The R.C. Diocese of Albany announced its plans to plan for restructuring in the Diocese (read Church closings).

Like Buffalo, and so many other R.C. Diocese in the United States, Albany is engaging in the businesslike process of evaluating assets and liabilities, cash flow, and infrastructure in light of its overall business model and customer base.

Wow, I should be a consultant. I can schmooze with the best of ’em.

Unfortunately, the model for these processes is well established. Identify the weak assets and cut and run. The Fix Buffalo blog refers to this as dumping and flipping churches.

The property is dumped and flipped to unsuspecting not-for-profits or other owners at a low price. The new owners cannot support the cost of repairs/maintenance and the property deteriorates. This often adds to the blight in already depressed neighborhoods. The magic is that the Diocese is absolved from responsibility for these structures. Rather than the Bishop ending up in court for code violations, the not for profit does.

For some great info check out Fix Buffalo’s article WWJD and their planed Tour de Neglect.

In any event, the announcement regarding the Albany process was featured in the Albany Times Union: Bishop asks faithful to plan future – Two-year process will allow parishioners to guide diocese’s reorganization.

I’ve excerpted a few of the statements that jumped out at me:

ALBANY — The leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany urged parishioners to come together with “courage, strength, conviction and vision” as they embark on a two-year discussion to prepare for sweeping changes in the church.

The process, known as “Called to BE Church,” will involve closing some parishes and combining others in the 14-county diocese, Bishop Howard Hubbard said Monday. He urged Catholics to stay receptive to new possibilities, participate openly in the discussions and draw on prayer.

“It’s a marvelous opportunity to go back to our roots and assess what do we really want to do, and be, as a church,” Hubbard said. “Will it allow us to have a better future? I believe yes.”

I don’t know. I thought who the Church is and what it does was settled a long time ago. Wasn’t it something about teaching all nations and baptizing them? While we are at it, what roots will the R.C. Church in Albany be going back to? Are they doing restorationism? Are they going back to Trent?

Statements like this are scarry in that they reflect a lack of faith in what the Church is. It’s like the Episcopal Church’s decline into apostasy. They’ve searched so hard for what they want to do and be that they forgot who they were.

…

“It’s ultimately my decision to accept or reject recommendations that come forward,” Hubbard said. “However, there’s always an appeal.”

Yeah, like appeals have ever worked. The Bishop is the final voice in the Diocese. He shouldn’t be leading people on. I’d say, ‘well you can appeal, but you’ll loose, so don’t bother.’ At least that would be truthful.

…

“We want to see why people are not participating and consider how we, as a church, can welcome them back,” Manning said.

Let me guess what the solution will be —“ based on this article alone —“ reinvent what the Church wants to do and be.

I just had a thought, the new hymn for the Diocese:

Strangers in the Church: scoo-do be do be. Wondering what to do, shoo do be do be. Still so confused, not knowing what to do…

The bishop did not rule out the possibility that parishes may need to be closed before the completion of the planning at the end of 2008.

“My hope is we can wait,” Hubbard said. “But if a reality overcomes that process, I have to have the freedom” to act.

You already do Bishop, everyone already gets that point, but thanks for the heads-up.

This suggestion has been made elsewhere, and was previously noted in this blog – get rid of the dump and flip business model, it makes you look like a caricature of bad businessmen. Rethink your model and process and invent solutions that are in tune with what the Church is and does (you don’t need to reinvent the ‘is and does’ part – God already gave you the Word).