Church reconfiguration plans on hold
JOHNSON CITY – No news could in fact be could news for Catholics in Chenango County, according to reports from the Diocese of Syracuse, as its “unprecedented” sweep of parish reconfigurations continued Wednesday.
Parishioners in Broome County learned of eight orders to merge or link 16 churches in their area during a press conference at St. James Church in Johnson City yesterday afternoon. However, plans for Chenango County have been postponed until next winter at the earliest.
“The churches of Chenango County are in a pretty self-sustaining mode,” said Diocese Bishop James Moynihan, “so we can keep things going there for a while just the way they are.”
An outline for the seven local parishes and one mission should come sometime after January or February, diocese Vicar James Lang said. That’s when talks with the Diocese of Albany can resume regarding the county-wide proposal submitted at Thanksgiving which would involve priests from Syracuse and Albany sharing pastoral duties across diocese borders near Otsego and Delaware counties.
Lang, who is the head of the Syracuse’s pastoral planning office, said the cross-diocese idea has been discussed in the Catholic Church before, but never carried out.
“There aren’t models in the Catholic Church for this,” he said. “It hasn’t been done before.”
However, Lang said the proposal highlighted the creativity necessary in large scale reconfiguration, which also hasn’t occurred before.
Chenango County was one of 32 Pastoral Care Areas in the diocese that were required to develop reconfiguration proposals for the bishop by Thanksgiving.
If accepted, all eight congregations in the county – St. Malachy’s, Sherburne, St. Paul’s, Norwich, St. Bartholomew’s, Norwich, St. Joseph’s, Oxford, Immaculate Conception, Greene, St. Theresa’s, New Berlin, St. John the Evangelist, Bainbridge, and St. Agnes’ Mission, Afton – would be ministered by two fewer priests, taking the number from five to three.
If not accepted, “we’ll have to go back to the original plan and modify it,” Lang said.
“I thought Chenango County’s plan was very thorough,” he added. “The Diocese of Albany won’t complete their steps in pastoral planning until January or February. It was our sense that – let’s wait and have everything ready (for Chenango County) and have it all delivered all at once.”
The calls for consolidation officially came down in March 2006, but have been in the works for over 25 years, Moynihan said. But it didn’t start to become a top priority until 2001, when aging priest populations, low priestly vocations, and changing demographics began to pose an immediate concern for future church vitality.
“This is truly a significant moment in our diocese,” Moynihan said. “Rest assured, our people will find strength and peace in knowing that they have helped restructure a diocese that will provide for even more lay involvement, stronger pastoral leadership and greater financial stability.”
Reactions
Parishioners across Chenango County have been planning and waiting since March 2006, hoping Wednesday would finally lay out their spiritual landscape. They will have to wait another seven months, at least.
“I’m disappointed that it didn’t come sooner,” said Martha Fleury, a parishioner and the historian at St. Theresa’s in New Berlin. “We were hoping a decision would have come pretty quick. We’ve been waiting a long time.”
Fleury is pleased however that the plan to work with Albany Diocese is being considered, and she’s confident that St. Theresa’s will stay open. “We haven’t thought from day one that we’d be closed.”
Father Douglas Cunningham, pastor of St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s in Norwich, said the diocese postponement is a good sign.
“It shows their concern for all of Chenango County and the people of Chenango County,” he said. “It shows how creative they are trying to be to minister to everybody.”
Aside from St. Bart’s and St. Paul’s, the six other congregations in Chenango County are located in rural communities. Bishop Moynihan said rural needs must be considered in a careful manner.
“When we talk of consolidation, we have to make sure we are being wise,” said Moynihan. “Rural Catholics don’t live across the street from each other.”
Under the county’s pastoral plan, St. Theresa’s, St. John’s in Bainbridge, and St. Agnes’ in Afton could all eventually be ministered by a priest from the Albany Diocese, while the remaining five churches would operate as Route 12 corridor using two priests.
Madeline Mertz, a parishioner at St. John’s in Bainbridge, said she’s not disappointed that no decisions were announced.
“The bishop knows what’s best for all of us,” said Mertz. “Whichever way they decide to go is OK with me.”
She’s hopeful that changes will improve the faith base locally.
“The church is always moving, always changing,” she said. “A stagnant church isn’t a good church.”
St. Bart’s Future
Perhaps no church in Chenango County was more shaken by reconfiguration announcements in March 2006 than St. Bartholomew’s Church in Norwich, which was marked for closure in a letter sent by diocese Bishop James Moynihan in March 2006.
Father James Lang, the diocese’s head of pastoral planning, confirmed that St. Bart’s would remain open for the foreseeable future because of a clause stipulated in a trust fund left for both St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s.
The discovery of the clause was made known last summer by Committee to Save St. Bartholomew’s Attorneys Tom Vitanza and Diane DiStefano, at which time Vitanza and St. Bart’s/St.Paul’s Pastor Father Douglas Cunningham said they were “99 percent sure” the church would stay open.
“What Mr. Vitanza and Father Cunningham said from the pulpit was accurate,” said Lang.
The fund, totaling nearly $1.4 million, was left to be divided between the two churches by the Katherine Scanlon charitable trust. If one church were to close, its designated funds would be sent to a charity in New York City and not transferred to the remaining church.
“That’s the news we’ve been waiting for,” said St. Bart’s parishioner Jo Anne Testani.
Since March 2006, tension has arisen with the congregation as they waited to hear the fate of their church. As a result, St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s submitted a separate proposal aside from the pastoral care area plan. Lang said every “scrap of paper” was looked at, but did not specify what impact, if any, the separate plan had.
The bishop hoped that parishioners can move on, setting aside the anger and fear over possibly losing their church.
