Urban Pastoral Center
(September 2005)
- Background
- Our Vision
- Empowerment & Leadership Development
- Relationship to SoCal 2001 & Province Apostolic Goals
- Conclusion
Background
Blessed Sacrament Parish, which was founded in 1904 and given to the Society of Jesus in 1914, has a long history of ministry to the people of Los Angeles. Today the parishioners and the students of its primary school reflect the ethnic diversity that has become Los Angeles. In addition, Blessed Sacrament now serves a population of working class people, many of who have unskilled jobs in and around the entertainment industry. However, the demographics of the area are changing -- as more middle class young professionals move to the area.
Traditionally, Blessed Sacrament has had an extensive sacramental ministry. While this ministry will continue to be of great value in the future, the style of this ministry will continue to evolve with the decreasing number of priests, and with the theological education of our parishioners.
Our Vision
With the help of Bill Masterson, Province Assistant for Planning, the parish staff, Jesuit and Lay, and the parish Pastoral Council Officers have engaged in a Mission and Vision process which will shape our ministry into the second century of the parish. The theme for our ministry at Blessed Sacrament has become:
"Many Made One Around the Table of the Lord."
We are multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, yet we are made one in Jesus who we celebrate at Eucharist. In addition, our ministry is multifaceted, yet carried out around the one table. We are a center for worship, elementary school education, religious education and social services. Each of these components works best if energized by the others.
Our ministerial vision for Blessed Sacrament is that of an Urban Pastoral Center that offers a variety of ministries to the community. Some of these ministries already exist and need to be expanded. Other ministries need to be added to the mix to complete our vision. All of these ministries would need to be coordinated and focused together.
Empowerment and Leadership Development
Creation of the Urban Pastoral Center will require a shift in the relationship between the Blessed Sacrament staff (religious and lay) and the lay members of the parish. Historically, the relationship between staff and parish members could be characterized as one of "service". In the future, the number of staff at Blessed Sacrament is likely to remain small in relation to an ever-increasing number of parishioners. If the quality of services and programs is to remain high, parishioners must assume greater responsibility. They must be "empowered" to do this. This will require a major emphasis on leadership development across all programs and services in the parish.
Relationship to SoCal 2001 and Province Apostolic Goals
SoCal 2001 is an initiative of the California Province of the Society of Jesus. Its purpose is to foster new and innovative approaches to ministry in Southern California. SoCal 2001 is an outgrowth of the Province Planning Process and the following four apostolic goals:
-- Fostering partnership in our Ignatian mission.
-- Strengthening solidarity with the poor.
-- Responding to the diversity of our Province.
-- Evangelizing contemporary culture.
The Urban Pastoral Center will foster partnership in Ignatian mission in several ways. First, it will involve three other Jesuit ministries, Loyola-Marymount University (LMU), the Loyola Institute for Spirituality (LIS) and the Pacific Institute for Community Organization (PICO). In the spirit of "Convocation 2003," Jesuit and Lay Collaboration both within the parish and in fostering partnerships with other institutions will be of utmost importance.
LMU's School of Education provides on-going workshops in multi-ethnic education for the faculty of Blessed Sacrament School. We will be working to expand the connection with LMU to other parts of the ministry at Blessed Sacrament. LMU as well as Loyola High School also provide Blessed Sacrament with a source of student volunteers for our social service programs, an arrangement with multiple benefits for all parties.
LIS will work with the parish to develop new forms of Ignatian spirituality that can be implemented on a sustained basis. This will involve a combination of missions and retreats anchored by vibrant, on-going Christian Life Communities. LIS is at the forefront in adapting the Spiritual Exercises to the socio-cultural and linguistic environment of urban parishes. Blessed Sacrament has a large and diverse immigrant community. Approximately 75 percent of its 3,500 registered families are from Mexico, Central or South America. Blessed Sacrament also has a fast growing Filipino population.
PICO has brought congregation-based community organizing to Hollywood. The L.A. Voice, the local PICO organization, is providing an important adjunct to the social services offered at Blessed Sacrament by creating the means to address systemic change through leadership development and action for justice in the civic arena. Initiatives have already been taken around affordable housing for families, crime prevention, housing and services for the homeless, and support for the expansion of California's Healthy Families Heath Insurance program.
Blessed Sacrament will also work with St.Brendan's parish in a partnering relationship. This partnership will begin with volunteers from St. Brendan's aiding the Social Service Department at Blessed Sacrament. The Partnership can develop over time into multifaceted and mutually invigorating endeavor for both parishes.
The Urban Pastoral Center will offer many opportunities to strengthen solidarity with the poor. Many of those individuals and families attending Blessed Sacrament can be characterized as "poor". This includes the unemployed, mentally ill, and homeless people, many of whom are served through ocial Services at Blessed Sacrament, Inc. The poor also includes the thousands of working families who struggle to survive on minimum wages as domestics, hotel and restaurant employees. Most do not have health insurance. Economic poverty contributes to the social and political isolation of the poor so that they are unable to address the causes of their marginalization. The Urban Pastoral Center will provide Jesuits, their lay colleagues, and students the opportunity to be with the poor, to serve the poor, and to help the poor help themselves.
The Urban Pastoral Center is a concrete method for responding to the diversity of the Province. Hollywood is a microcosm of the rapid and significant population changes transforming California. At neighboring Hollywood High School over 50 different languages are spoken. Blessed Sacrament itself includes parishioners representing almost every country in Latin America as well as sizeable populations of Filipinos and African-Americans. The parish also serves a large gay population.
The Urban Pastoral Center represents a unique opportunity to evangelize contemporary culture because of its location in Hollywood. Hollywood is the center of the television, film and record industries. These three industries play a dominant role in shaping contemporary American - and world - culture. The Society of Jesus has long recognized the critical role played by communications in influencing and promoting societal values. We at Blessed Sacrament will interface with the entertainment industry as opportunities present themselves. We will also reach out to the inter-religious community of Hollywood so as to bring about open dialogue and a mutual appreciation of our various religious heritages, and to social and civic organizations so that together we can work for the betterment of the community.
The liturgical and sacramental life of the parish will play a key role in the development of the Urban Pastoral Center. This will entail improvements to the physical structure of the church while maintaining the architectural integrity of the building. Also included will be improvements to church furniture, fixtures, and artwork. In addition, attention to spirit-filled liturgical music will be a priority. All of this must be done in a manner that reflects the cultural diversity of the parish while at the same time promotes "a community made one around the table of the Lord."
Finally, the Urban Pastoral Center will build upon the past success of Blessed Sacrament's Elementary School and make it a model of urban, Catholic elementary education.
In Conclusion
The Urban Pastoral Center concept fits well with the rapidly changing face of Hollywood. The ministry would need to be open enough to develop with the times, yet focused enough to offer solid spiritual and social guidance to the community. Blessed Sacrament is in a unique position to make a significant difference to the life of the people of Hollywood and Los Angeles.