“Well, the DARK side of being a Dominican parish is that the order can swipe your pastor.”
What I have found by experience is that most institutions are run by inertia. If one facet seems to be succeeding it throws the other facets off so the “powers that be” move the innovator from the success to the failure or the facet of the institution that is heading towards failure in order to maintain institutional equilibrium.
So, to “esteem” and keep your treasure, start sending “moderate” vibes of displeasure along with a “moderate” deficiency in the parish’s operating budget. That should satisfy the “powers that be” that all is going according to plan and they will not see any need to move him.
ena
Plus they don't get control of the money. The diocese gets its, I think it's, 7% or 8% of the cash flow, the diocese pays the friars the normal stipend, but they pay it to the order which then returns a smaller portion to the friars, who have, after all, taken vows of poverty. So that stipend is the only money the order gets from our parish, except for what individuals may want to donate.
The rest of the loot gets spent by the parish. We have a "linked" parish and school in Haiti, a Habitat for Humanity project, a gazillion dollar mortgage, and on and on and on. The Diocese owns the parish buildings. All the Dominicans own is a single family dwelling converted into a four bedroom two bath, itty bitty common room/chapel type place. We called one of the friars Harry Potter because his room was under the stairs.
And the Dominicans are a VERY democratic order. The rule is remarkable in that that's how Dominic set it out and it's very humane and hasn't needed to be changed all that much. (E.g.: Dominic said the newer and younger novices and friars should be served first at common meals because that would make it more likely that the older friar in charge of quartermaster stuff would make sure there was enough for everybody. Smart guy!)
I have my obligations to my lay community such that when I'm fully a member ("life promised", 3.5 years from now, D.V.) I will be obliged not by any explicit rule but by commitment to the community to go to the meetings where I am liable to be elected to some boring nuisance of a job. I can plead to be excused, but it would be a matter of conscience for me to refuse to serve just because it was a pain in the posterior.
Similarly, the rumor has it that Fr. B is up for a position that's really important to the Dominican life in the Eastern US. If that's the case and if he's elected, he'll go because community is one of the 4 "pillars" of the various branches of our family -- the others being prayer, study, apostolate (group and individual).
I have a sense of this because he was suggested for some other post, earlier this year and I told him I hoped he lost the election and he said he did too.
It's a real blessing to have a good pastor, but it's also good to change things up a little. In my limited experience in two denominations, if a pastor hangs around for more than about 7 years, things can get stultified, and then when the inevitable change happens it can be nasty. IMHO.