Sister Christine Schenk

I wrote an article last week about Sister Christine Schenk, founder of FutureChurch. Her group, based in Cleveland but with national membership, has done a great deal of research about the state of the Catholic Church and its leaders are convinced that the only way to assure Catholics have full access to the sacraments in the long term is by eventually allowing making celibacy optional for priests and by ordaining women.
These ideas trigger a lot of emotion and stir up debate among Catholics (although they're not an issue in most churches today), but one thing that is not debatable about Sister Christine is that her arguments are reasonable, well thought out, and non-confrontational. She is genuinely concerned for the future of the American Catholic Church and truly loves the church. She and her group are seeking ways to keep it healthy and able to minister to the faithful, and are willing to take the heat by promoting what they believe to be viable solutions. Obviously, there are strong feelings on either side of these issues.
My article generated a surprising amount of letters and calls from readers. Sister Christine will be speaking at 7 tonight (July 9) at the United Methodist Church in Kansas, Ohio, on the topic of what Catholics can do to prevent their parishes from being closed.
You can read my article here and find out more about her organization, FutureChurch, here.
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Sylvania, Ohio
July 9, 2008