Spiritus Christi community (Rochester, NY)

Spiritus Christi is the name of a faith community based in Rochester, New York, founded by former members of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, who had been declared excommunicated for schismatic practices. The church's goal is to embrace the challenge of the scriptures and celebrates the opportunity to follow Jesus’ message of unconditional love.

History

Rev. James Callan was appointed as the pastor of Corpus Christi parish, a poor, inner city parish in Rochester, New York. He gained great success in rejuvenating the parish community.

Outreach to the Poor

  • 1977 - Fr. Callan is appointed parish administrator and hires Sr. Margie Henninger, who begins walking the streets to discover neighborhood needs.
  • 1977 - Corpus Christi Center begins as a drop-in center and outreach to the neighborhood. It soon becomes a health center serving thousands of uninsured patients.
  • 1978 - Parish begins tithing 10% of weekend collection and giving it to the poor.
  • 1979 - Money first collected for Haiti and sent to Sr. Isabel Lumpuy in Port-au-Prince.
  • 1980 - Supper program for the homeless begins in church kitchen.
  • 1980 - Corpus Christi Child Care Center opens to serve the working poor.
  • 1980 - Rogers House, a home for male ex-offenders, opens after two years of parishioners visiting Monroe County Jail and Attica Prison.
  • 1982 - Winter shelter for homeless begins in church basement; later moved to Dimitri House, which opens in 1986.
  • 1984 - Sanctuary is provided to undocumented Salvadoran refugees in collaboration with the Downtown United Presbyterian Church and other faith communities. Parishioners later travel to El Salvador to connect with two sister cities.
  • 1986 - Dimitri Recovery House opens for men in recovery.
  • 1987 - Isaiah House, a home for the dying, opens.
  • 1987 - Rogers House Restaurant opens to employ people coming from prison.
  • 1988 - Parish raises tithing amount from 10% to 12%.
  • 1990 - Mary’s House, a home for women with AIDS, opens and is run by the Diocese.
  • 1991 - Matthew’s Closet opens as a thrift store and to give away clothes to the poor.
  • 1992 - Mission Possible Youth Retreats begin for parish teens to participate in a week of outreach.
  • 1994 - Retreats in Chiapas, Mexico begin.
  • 1995 - Trip to Borgne, Haiti plants seeds which result in the H.O.P.E. health clinic, grain mill, water purification projects and education initiatives.
  • 1998 - Pearl House opens to house female ex-offenders.

Inclusivity

  • 1975 - Spanish Mass begins.
  • 1975 - Altar girls first serve on the altar.
  • 1977 - Women begin preaching on Sunday.
  • 1978 - Induction loop installed to help people with hearing disabilities. Later, interpreters for the deaf begin signing at mass.
  • 1982 - Parish Community Forum is established to broaden decision-making.
  • 1983 - Family Ministry is formed to welcome and serve families.
  • 1983 - Gender-neutral language is used at all liturgies.
  • 1984 - Everyone is invited to Communion on a regular basis.
  • 1985 - Three Hispanic ministers, including Rev. Enrique Cadena, are hired.
  • 1988 - Mary Ramerman and Julie Rinella lift the cup during the Eucharist, revolutionizing women’s roles at the altar.
  • 1988 - Church is renovated to provide more space for people in wheelchairs and residents from group homes.
  • 1990 - Gospel choir begins in order to welcome more African Americans.
  • 1992 - Hospitality Ministry position is created on parish staff and Myra Humphrey (Brown) is hired.
  • 1992 - City Colors Youth Group starts to reach neighborhood youth.
  • 1992 - Gay and lesbian ministry starts.
  • 1992 - Grape juice is consecrated for those who cannot take wine in Communion.
  • 1993 - Liturgy Committee presents Mary Ramerman with an alb and half-stole.
  • 1993 - First gay union is celebrated.
  • 1994 - Downtown Workers Mass is started to affirm people in their work environment.
  • 1996 - Parishioners gather at Hall of Justice as Fr. Callan is brought to trial for demanding that a tape be returned from a man who recorded it while spying on a gay and lesbian meeting.
  • 1996 - Mary Ramerman begins hearing confessions during Reconciliation Services at the request of women who are uncomfortable confessing to men.
  • 1997 - Church renovations include wheelchair ramp, accessible rest room, and chair lift.

