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Letter to Bishop McManus |
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Letter to Bishop McManus |
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| Dear Bishop McManus and Cluster Committee, The Cluster Committee for Cluster 17 presents its response to your request for a recommendation for an alternate model of parish staffing should you choose to remove one priest. Our response to you in April indicated that we were still gathering information to enable the committee to give a responsible, informed answer to your question. Our response has two components: the first is the response of St. Luke, Westborough, and the second is the combined response of St. Anne and St. Matthew of Southborough. After considering the question, St. Luke, Westborough, has determined that it could not exist with one less priest. The remainder of this response is drawn from the input of two of the three parishes within our cluster, St. Anne and St. Matthew of Southborough. Some time ago, it was obvious that the two Southborough parishes had a set of common challenges separate from St. Luke, Westborough, and, at that point, the focus of our discussions shifted from the three parishes to the two. The two Southborough parishes have held four two-parish meetings along with a number of planning and follow-up sessions to provide parishioners with opportunities to become aware of the quandary facing the diocese. We also wanted to give them information concerning the potential impact of future personnel decisions on our two parishes and the parish staffing models which may become necessary to sustain our worshiping communities. Mailings were sent to the parishioners of both churches which contained a summary of the models presented by the diocese as well as a tabulation of strengths and challenges of each identified by parishioners at a previous meeting. Subsequently, a meeting was held at which priests and parishioners from parishes employing the various alternate staffing models formed a moderated panel during which they provided hands-on information about the different models. One clearly understood conclusion the meeting produced was that any change is a process and not an event, and time is an integral component of any major change’s success. A discussion was held and attending parishioners were asked to rank the various models in order of preference. Initially, the Two Parish Planning Committee had hoped that these opportunities would provide a measured consensus to present to you, but the numbers of parishioners who participated represented a fraction of the population of the two parishes, and the results were viewed more advisory than definitive. The results advocated for either a merged or multi parish concept. It was clear that the first choice of the two parishes is to maintain their individual identities and continue to serve the people of Southborough as they have for over one hundred years. If there were to be one less priest available, the parishes would look to a collaborative model which might eventually lead to a merged parish to continue to serve the Catholic population in our community. If the choice appears to be ambivalent, it is because any fiscal commitment toward a full merger is limited by the inability of the diocese to project future staffing trends. Other reasons include: Merging a parish requires many years of planning and integration Merging the parish will not solve the staffing issue simply without new construction New construction will require a land purchase in a built-out community New construction is costly without any guarantee of staffing stability. It is evident to both parishes that its planning must continue and that it is their best interests to work together to plan, both spiritually and fiscally, in anticipation of future change. At the same time, we believe that for us to continue this process effectively, we (and others) need support from the diocese in the form of a professional planning consultant to assist us in developing strategies for change to ensure a successful implementation of any new staffing model. Sincerely yours, The Pastoral Planning Cluster Committee Pat Draper |