School on the Margins
When people think of Catholic schools, I think many mistakenly believe that Catholic schools are franchises of the Church. Parishes sign up for a franchise from the Vatican, the thinking goes, and then must act in accordance. Our education is our Big Macs and fries and we must follow corporate guidelines lock step. Others consider Catholic schools like Starbucks franchises, which are wholly owned and controlled by the central office.
I wish you could take a trip to St. Francis of Assisi School in Lumberton, New Mexico to dispel this franchise notion. In a community of a couple of hundred people located just off the Jicarilla Apache reservation, this school struggles to survive. With only 6 full-fledged employees (principal, secretary, cook, custodian, and a married couple of teachers) and 6 volunteers who are paid only a small monthly stipend and given room in the run-down convent and rectory, the school serves a mostly poor school population of 100 students.
The school is 100 years old and was founded in this former mining community by Franciscan priests and sisters. The historic adobe church is now without a priest and after the coal mines dried up the community which once had 3000 residents now is a ghost of its former self. The students come from disadvantaged backgrounds of poverty and are often grades behind when they come to school.
Last year Pope Francis laid out what has become his rallying cry, “We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalized!” Francis said. “Truly the Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is found and revealed!”
St. Francis School in Lumberton is on the margins. This is where Pope Francis is calling us to meet the people. It looks nothing like our well-run schools in big cities with resources, high tuition, large staffs, and gleaming buildings. In other words, it challenges our ideas of Catholic school franchises.
This is our future in places where the past of mission outposts is where our Catholic faith began. The place inspires us to reimagine our future. On the margins.
Dr. Tim Uhl, Superintendent
Desolate Playground
St. Francis Church
Montana Catholic Schools
Email: superintendent@montanacc.org
Website: www.montanacatholicschools.org
Location: PO Box 1708 Helena MT 59601
Phone: (406) 442-5761
Twitter: @mtcathschools