Other important parts of Corpus Christi history

  • 1976 - Thursday Night Mass begins.
  • 1977 - Silver Lake Retreats begin.
  • 1978 - Parish divests itself of stocks and bonds and stops using income from Bingo.
  • 1978 - First house donated to the church; sixteen more to follow. Over 100 cars donated to staff members (parish had over 70 paid employees by 1998).
  • 1988 - Parishioners provide no-interest loans of $100,000 to fund interior church renovations.
  • 1990 - Corpus Christi School moves to Oxford Street and continues to operate. Bingo departs permanently.
  • 1991 - Services are held to denounce the Gulf War and pray for the people.
  • 1992 - Heart of the City Retreats.

Controversy

Thirteen hundred people gathered at Salem United Church of Christ on December 24, 1998 to celebrate Christmas -- and the birth of their new community, which the Diocese of Rochester would eventually find to be schismatic. All present were members of Corpus Christi Church on E. Main Street.

On August 13, 1998, Bishop Matthew Clark removed Fr. Callan as administrator after 22 years at Corpus Christi Church. The Catholic Church had objected to non-Church practices introduced at Corpus Christi: the prominent role of women concelebrating the Mass, the blessing of gay unions, preaching the homily by laity, the hearing of confession by non-priests, the offering of communion to non-Catholics, as well as the offering of grape juice in lieu of wine at the Eucharist. The Democrat and Chronicle carried the news on the front page the following Sunday, which brought a large crowd to mass that day. An estimated 1200 people came back to church that Sunday night to organize a protest against the bishop's action. On many occasions that followed, the parishioners gathered in church to hear speeches from the staff and other leaders and to strategize about whether and how to respond to the bishop's actions.

The parishioners held weekly, police-escorted, candlelight marches from the church to Dimitri House, Corpus Christi Center, and Rogers House Restaurant. The youth group printed t-shirts and protested in front of the bishop’s office at the pastoral center. On October 15, Mary Ramerman was dismissed from her position after she refused the diocese's demand that she remove her alb and stole and not concelebrate during Mass. Her critics are convinced that she had deliberately politicized the altar in an effort to undermine Catholic tradition. In protest of Ramerman’s firing, several women in the parish put on purple stoles, a symbol of women’s ordination, and en contra to Church teaching, and continued to stand at the altar week after week. On October 22, Fr. Enrique Cadena, the other associate pastor, was granted a leave of absence by the bishop for “rest and reflection.” Cadena eventually left the priesthood.

The week after Ramerman’s firing, members of the Spring Committee organized a Tuesday night communion service for Corpus Christi parishioners who wanted to keep their vision of their parish alive. It was the first of many held weekly at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church, a congregation that soon became an important part of The New community’s future. Ramerman led the services.

The crowd attending these services soon grew to about 1000 people, according to church leaders and members. Fr. Callan, who had been reassigned to Elmira, returned on December 1 to celebrate mass with the community, an action that brought about his suspension from the active priesthood a few days later. Meanwhile the Corpus Christi staff continued to work in the outreaches and the parish ministries.

Six staff members were fired on December 14 for their refusal to follow official Church teaching.

By Christmas Eve, many people had decided they wanted to form a new community. Disillusioned by the December 14 staff firings, parishioners wanted to move on and stop battling the diocese.

On January 30, 1999, 500 people met at the Gateway Banquet Center for a Visioning Day for the new community. By the end of the day, plans were made to form a “New Faith Community,” whose spiritual leaders would be Mary Ramerman, Fr. Callan, and Enrique Cadena. Ramerman became the Pastoral Administrator of the community. The new community would rehire the former staff of Corpus Christi Parish, and they would rent space from Salem United Church of Christ on Bittner Street.

The New Faith Community held its first weekend masses on February 13-14, 1999. Over 1100 people attended. Ten days later, the diocese informed the members of the new community that they had incurred laetae sententiae, or had excommunicated themselves from the Catholic Church, because of their actions. On Holy Thursday, April 1, the new community celebrated its first Eucharist. It was held at Hochstein Performance Hall, the former church where the funerals of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass were held.

By August, the community had made three major decisions: to raise the tithing from 12% to 15%; to name the community Spiritus Christi Church; and to begin the first outreach, Grace of God Recovery House. Grace of God began with the purchase of the house on 120 Franklin Street. Over $80,000 was raised for the new ministry in just three months. The parish also voted to adopt a statement of identity: “We are a Christ-centered Catholic community reaching beyond the boundaries of the institutional church to be inclusive of all.”

By September 1999, Spiritus Christi was a “full service” church offering religious education, funerals, baptisms, weddings, unions, weekend masses, and daily services. The new congregation was now able to celebrate its gay unions in a church building, whereas before the union ceremonies had been held offsite in homes, parks, and restaurants.

