Simply Catholic and Welcoming You

Clergy Information Records

St. Brigit's Cross

Clergy information records are used to report ministry activities to the parish, parent church and government entities responsible for authorizing church status and clergy marriage commissioners status in each province.

They are used to keep track of the ministry activities of each member of clergy and to then compile a record for the ministry activities of each parish (where more than one cleric is active).

For a cleric only operating as a clergy marriage commissioner and not involved in any other ministry activities it would suffice to simply send in an abbreviated report listing the number of weddings in each month and year end totals. For someone in full pastoral ministry the full reports would be both more appropriate and necessary. In other words clergy are free to tweak the reports to their specific ministry and likely should do so unless they require the full report.

Such clergy information records, together with any certification and related pictures when appropriate are all that is required when approaching provincial registries to have the church recognized in a province for the first time. The same records submitted to the parish and the parent church allow us to prove and maintain status both as a church and for individual clergy as clergy marriage commissioners.

Thus such records have nothing to do with any attempt to control a clerics active ministry and everything to ensure that both the church and the individual clerics status are proven and maintained by each province and under corporation activities reporting at each years end. (We work on an actual calendar year i.e. January to December.)

Please note that we do NOT require any financial reporting. That is strictly the business of the individual cleric and their tax reporting. As a registered not for profit corporation, St. Brigit's Community Catholic Church does and is required to report our financial activities both to our tax man and our directors as well as the stats arising from the annual clergy information reports for all ministry activities in totality, not individually.

We draw up an overview report for activities for the total church and keep confidential the actual activities for individuals and each parish. That information is their business and NOT ours to share. If individual clerics or parishes wish to share their numbers that too is their business.

Life is life and people are people, collars or not. Sometimes clerics need to be relatively inactive while others have an exploding ministry or 'marriage business'. As the parent church we do have a need to know your ministry activities, in confidence, for our overall reporting requirements. It is in no ones best interests to promote an environment of petty jealousies or competition between clerics or parishes. No one should be revealing or discussing someone else's 'numbers'.

I repeat, that is your information to share as only you see fit or are required to do.

As the parent body, individual records can have some bearing on future ministry callings. Not everyone wants to be a priest for the right reasons and, despite our best efforts it is logical that some may slip through by making the right noises while only actually seeking the 'status' of being a priest. Others only want a small personal ministry at home or with their extended family and friends. Each is called differently and that really is for the best. One is not better than the other.

The problem becomes very clear when individuals start asking to be made a bishop yet it is clear they have no active ministry. The episcopate is not something to be taken lightly nor sought for mere status (nor is any level of priesthood). "By their fruits shall ye know them" does rather sort out the status seeker from the sincere ministers.

Bishops are selected by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the support of those they serve and at the discretion of the College of Bishops based on church needs. This forms a system of checks and balances to ensure that this church grows in the direction dictated by the Holy Spirit and much less by the ambitions of man/people.

The episcopate is not something 'just to have'. It involves very real and sometimes seemingly impossible, hard decisions as both priests and administrators charged with the care of 'the flock'/congregation and other clerics. Administrative capability is absolutely part of the very job description.

That is a subject to be pursued in depth elsewhere and mentioned only briefly here as there is and overlap in collecting, reading and understanding reports and the ministries involved.

Getting back to the clergy information records, here follows a complete monthly or annual report.

Clergy Information Records
reports/monthly/annual

Fr. Philip and Amma Charlene

Sacraments

Masses attended/celebrated/presided

Homilies delivered

Baptisms

Confessions (Sacrament of Reconciliation)

Confirmations

Weddings

Eunction (Blessings for the sick or dying)

Funerals

Ordinations/attended

Worship other than Mass

Liturgy of the Hours

Rosaries

Stations of the Cross

Bible Study

Prayer Group

Friendly Counsel

Visits

Hospital

Hospice

Nursing Home

Private Home

Funeral Home

Community Outreach

Food Bank

Homeless Shelter

Individual Homeless Ministry

Women's/men's Shelter

Bereavement Groups

Animal Shelters

Ecological/Conservation Groups

Community Organizations

Charitable Organizations

Peace Initiatives

Justice Initiatives

Volunteer Groups

Fellowship meetings/other

Personal Online Ministry

Website URL

Blog

Video/You Tube

Podcast

E-Book

Clergy Information Records

Clergy Information Records
reports/monthly/annual

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Clergy Information Records
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