FAQ: about the parish changes

May 17, 2006 Bishop Kinney reorganizes pastoral staffing structure of St. Cloud metro area parishes (St. Cloud, Minn) — St. Cloud Bishop John F. Kinney announces today that effective July 1, 2007, the 15 St. Cloud metro area churches will be re-organized into eight groupings — five clustered or twinned groups of parishes and three single parishes. Eighteen months ago, a group of 45 people (one priest and two lay representatives from each of the 15 parishes) began to meet to review the organization and pastoral staffing structure of these St. Cloud Metro area churches. The group considered many options and made this recommendation to Bishop Kinney. This decision, prompted by the decline in the number of priests and fewer active parish members, is made in order to enhance the life of the parishes and insure viability for all of the parishes in this metro area. The priests and lay representatives feel that this is a positive proactive approach to addressing these two issues. There will be a total of 11 priests serving the eight groupings and this will most likely drop to 10 pastors by the year 2012. The groupings will be as follows: • St. Augustine, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Christ Church Newman Center will be served by two priests • St. Joseph in Waite Park and St. Michael in St. Cloud will be served by one priest • St. Paul and St. Peter will be served by one priest • St. Anthony, St. John Cantius and Holy Spirit will be served by two priests • St. Mary Help of Christian in St. Augusta and St. Wendelin in Luxemburg will be served by two priests • St. Francis Xavier in Sartell will be served by one priest • Sacred Heart, Sauk Rapids will be served by one priest • St. Joseph in St. Joseph will be served by one priest Planning for these changes will begin in September. An implementation team, consisting of individuals from the original planning group, has already begun to meet to help guide this transition and make recommendations about how the parishes in each group can begin working together. "Times of change always bring with them challenge and loss. We treasure the rich heritage of faith our ancestors have built for us. This present time affords us the wonderful opportunity to ‘add on’ to this heritage. Some things will be lost, yet other things will be gained,” said Bishop John Kinney. “Embracing this necessary time of transition, our parish communities can still thrive as places of worship and places of faith. I am most grateful to individuals who served on this committee and feel that their recommendation gives us a great deal of flexibility as we move forward into the future.” -30- 2006 Copyright © Diocese of Saint Cloud