Relationships with the ecumenical community flourished. The Tuesday Noon Service began at Immanuel Baptist Church with Rev. [...] Myers on February 2, 1999. The Monday Noon Service at Downtown United Presbyterian Church started in March 1999. Later that year, Callan began a service in Buffalo, which is currently held at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension. With the start of 2000, Rev. Don Hoff in Elmira invited Spiritus Christi to join him for a monthly service at the Riverside United Methodist Church. Currently services are celebrated there each Sunday afternoon at 5:00 PM.

Two of the issues that had prompted the formation of Spiritus Christi Church were quickly resolved: the celebration of gay unions in church and the offering of communion to non-Catholics. One issue remained: how to ordain women. A group of twenty-five people met for two years to study the issue. This group sponsored an international women’s ordination conference in July 2000. The following year, Mary Ramerman was ordained a minister on November 17, 2001 at the Eastman Theatre by Bishop Peter Hickman, a bishop of a splinter group, the Old Catholic Church, and other interfaith clergy from around the world. According to organizers, nearly 3,000 people attended, traveling from distant states and other countries to witness the ordination. Hundreds of parishioners, old and young, participated in the ceremony. Ramerman’s first service was held the following day at Hochstein.

In the spring of 2002, Denise Donato was ordained a deacon. After a year of preparation, she was ordained a minister on February 22, 2003 at Hochstein, again by Bishop Peter Hickman, the Spiritus Christi community, and interfaith clergy. That same spring, Enrique Cadena left his position at Spiritus Christi and eventually became an Episcopal priest in the Buffalo diocese. He also married and became the stepfather of two children.

Spiritus Christi continued its tradition of ministry to the poor. Beside the Grace of God Recovery House mentioned above, two new ministries were born. In 2000, Eileen Hurley gathered volunteer psychiatrists and therapists and formed Spiritus Christi Mental Health Center. Lynne Hamilton was hired as administrator two years later. Today, over fifty volunteer caregivers offer their time to provide mental health care to those without insurance.

In 2002, Jim Smith and Judy Simser welcomed women from prison and their children to the newly formed Jennifer House. Dozens of volunteers continue to visit area jails and prisons each week.

Spiritus Christi carried over two international ministries begun at Spiritus Christi Parish. First, they kept their longstanding relationship with the people of Borgne, Haiti, and helped them start a grain mill, new water purification projects, and a credit union for small business loans. Second, the ministry in Chiapas, Mexico, was expanded to include a cooperative coffee venture and a credit union.

In 2003, the church headquarters moved to the Downtown United Presbyterian Church at 121 N. Fitzhugh Street to accommodate the needs of the congregation for space for 250 children in religious education. Dave Foster and Patty Fallon were hired as youth ministers to serve 60 teenagers. Ralph Kuitems headed a team of volunteers to remodel the space. A special meeting room was dedicated to Maureen Nielsen, who died in Haiti in 2001.

In the fall of 2003, the first Visioning Board was elected to maintain the vision of the church and to provide an accountability structure for the pastors. Ched Myers and Joanna Manning joined the board as spiritual consultants.

In 2004, Myra Brown gathered a group of racially diverse parishioners to meet weekly, sharing life stories and prejudices. Myra was appointed to serve on the Racial Diversity Board of Call to Action National and began attending a three year training program. The Mental Health Center opened the Living Room two days a week as a drop-in center for their clients. Amy Durkee-Pollock was hired as part-time administrator. The Mother Earth Community was formed and began leading Spiritus Christi parishioners to better care for the earth.

On January 8, 2005, the Visioning Board conducted the second Visioning Day for Spiritus Christi in the hopes of harvesting the vision for the future and deepening the values already held. The Prison Ministry began to dream of opening a residence for male ex-offenders and wrote their first grants for that project. This vision will soon be a reality as The Nielson House is set to open in January 2008.

Supporters and Critics

Supporters of Spiritus Christi consider the church to be pioneers of a more progressive catholicism that will eventually emerge in the future. The legitimacy of this claim, however, remains to be seen.

To their critics, however, Spiritus Christi is a fringe sect of schismatics. Few seem to question the good intentions of the Spritus Christi outreach programs; the problem lies in the fact that the Spiritus Christi members claim to be Roman Catholic, while at the same time flaunting the authority and traditions of the very organization they claim to represent.

At this time, healing the rift between the Spiritus Christi members and the rest of the Church seems to have no chance of success. Spiritus Christi is unwilling to recognize that anyone other than they themselves might have final authority in spiritual matters, whereas the Church cannot accept dissenters in its midst and still maintain its claim to universal authority over the Church of Jesus Christ.