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2005:61) the Church acknowledges the differences between people, encountering

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the other precisely as other (Congar cited in Howland Sanks 1989:107-108) . This
opens up a relational model of Church (Bishop’s Conference 1998:6) which is

inseparable from human history that is both its ‘life situation and its cross’ (O’Meara:
1999:82-89). Significantly as the secular order becomes progressively more complex

and disassembled within post-modernism, the positive benefits translated from
culture may be accompanied by more corrosive elements. Therefore when Byron

suggests that we should apply ‘best practice from business to our parishes’ (2010:40-
44), and Lyall proposes a need for more professionalism in pastoral care (2000:317)
is this a proper concern for improved efficiency and quality in the service the Church

provides? Or rather is the Church being drawn into a performance culture that
focuses on ‘skills’ and ‘outcomes’, rather than meeting the spiritual needs of its

members? 29 (Downey 2003:3-4).

Vatican II therefore makes the secular order not merely a conversation partner for the

Church, but also a place where Christ can and must be encountered. However it is
unable to fully resolve the tensions between these domains, and conflicting signals

emerge with regard to how the Church understands this relationship. Indeed the
Church is described simultaneously as ‘being separate from the world’, but also in
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‘unity....with the world’ (Rinere 2003:77) . In the view of Howland Sanks this tension
arises because as the Church encounters other diverse secular and religious cultures

it has to come to terms with its own truth claims as they compete, and are critiqued
by other micro-narratives of meaning. The foundational problem for the Church shifts
becoming not a question of its irrefutable truth, but rather of its believability in

comparison to these other narratives (1989:100-115).

ii) Ecclesiological tensions within Vatican II
Through Vatican II the classical paradigm of the Church as hierarchical institution

becomes supplemented by an alternative ecclesiology of the ‘People of God’ (LG §9-

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Hence the Church is able to reach out not only to the common heritage of other Christians (Unitatis
Redintegrato), or those of other faiths (Nostra Aetate), but also the secular order (Gaudium et Spes).
29 Ballard & Pritchard also refer to the professionalization of culture and how it affects Church ministry by putting a
constant pressure upon the clergy to respond and perform (1996:113-116).
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Rinere also makes the point that the separation between the Church and the world suggests religion is
somehow separate from everyday life, and she poses the question: “How can a Christian lead a unified and
integrated life if the Christian does not live in an integrated environment?” (2003:77-78).