Where is the Church?

Welcome to my blog! I was born in Ireland, but I have lived much of my life in America, mainly in Florida. Those of you with an Irish background may find my blog title familiar, from the old Irish blessing "May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back."

We all like to reminisce about the past and sometimes share our vision of the future. I recall sitting late by the fireside enthralled as my father and old friends shared memories of events and characters from their youth. In fact, I remember upon my arrival in New York sharing some of their stories with neighbors from home now living in the Bronx.

However, I want to share other musings from my concerns about the future and the past of an essential part of my life in both countries, the Church.
In my childhood that meant the Catholic Church. Today, and for the last forty-five years, the term includes the many Christian communities we then knew simply as Protestants.

All of us have gone through a period of tribulation, shrinking numbers, falling attendance, a loss of prestige, a loss of influence and a questioning of relevance to today's society, and also through various scandals which affected our credibility in the marketplace.

But such trials can renew and revitalize our faith, energize our mission and lead to a clearer understanding of what Church is and what we are called to as members of our church.

Right now I see the Church in Ireland in a desperate struggle for survival, Overwhelmed by scandals and lacking in leadership. In America the apparently thriving church is dealing more effectively with the same scandals but at the same time it is hamstrung by a loss of the momentum that it achieved after Vatican II and tied up in rigid rules imposed from the top. We are back in the 1950's in many areas.

I'd love to share our ideas about these problems....