About 60 employees of the Chicago Archdiocese were told this week they must reapply for their jobs — the first wave in an overhaul of the nation's third-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese.
The staff reorganization is part of a multiyear initiative to revitalize the 2.3 million-member church in Cook and Lake counties. Employees for 11 offices that exist to support parishes will no longer hold the same positions after July 31. The archdiocese employs about 15,000 part-time and full-time workers in its pastoral center, schools and parishes.
All of the staff affected are at the Cardinal Meyer Center, a South Side branch of the church's headquarters that houses the Department of Parish Life and Formation. By Aug. 1, that department's name will become Parish Vitality and Mission, and the 11 offices will be consolidated into four, named for the church's renewed priorities: evangelization, lifelong formation, divine worship, and human dignity and solidarity.
The reorganization is the first step of an effort unveiled this year by Archbishop Blase Cupich to determine how many of the archdiocese's 351 parishes should close by 2030.
In addition to finances and pastor availability, mission vitality will play a significant role in determining how many parishes survive. That vitality will be based on people in the pews and less tangible, more pastoral metrics such as whether the community supports one another in prayer and worship, engages the millennial generation and brings newcomers to the church, fulfilling the church's and Pope Francis' call to evangelize.
The staff reorganization is an effort to make sure parishes know they aren't alone, said the Rev. Peter Wojcik, co-director of the Department of Parish Life & Formation, who stopped at every desk in the Meyer Center on Thursday to address employees shaken by the news. While the reorganization might eliminate some positions, Wojcik said staff reduction is not the goal.
"Unlike other changes, this one has nothing to do with savings or with downsizing," he said. "This one is all about helping us be more effective in supporting the vitality of our parishes."
Wojcik said employees were asked to reapply for jobs so they seriously contemplate how they fit into the department's new mission. Professional development and mock interview opportunities have been offered in recent months to help prepare for the transition, he said.
"We really want to help people understand that the orientation of services changes," Wojcik said. "It's not just business as usual. 'We're not just regrouping you.' We really want people to step away and say 'Do I buy into this?'"
Plans for the reorganization began last summer with a study of how other dioceses are designed, including Boston, Washington, D.C., Detroit and Brooklyn.
Todd Williamson, longtime director of the Office of Divine Worship, said he plans to reapply for his job. While he's shaken by the uncertainty, he is confident it serves a purpose.
"The archdiocese is in a process. It's a process I believe in," Williamson said. "I want to be part of it. ... It's a very difficult way to go about it, and it's sinking in for us too. But I think that's where we need to be as an archdiocese, particularly with what the parishes are going through."