“We need to be together,” he said.
“Hopefully the healing process can begin,” Testani said.
Parishioners in Broome County learned of eight orders to merge or link 16 churches in their area during a press conference at St. James Church in Johnson City yesterday afternoon. However, plans for Chenango County have been postponed until next winter at the earliest.
“The churches of Chenango County are in a pretty self-sustaining mode,” said Diocese Bishop James Moynihan, “so we can keep things going there for a while just the way they are.”
An outline for the seven local parishes and one mission should come sometime after January or February, diocese Vicar James Lang said. That’s when talks with the Diocese of Albany can resume regarding the county-wide proposal submitted at Thanksgiving which would involve priests from Syracuse and Albany sharing pastoral duties across diocese borders near Otsego and Delaware counties.
Lang, who is the head of the Syracuse’s pastoral planning office, said the cross-diocese idea has been discussed in the Catholic Church before, but never carried out.
“There aren’t models in the Catholic Church for this,” he said. “It hasn’t been done before.”
However, Lang said the proposal highlighted the creativity necessary in large scale reconfiguration, which also hasn’t occurred before.
Chenango County was one of 32 Pastoral Care Areas in the diocese that were required to develop reconfiguration proposals for the bishop by Thanksgiving.
If accepted, all eight congregations in the county – St. Malachy’s, Sherburne, St. Paul’s, Norwich, St. Bartholomew’s, Norwich, St. Joseph’s, Oxford, Immaculate Conception, Greene, St. Theresa’s, New Berlin, St. John the Evangelist, Bainbridge, and St. Agnes’ Mission, Afton – would be ministered by two fewer priests, taking the number from five to three.
If not accepted, “we’ll have to go back to the original plan and modify it,” Lang said.
“I thought Chenango County’s plan was very thorough,” he added. “The Diocese of Albany won’t complete their steps in pastoral planning until January or February. It was our sense that – let’s wait and have everything ready (for Chenango County) and have it all delivered all at once.”
The calls for consolidation officially came down in March 2006, but have been in the works for over 25 years, Moynihan said. But it didn’t start to become a top priority until 2001, when aging priest populations, low priestly vocations, and changing demographics began to pose an immediate concern for future church vitality.
“This is truly a significant moment in our diocese,” Moynihan said. “Rest assured, our people will find strength and peace in knowing that they have helped restructure a diocese that will provide for even more lay involvement, stronger pastoral leadership and greater financial stability.”
Reactions
Parishioners across Chenango County have been planning and waiting since March 2006, hoping Wednesday would finally lay out their spiritual landscape. They will have to wait another seven months, at least.
“I’m disappointed that it didn’t come sooner,” said Martha Fleury, a parishioner and the historian at St. Theresa’s in New Berlin. “We were hoping a decision would have come pretty quick. We’ve been waiting a long time.”
Fleury is pleased however that the plan to work with Albany Diocese is being considered, and she’s confident that St. Theresa’s will stay open. “We haven’t thought from day one that we’d be closed.”
Father Douglas Cunningham, pastor of St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s in Norwich, said the diocese postponement is a good sign.
“It shows their concern for all of Chenango County and the people of Chenango County,” he said. “It shows how creative they are trying to be to minister to everybody.”
Aside from St. Bart’s and St. Paul’s, the six other congregations in Chenango County are located in rural communities. Bishop Moynihan said rural needs must be considered in a careful manner.
“When we talk of consolidation, we have to make sure we are being wise,” said Moynihan. “Rural Catholics don’t live across the street from each other.”
Under the county’s pastoral plan, St. Theresa’s, St. John’s in Bainbridge, and St. Agnes’ in Afton could all eventually be ministered by a priest from the Albany Diocese, while the remaining five churches would operate as Route 12 corridor using two priests.
Madeline Mertz, a parishioner at St. John’s in Bainbridge, said she’s not disappointed that no decisions were announced.
“The bishop knows what’s best for all of us,” said Mertz. “Whichever way they decide to go is OK with me.”
She’s hopeful that changes will improve the faith base locally.
“The church is always moving, always changing,” she said. “A stagnant church isn’t a good church.”
St. Bart’s Future
Perhaps no church in Chenango County was more shaken by reconfiguration announcements in March 2006 than St. Bartholomew’s Church in Norwich, which was marked for closure in a letter sent by diocese Bishop James Moynihan in March 2006.
Father James Lang, the diocese’s head of pastoral planning, confirmed that St. Bart’s would remain open for the foreseeable future because of a clause stipulated in a trust fund left for both St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s.
The discovery of the clause was made known last summer by Committee to Save St. Bartholomew’s Attorneys Tom Vitanza and Diane DiStefano, at which time Vitanza and St. Bart’s/St.Paul’s Pastor Father Douglas Cunningham said they were “99 percent sure” the church would stay open.
“What Mr. Vitanza and Father Cunningham said from the pulpit was accurate,” said Lang.
The fund, totaling nearly $1.4 million, was left to be divided between the two churches by the Katherine Scanlon charitable trust. If one church were to close, its designated funds would be sent to a charity in New York City and not transferred to the remaining church.
“That’s the news we’ve been waiting for,” said St. Bart’s parishioner Jo Anne Testani.
Since March 2006, tension has arisen with the congregation as they waited to hear the fate of their church. As a result, St. Paul’s and St. Bart’s submitted a separate proposal aside from the pastoral care area plan. Lang said every “scrap of paper” was looked at, but did not specify what impact, if any, the separate plan had.
The bishop hoped that parishioners can move on, setting aside the anger and fear over possibly losing their church.
“We need to be together,” he said.
“Hopefully the healing process can begin,” Testani said.
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