Longtime pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish steps into new role overseeing curia as archdiocese prepares for changes
DETROIT — Fr. Tim Birney is used to navigating change.
As the sixth of eight children and an uncle to 48 nieces and nephews, Fr. Birney’s life has always included what he calls “a little bit of organized chaos.”
As a priest, he’s served as the pastor of large parishes, small parishes, clustered parishes and schools. He’s been a vocation director and the moderator of one of the largest families of parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Now, he has a new role — two of them, in fact.
In October, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger appointed Fr. Birney, 54, as vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Archdiocese of Detroit, succeeding Fr. Jeffrey Day, 53, who has served in both roles since 2018.
Fr. Birney began his new assignment Jan. 2, and has spent the past few weeks getting acclimated to Chancery life.
“The moderator coordinates, oversees and directs all the offices that work in the Chancery, which is also called the ‘curia,’” Fr. Birney told Detroit Catholic. “I have the responsibility of making sure everyone is working together, that the priorities of the archbishop are being addressed, and that we’re providing the most effective service to the parishes and ministries of the archdiocese.”
In addition to leading and managing the day-to-day operations of the curia — the downtown Detroit “headquarters” of the local Church — Fr. Birney also will assist Archbishop Weisenburger in carrying out his ministry in various administrative, pastoral and canonical ways.
If the moderator is loosely analogous to a chief-of-staff, Fr. Birney’s second title, “vicar general,” can be understood in light of canon law.
“Every diocese has a vicar general whom the bishop appoints, and he has this designated role to work in the person of the bishop in areas where the bishop delegates,” Fr. Birney said. “In the Archdiocese of Detroit, we also have auxiliary bishops, so they also retain the title of vicar general.”
Fr. Birney said Archbishop Weisenburger — himself a former vicar general and moderator of the curia in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City prior to becoming a bishop — has been encouraging and supportive.
“I was honored (that the archbishop) thought of me for a role like this,” Fr. Birney said. “It’s only been a few weeks, so I’m still learning the job, of course, but he’s been very supportive and helpful and patient with me.”
Fr. Birney’s predecessor, Fr. Day, has also been “extremely supportive in giving me the information, the knowledge and the experience to be successful,” he added.
Fr. Birney admits he felt a little bit of trepidation at first, but that’s quickly been replaced by faith.
“I initially thought, ‘Do I have the gifts and skills I need for this?’ But in every role that I’ve had, the Holy Spirit always provides and gives me the help I need,” Fr. Birney said. “I’m encouraged by the passages throughout Scripture that repeat, ‘Do not be afraid.’ I’m told it’s 365 times — I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s one of the most repeated phrases, and there’s a reason for that.”
Among Fr. Birney’s new responsibilities are meeting regularly with the archbishop’s cabinet — a group of close advisors and Chancery leaders — and guiding the work of various departments and ministries that carry out dozens of programs and services that benefit the archdiocese’s parishes, schools and institutions.
Ordained in 1998, Fr. Birney has served most of his ministry in parish life, first at St. Lawrence in Utica and Divine Child in Dearborn before being sent to rural Marine City, where he led the clustered and later merged parish of Our Lady on the River, which includes churches in Marine City, Algonac and Harsens Island.
In 2007, he was asked to serve as the archdiocese’s vocations director, spending nine years helping men discerning a calling to the priesthood.
In 2016, Fr. Birney became pastor of one of the archdiocese’s largest parishes, St. Frances Cabrini in Allen Park, and later moderator of the Quo Vadis Family of Parishes, which also includes parishes in Taylor, Melvindale and Ecorse. He also had responsibility for Cabrini’s K-12 schools.
As a longtime pastor, Fr. Birney has seen how parishes can benefit from the services and support of the Chancery, and his goal is to strengthen that relationship.
“I know how beneficial the direction and resources the diocese provided were for me,” Fr. Birney said. “Having been the recipient of all of these services, that’s going to inform and direct me on how I can be of best service in my leadership role.”
Those services will be all the more critical as the Archdiocese of Detroit embarks on a two-year period of restructuring — which will include a restructuring of the curia itself to better align with the needs of parishes, schools and ministries as they change and adapt to new realities.
“These are difficult moments, but they’re what we’re built for as Christians,” Fr. Birney said. “My former spiritual director, Msgr. John Zenz — a former moderator of the curia and vicar general (under Cardinal Adam J. Maida from 1990 to 2008) — once said that to be a Christian is to be someone who’s open to and ready for change.
“We have very dedicated staff, a very hard-working, faith-filled staff. I always knew that, but now I'm seeing it face to face,” Fr. Birney said. “We have a lot of hard work ahead of us and a lot of change on the horizon, which is difficult for many people, but if we're being honest, change is always a part of our life.”
Fr. Birney said he hopes the people of St. Frances Cabrini would describe him as a capable administrator, but also someone who’s attentive, caring and open to the needs of others.
“I pray they’d see me as someone who’s approachable and who has a love for the Church, a love for God, and who did his best to try to model that,” Fr. Birney said. “We were all created to be disciples via baptism, called to live that out in our parish communities and in the wider community.”
As a native Detroiter, Fr. Birney said he draws strength from the example of Blessed Solanus Casey, whose humility and faith “is a testimony to what priestly service can and should look like.”
He also shares a devotion to St. Frances Cabrini and a special connection to St. Patrick.
“Because of my Irish heritage, I have a strong devotion to St. Patrick,” Fr. Birney said. “It’s my middle name, my confirmation name, and I was confirmed on St. Patrick’s Day.”
All three saints share a common thread — one of going and doing what the Lord asks, even if it wasn’t what they expected, Fr. Birney said.
“My younger brother is a Marine, and I always say we’ve got to tap our ‘inner Marine’ — you survey, and then you adapt,” Fr. Birney said. “In any role in ministry, whether it’s a staff member, a pastor of a parish, someone working in the Chancery, a lot of what we do is to observe and then act accordingly so we can be most effective in our mission.
“I know it’s going to be a lot of work, and it’s going to be important to ground ourselves in prayer,” Fr. Birney added. “I pray I’ll be a positive leader, because the mission of our Church in proclaiming the Gospel and serving the poor, being a voice of reason, compassion and charity — all of the Beatitudes that Christ gave to us — is too important to get it wrong. It’s needed too much in our present age for us to phone it in.”
