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May 17, 2006 St. Cloud Metro Area Catholic Parishes FAQ: Q: What has Bishop Kinney decided?
Q: Will my parish church close? A: No. Bishop Kinney has decided it is not prudent to close any of these churches at this time. Future circumstances could result in church closings, but not at this time. Bishop Kinney prefers this approach because it offers the greatest amount of flexibility for the future. Q: Why is all of this necessary? A: The Diocese of Saint Cloud has continued to experience a decline in the number of priests available to serve parishes. We have also seen fewer active parishioners, but more lay involvement in parish leadership. Two years ago, these realities prompted the 15 St. Cloud metro-area parishes to consider new ways of meeting pastoral and parish life needs with fewer priests. Q: What was the process leading to Bishop Kinney’s decision? A: This has been a two-year process involving hundreds of people in all of the 15 St. Cloud metro area parishes. At the end of 2004, Bishop Kinney supported creation of a 45-member committee to guide this process, including one priest and two lay representatives from each of the 15 parishes. The committee’s goal was to make recommendations to Bishop Kinney about how parishes in the St. Cloud metro area might collaborate in meeting parish staffing needs with fewer priests. The process involved parishioners, gave them information about the issues facing the Diocese, facilitated their input, and helped them process feelings and concerns about possible changes. The committee met monthly for 18 months, held parishioner meetings in each parish, and recently submitted its recommendations to Bishop Kinney who made his decision after a period of prayerful discernment. Q: How were
parishioners involved in this process? Q: When will these changes happen? A: Bishop Kinney has announced the decision to implement these changes effective July 1, 2007. Parishes will begin discussing changes and opportunities for collaboration this fall in preparation for the July 1, 2007 implementation. Q: Will I have to go to Mass at a different church or at a different time? A: Bishop Kinney has appointed a sub-committee to help parishes address issues in implementing the announced changes. These changes will result in different numbers, times and locations of Masses. All changes will be implemented carefully and prayerfully, and parishioners will be kept informed. Q: Will we have a different pastor? Will we lose our resident pastor? A: This plan envisions some parishes that now have a resident pastor sharing a priest or priests. As a result, some parishes will no longer have a pastor in residence. Q: Will our parish keep its own financials (collections, contributions, bills, etc.)? A: Yes. Parishes are both “church” entities (ecclesial) and civil entities. The parishes involved in this process will remain distinct civil entities. Because a parish is its own civil entity, it has its own financial status — its own accounts payable and receivable, finance committee, trustees, etc. This will not change. However, parishes may choose to collaborate and share resources in managing their finances (a shared business manager or filing system, for example). Q: What will happen to our current parish staff? A: Anytime there are changes like these, they could impact parish staffing. However, no decisions have been made to change parish staffs at this time. Q: Why don’t the parishes in St. Joseph, Sauk Rapids and Sartell have to ‘cluster’? A: These three are the largest parishes in the St. Cloud metro area population-wise, and are among the fastest growing in our Diocese. Q: How will this impact our St. Cloud Area-wide Catholic Community Schools? A: We will continue to support implementation of the St. Cloud Area-wide Catholic Community Schools.
2006 Copyright © Diocese of Saint Cloud |
