Glossary of Terms

Chapel:  There are several types of chapels, including chapels of adoration inside parish churches or sanctified areas of other buildings, such as hospitals. For the purposes of this reorganization, a chapel is a church that is dependent upon, and subordinate to, a parish.

Parish: A worshipping community, usually based on geographical boundaries, centered in a church. The parish is administered by a pastor, who may be assigned solely to that parish or to multiple parishes. Parishes may also be personal parishes, which have no territorial boundaries , but minister to specific groups.

Closed parish: A canonical declaration by the Bishop of Lansing, in consultation with the presbyteral council, that a parish ceases to exist. Parish members join one of the neighboring parishes. This can happen at a designated or later date.

Cluster: A grouping of two or more parishes served by one or more priests. The parishes retain separate identities, but collaborate in the sharing of ministers and resources.

Cluster with the intention of merging: Two or more parishes served by a single pastor and other ministers. While the clustered communities may collaborate in many aspects of ministry, they have separate administrations and sacramental life. At some future date, the parishes may merge with one or two worship sites remaining.

Merged parish: A parish joined with two or more parishes into a single new or consolidated parish. A merged parish may have two worship sites.

Pastoral coordinator (PC): Assigned by the bishop and supervised by a canonical pastor, pastoral coordinators provide pastoral ministry and administrative leadership for a parish community. A canonical pastor may have responsibility for sacramental ministry in more than one faith community.

Region: The diocese is divided into four regions (eastern, northeastern, northwestern and southern) to facilitate greater collaboration between the parishes of the region and diocesan central offices.

Sacramental responsibility: The canonical pastor has responsibility for sacramental ministry in clustered parishes. The bishop will appoint another priest to assist.

Vicariate: The subdivision of a region consisting of a group of parishes for the sake of mutual support and collaboration, pastoral planning and the sharing of resources for the benefit of the faithful within this subdivided region. Each vicariate will have a vicar who is appointed by the bishop. The vicar convenes the pastors, parish ministers and parish leadership to facilitate the purpose of the vicariate.