karen too caught some phone static via threats of legal action by the chancery for allowing such people as us to use the church for Eucharist celebrations! However, after a few phone conversations with this imperturbable woman, they left her alone.

We too were soon left relatively alone, except for a few crank calls and letters to the editors in some local newspapers. Fortunately, there was no direct action church officials could take against us; neither we nor our wives and family members were currently employed by any Catholic institution. (That's a punishment favored by many ecclesial authorities, as undoubtedly some readers have experienced in their lives.)

At Jesus Our Shepherd, we welcome all who come not just to sing and worship with us, but also to eat at the Banquet. We believe that Jesus in his life and teachings modeled inclusivity; so when church rules or policies prohibit people from eating at the Table, these rules and policies become null and void. We welcome people of any and every denomination or of no denomination at all. We especially welcome children and encourage them take part in the liturgy and to ring the church bells before and after services. We invite people to participate at whatever level is comfortable to them. Some of the people now praying with us in church are returning after many years of being estranged from parish life and worship; for this we are grateful.

Shortly after the parish doors were reopened, the JOS community was graced by the ministry of another married couple: Jim Ryan and his wife Jean Ford. Parishioners stepped forward as readers, singers, musicians, presenters of gifts and of petitions, Communion ministers and leaders of fellowship - yes, we have fresh bakery, coffee and juice each Sunday after our 9:30a.m. Eucharist.

We presently have a small community. In fact, the church has been filled but once, and that was for the funeral Mass of a member of one of the "founding" families in the area. When his parish closed its doors some years ago, he refused to attend Mass at the parish designated by the archdiocese. At his death, he was registered at no parish but was readily accepted at JOS. Well over 200 people came to Mass and Communion that evening. The only other time our church had a large number of people was at our Christmas Program and Liturgy, concelebrated by the three of us. On that occasion, just before the final blessing, we invited our wives to stand alongside us at the altar and the six of us belted out a hearty rendition of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to the surprised congregation. We doubt that scene was replicated anywhere in the country that Christmas morning!

Where we go from here we do not know. We do know we need to be attentive to that very same Spirit that first opened these doors for us. We belong to Jesus' "Reign of Nobodies," and in that reign we don't play the "numbers game." What we are doing is offering people a more pastoral, and hopefully more Christ-centered, perspective on what parish ministry is about. The doors remain open.

(photo courtesy of Ray Guarascio)

~ Rev. Frank Baiocchi, Married Catholic Priest

262.673.6071

~ Rev. Jim Ryan, Married Catholic Priest
262.763.3940