ECHOES

Making Space for the child in the church

"Our Deepest Imperative"
An interview with Fr. Doug Lorig

Our churches are home for the family of God.  When we enter them we also recive messages about who belongs to this family.  During my first week long visit to St. Anne's in Gilbert, AZ I became more and more conscious of the space allocated to the children of the parish, and the decisions that had been made with children in mind when the sanctuary was built three years ago. Fr. Doug Lorig is the pastor there and in the following interview he explained his choices on behalf of children in the parish. Fr. Doug is one of the few Roman Catholic married priests, having first served as a priest in the Episcopal Church.
                      - Catherine Maresca

Father Doug:                                                              

 First of all, I'm a married priest with four children, so I am aware of the place of children in the church. And I'm not uncomfortable with children. Many priests are like teachers who have an age group with whom they are most comfortable. Many are uncomfortable with young children.

  Second, Jesus himself gave particular emphasis to children. The disciples chased the children away. Children can violate your agenda! Jesus didn't like that the disciples chased the children away. He put the child in front of them and said, "Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it" (Luke 18,17). These words are our deepest imperative.

  Third, the parish has many children. I think a community doesn't have children it doesn't have a future. Our parish has 1600 preschool through fourth grade children, 6-800 middle school children, and 500 in high school. During the nine years I've been at St. Anne's we've grown from 800 families to 6700 families. Gilbert has had the fastest growth in Arizona in the past ten years due to the area changing from farmland to a suburban community. We have 99 weekly atrium sessions for the preschool and grade school children.

  Part of our goal is to make St. Anne's a model for large parishes using the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. We serve all the children who come regardless of the commitment of their parents. If we serve the children sometimes the parents come along later.

Some of the decisions we've made to welcome the children are:

• to build a children's shrine outside that includes a fountain, a globe, and painted tiles from Mexico of the Good Shepherd, St. Teresa, and Mary. Mary is holding Jesus and Jesus is holding a child.

• to create a low baptismal font near the altar, fed by a fountain, with an edge that the children can sit on and place their hands in the water. The children are encouraged to bless themselves with the water as a reminder of their baptism.

• to have sixteen icons of the life of Jesus painted. The colors of these icons are particularly attractive to children. These fifteen foot icons are displayed one at a time in an opening directly behind the altar, according to the liturgical feast or season. We introduce the icons to the children and they often know the names of the figures and the stories they tell.

• In the Last Supper icon there is an empty stool "for the child." This symbolizes the place "set" for them at Baptism that they take at the time of their first communion. Without our knowledge and to our delight, the artist painted the floor of this icon "sheep fold green."

• to have glass between the narthex and the sanctuary so parents and their children can still participate, even if a child is too noisy to remain in the sanctuary. Families with young children are expected and encouraged to attend the liturgy with the community if at all possible.

• to have a large and accessible altar area. At our family liturgy the children are invited to sit on the steps for homilies and older children stand around the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer.

• to have set aside nine rooms as atriums for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

  Finally, parents are the first and most significant catechists of their children. To prepare them for this role I am taking 1-2 years to teach instead of preach after the Gospel. During this time I am offering a series called "Living in the Light of the Catholic Faith" based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is a kind of "protoevangelion" because adult catechesis has not been that good, and our adults complain that they don't know the faith. So we are going into the Commandments, the Sacraments, and the Lord's Prayer this year. The community is thrilled!

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