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Rating: 
Summary: Looking for ideas
Review: "Excellent Catholic Parishes" by Paul Wilkes was an accident on my way to reading another book. I ordered it by impulse and enjoyed it the moment it arrived. I am always looking for new ideas. While the ideas for Catholic Schools wasn't huge, as a parish staff member, it was fun to read what other parishes are doing.
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Summary: EXCEPTIONS THAT PROVE THE RULE
Review: "Exceptions That Prove The Rule" may well be a suitable subtitle for this both encouraging and disturbing book.It wonderful knowing there are good things being done in parishes "out there" but it is sad realizing that not all parish staffs possess (or want to possess) the collaborative spirit to make a parish "work". Too often, staff members use a parish to try to fulfill their own varied needs rather than come to ministry prepared to "feed".
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Summary: Catholic Lite Parishes
Review: Any book that includes Holy Trinity in Washington D.C., headquarters of rich and spoiled dissenters, should be put on the remainder stack. They once had a Circus, and I am not making this up, during Mass, including a high wire act over the Altar. No Crucifix behind the altar (Instead, a very Protestant "Cross of Glory;" why not just become an Episcopalian?)
Women preachers and illicit matter for Holy Eucharist
Holy Eucharist given to Protestants
One priest started "Work Groups" on how the Church kept women and gays down, secretly wanted women priests and left the Jesuits to live a homosexual life in Los Angeles
Changing words of the Mass (...)I pray that they can turn this church and all dissenting parishes around before we are chastised. Stay far, far away from this book.
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Summary: A MUST Read
Review: Excellent Catholic Parishes is a must read for those already in parish ministry or those in the process of pursuing a place in the parish ministry setting. I was absolutely uplifted and inspired by this book. The parishes so eloquently portrayed in this book are exemplary in their particular strengths as pointed out by Wilkes and company. The vision of these parishes seems to be the key in making them so successful. I am grateful for all the time and effort Wilkes has put into such a project. This is a great learning tool for anyone who wants to grow and help lead the faithful to a greater spirituality by taking the Scripture of Sunday into daily living on Monday. Thank you for this gift.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent parishes are flawed jewels
Review: Mr. Wilkes offers an inspiring overview of "excellent" Catholic parishes, but the nuts and bolts of running an "excellent" parish are ignored. This is not a "how-to" book as much as a presentation of church communities too good to be true. In fact, I have been to three of these "excellent" parishes and can assure you that they are simply hyped parishes who at one time or another had a charismatic pastor. They are the flavor of the month, and in a few years will look as faddishly ridiculous as afros or SUVs. St. Mary Magdalen in Florida, where I grew up, is now a parish ruled by a "lay-ocracy" of parishioners, typically wealthy, who push through their own programs at the expense of less influential members. They recently raised money to renovate their 25 year old chuch, but wealthy members convinced a weak pastor to spend the money on a gymnasium instead. A product of central Florida's explosive growth, they will be saddled with brick-and-mortar monuments in years to come. Old St. Pat's in Chicago prides itself on a celebration of diversity and ecumenism. One Holy Week, the pastor and his parishioner confidantes decided to cancel the Holy Thursday liturgy in favor of a Seder--limited seating (100 people) at $20 a head. Most parishioners were excluded from a celebration of one of Catholicism's most solemn liturgies. Fortunately, Cardinal Bernardin had a proper liturgy in the cathedral not far from good old Pat's. Santa Monica in California is a touchy, feel-good church with a dynamic pastor, lots of wealthy parishioners (then-Mayor Riordan donated $1 million to repair a bell tower damaged in an earthquake), and enough film stars in attendance to rival Spago's. In the country's largest diocese, it offers good liturgies and an involved community that is unrivaled by other Los Angeles parishes; the diocese has no commitment to liturgy, so anything rising a few inches above the ruck is bound to be considered "excellent." Mr. Wilke would do better to look at the true nature of his parishes, which may not have been possible in his short stays. The diamond may shine on first look, but closer examination shows a diry black core.
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Summary: Catholic Lite Parishes
Review: Mr. Wilkes, also the author of The Good Enough Catholic, presents examples of parishes that he and other Liberal, dissenting types would champion as beacons of Catholic-lite. One example is Christ The King in Las Vegas.
The church has no kneelers, so nobody kneels. The Tabenacle which houses our Lord's body has been shunted
off to a side chapel! Pita bread is used for Communion and,
if you walked in to the Church, you'd never guess it was a Catholic Church. There is nothing adorning it's walls. No Stations of the Cross, no nothing. Not real orthodox stuff.
Word of mouth and trial and error are better guides.
Rating:
Summary: Should be "Excellent Liberal Catholic Parishes"
Review: Mr. Wilkes, also the author of The Good Enough Catholic, presents examples of parishes that he and other Liberal, dissenting types would champion as beacons of Catholic-lite. One example is Christ The King in Las Vegas.
The church has no kneelers, so nobody kneels. The Tabenacle which houses our Lord's body has been shunted
off to a side chapel! Pita bread is used for Communion and,
if you walked in to the Church, you'd never guess it was a Catholic Church. There is nothing adorning it's walls. No Stations of the Cross, no nothing. Not real orthodox stuff.
Word of mouth and trial and error are better guides.
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Summary: Barely Catholic
Review: Paul Wilkes makes the point that's it's okay to be Catholic and have a parish that's vibrant and successful. This work is a pleasure to read and relate to as it points out that to be Catholic doesn't mean boring or ineffective, but evangelical and outgoing. Words such as "unchurched" and "seeker" are heard for the first time within the world's oldest Christian church. What a breath of fresh air! Wilkes has done a tremendous job of research and explanation. I highly recommend this very readable book for everyone that is inside or outside the Catholic faith. If your parish is imprisoned with "that's the way we've always done it" then this is the book for you. "Let my people go" indeed. The Catholic faith is alive and well and ready for the future to serve all if we just give it a chance and get involved. Bring your highlighter with you.
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Summary: It makes you wonder...
Review: When a book starts off with a profile of Walter Cuenin. Pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, MA. You know you're in for a ride, of the drug induced kind. There is nothing remotely Catholic about this parish, nor is there anything quite good about it either. It's a nice place to go to meet a wide variety of kooky people, who will reassure you of your lifestyle, no matter how at odds with the church it may be. But it is not somewhere you want to go if you're seeking to nourish your Catholic faith. THe author holds this parish up as an the prime example, and from there it is all downhill. Admittedly I'm only acquainted with three of the six parishes, OLHC being the one I know most about, but the themes are all the same. From thorough disregard to Church teaching, to playing around and absurd liturgical ideas, to even such esoteric things as bringing in fortune tellers and reiki healers. There is nothing Catholic about these Churches. Yes, they may be large, most people don't like being challenged afterall, they want an easy way out, but rather than symbols of goodness, they are by and large symbols of everything that has gone wrong when the Church embraced secularism. If you want a truly awesome vibrant parish try St. Clement's Shrine in Boston!
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