Mopping the Basement

Lessons from the Hidden Life of a Parish Priest

A lot of people think that a parish priest only works one day a week. Sundays can be busy for sure; but there’s a lot more that goes into running a parish, even as a part-time priest, than showing up to preach and preside at Mass on Sunday mornings. When I first entered the ordination process, I had a pretty good idea of what I would be in for once the bishop laid his hands on my head. I attended a lot of meetings as an active lay person, but nothing on the scale that I do now as a priest. Y’all have no freaking idea.

Take the last couple of weeks, for instance. Many parishes take a break during July and August and then launch what they call the “program year” in September with a vengeance. In the case of my parish, that means Sunday school for the kids, ornate Sung Masses instead of the simple summer Said Masses, and meetings of the parish’s board, called the “vestry.” Diocesan governing bodies also resume their work. So, in one week, I had emails rolling in from the Clergy Disciplinary Board I sit on, a lunch meeting of local clergy with the Bishop, an evening meeting of the local deanery’s clergy and lay members, and a Saturday morning meeting of Diocesan Council at the Cathedral, for which I am my deanery’s clergy representative. I felt run ragged.