In the late 1960s, the Claretian Western Province was looking to expand their ministries and embrace the tide of change sweeping Catholicism on a global level. It was suggested by Fr. Bernard O’Connor to try Team Ministry, a new concept of pastoral care that was directly developed as an outgrowth of Vatican II. When the Claretians were invited to the Archdiocese of Denver, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to experiment with this new model of ministry.
A group of three Claretians, Frs. Bernard O’Connor, Robert Villanueva, and John Martens, arrived at the Shrine of St. Anne in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, in February of 1971. Instead of the traditional model of one priest being assigned as the Pastor of the church with the others serving as his associate pastors, all three served together as equal co-pastors. In a community chronicle, the co-pastors summarized the Team Ministry approach as having three main points to emphasize: Compatibility, shared authority and responsibility, and mutual support and encouragement.
The Parish Team, comprised of the co-pastors (the Claretian priests as well as a Sister of the Precious Blood who engaged in ministry at the parish), met monthly to discuss the pastoral plan and present ideas to the Parish Council. During the first year of their arrival, the Claretians proposed the idea of “mini-parishes” as a way to provide further connection in a large parish where many people would not otherwise meet each other because they attended Mass at different times. The Parish Council moved to adopt this practice and the parish was divided into 71 groups consisting of 25 to 40 families. The parish anniversary book published in 1995 cited this practice as a moderate success, with a few groups still meeting over 20 years after their establishment.
It didn’t take long for the Claretians to expand their efforts in Colorado. In 1973, three Claretians were sent to serve as co-pastors at St. Leander Church in Pueblo, a thriving majority Spanish-speaking parish. The following years also saw the Claretians assuming ministry at parishes in Fort Lupton and Lamar.
While the Team Ministry model was a breath of fresh air for the Claretians and laity alike, it was not without its faults. While many parishioners appreciated the more casual parish environment ushered in by the Claretians, some were overwhelmed by the changes and left to seek more traditionally run parishes. The more egalitarian approach of Team Ministry was overall enjoyed by the Claretians, but the model became more of an ideal than a practical application due to personnel shortages.
By 1982, the Claretians made the decision to withdraw from Colorado to focus personnel on foreign missions. For the all the peaks and valleys in the experiment of Team Ministry, many of the Claretians who participated in the model expressed gratitude in having done so and that its implementation resulted in more engaged and compassionate parish communities.