Christian Brothers
Perhaps nothing says more about the future of the Christian Brothers tradition in Memphis than the fact that the new head of Christian Brothers High School is not one of them.
Chris Fay, 34, associate principal at the private high school for six years, will welcome students this fall as principal, the first time in the school's 138-year history that a lay person is in charge.
Christian Brothers University experienced the same phenomenon this winter when the board of trustees named lay person John Smarrelli Jr. president.
While he intends to be at as many nighttime events as possible -- often with his wife and children -- his first vocation is his family, says Fay, father of children ages 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Brother Chris Englert, CBHS principal since 1990, will be freer to do fundraising with out-of-town alumni and work more closely with Catholic schools in Memphis and across the region.
"We've made this transition very gradually," said Englert, who expects little change in how CBHS is run largely because Fay has been the de facto principal for years as Englert took on more and more service to Christian Brothers schools that no longer have brothers on the faculty.
The Christian Brothers -- 5,500 around the world compared to 16,000 in 1964 -- are being forced to put their own where they can do the most good and find what Brother Terence McLaughlin at CBU calls "zealous" lay people to do the rest, including carrying on the spirit of founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle.
"In the last 20 years, we knew something was happening," said McLaughlin. Last year, he wrote "The Passing of the Baton," his view of a religious group forced to see the majority of its work now being performed by others.
More than 90 percent of the teachers in Christian Brothers schools around the globe today are lay people.
This year, in the brothers' Midwest district, which stretches from Minnesota to Memphis, only one postulant entered the fold.
In Memphis, 28 brothers remain; the youngest is 53 and the oldest is in his 90s, making the average age somewhere around 70.
When CBU president Brother Vincent Malham was killed in an accident in 2008, the university had to go outside the ranks to find a new president because all brothers capable of leading a university "were already in significant jobs," said McLaughlin, 86.
The rule of thumb has always been that "one would persevere for every 10 that entered," said Brother Joel McGraw, associate principal at CBHS.
"When I entered in 1964, we had 94 postulants. Forty-five years later, seven are remaining, and three have gone to heaven."
What's happened in the meantime is one of McGraw's favorite topics. He ticks off a list of social changes, starting with the far-reaching effect of Vatican II, which he says shifted the emphasis from church vocations to family vocations.
But as the family fabric continued to fray, fewer and fewer were "praying for vocations," let alone having meals together, he said.
The twin punches of a lifetime of commitment coupled with simplicity and structure sealed the fate.
"When I entered, we gave away our watch and wallet. We had no home visits. We could not telephone and could write home only once a month. The idea was you were separating yourself," McGraw said.
"You take a boy today and you're going to take his cell phone, computer, car and permission to phone people. The idea of 18-, 19-year-old boys rising at dawn to pray and living a very structured life," he says, stopping in mid-sentence.
"They look at you like you've lost your mind."
At CBHS, where the ratio of brothers to lay people on the faculty is 1:10, the notion that one day there will be no brothers is very real.
"The brothers served this town well and have a tradition of greatness," McLaughlin said. "But there comes a time when you must admit, the manpower is getting older."
Instead of quitting, he says the brothers are pushing their college-age proteges to give two years of volunteer service in Catholic schools, including several of the Jubilee Schools in Memphis.
They're sending others to Rome "to get a feel of what's happening in the home office," McLaughlin said.
"Certain nuances will change," he said. "Things will be updated, but I really feel that in the future I can see, these people will be on fire."
-- Jane Roberts: 529-2512
Chris Fay, principal
Born: Feb. 10, 1975
Graduated in 1993 from Martin Brother High School, New Orleans.
Graduated from CBU in 1998. Earned master's degree in 2003.
Taught at St. Benedict at Auburndale from 1998 to 2001.
Returned to CBU in 2001 as assistant director of admissions. Became assistant principal at CBHS in 2003.
Married to Rena Lynn Fay; 5 children.
Perhaps nothing says more about the future of the Christian Brothers tradition in Memphis than the fact that the new head of Christian Brothers High School is not one of them.
Chris Fay, 34, associate principal at the private high school for six years, will welcome students this fall as principal, the first time in the school's 138-year history that a lay person is in charge.
Christian Brothers University experienced the same phenomenon this winter when the board of trustees named lay person John Smarrelli Jr. president.
While he intends to be at as many nighttime events as possible -- often with his wife and children -- his first vocation is his family, says Fay, father of children ages 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Brother Chris Englert, CBHS principal since 1990, will be freer to do fundraising with out-of-town alumni and work more closely with Catholic schools in Memphis and across the region.
"We've made this transition very gradually," said Englert, who expects little change in how CBHS is run largely because Fay has been the de facto principal for years as Englert took on more and more service to Christian Brothers schools that no longer have brothers on the faculty.
The Christian Brothers -- 5,500 around the world compared to 16,000 in 1964 -- are being forced to put their own where they can do the most good and find what Brother Terence McLaughlin at CBU calls "zealous" lay people to do the rest, including carrying on the spirit of founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle.
"In the last 20 years, we knew something was happening," said McLaughlin. Last year, he wrote "The Passing of the Baton," his view of a religious group forced to see the majority of its work now being performed by others.
More than 90 percent of the teachers in Christian Brothers schools around the globe today are lay people.
This year, in the brothers' Midwest district, which stretches from Minnesota to Memphis, only one postulant entered the fold.
In Memphis, 28 brothers remain; the youngest is 53 and the oldest is in his 90s, making the average age somewhere around 70.
When CBU president Brother Vincent Malham was killed in an accident in 2008, the university had to go outside the ranks to find a new president because all brothers capable of leading a university "were already in significant jobs," said McLaughlin, 86.
The rule of thumb has always been that "one would persevere for every 10 that entered," said Brother Joel McGraw, associate principal at CBHS.
"When I entered in 1964, we had 94 postulants. Forty-five years later, seven are remaining, and three have gone to heaven."
What's happened in the meantime is one of McGraw's favorite topics. He ticks off a list of social changes, starting with the far-reaching effect of Vatican II, which he says shifted the emphasis from church vocations to family vocations.
But as the family fabric continued to fray, fewer and fewer were "praying for vocations," let alone having meals together, he said.
The twin punches of a lifetime of commitment coupled with simplicity and structure sealed the fate.
"When I entered, we gave away our watch and wallet. We had no home visits. We could not telephone and could write home only once a month. The idea was you were separating yourself," McGraw said.
"You take a boy today and you're going to take his cell phone, computer, car and permission to phone people. The idea of 18-, 19-year-old boys rising at dawn to pray and living a very structured life," he says, stopping in mid-sentence.
"They look at you like you've lost your mind."
At CBHS, where the ratio of brothers to lay people on the faculty is 1:10, the notion that one day there will be no brothers is very real.
"The brothers served this town well and have a tradition of greatness," McLaughlin said. "But there comes a time when you must admit, the manpower is getting older."
Instead of quitting, he says the brothers are pushing their college-age proteges to give two years of volunteer service in Catholic schools, including several of the Jubilee Schools in Memphis.
They're sending others to Rome "to get a feel of what's happening in the home office," McLaughlin said.
"Certain nuances will change," he said. "Things will be updated, but I really feel that in the future I can see, these people will be on fire."
-- Jane Roberts: 529-2512
Chris Fay, principal
Born: Feb. 10, 1975
Graduated in 1993 from Martin Brother High School, New Orleans.
Graduated from CBU in 1998. Earned master's degree in 2003.
Taught at St. Benedict at Auburndale from 1998 to 2001.
Returned to CBU in 2001 as assistant director of admissions. Became assistant principal at CBHS in 2003.
Married to Rena Lynn Fay; 5 children.
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