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[6/8] Toward Becoming One Parish (I)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            As a result of the deliberations at the Council of Nicea in 325, we have the Nicene Creed which is most commonly professed together during more solemn celebrations of the Mass. In it, we profess belief in the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” In other words, one of the ways we can be sure to be part of the Church that Christ founded is that we are united as part of that one Church, from Christ through the Apostles and their successors through the ages to us, and not a religion of some other origin.

            To be part of the Church is to say our Catholic faith is personal but not private. As the Most Holy Trinity (the Solemnity of Whom we celebrate this weekend) is a communion of persons in the one Godhead, we, too, are meant to be in communion with one another. Our journey of faith is not meant to be walked alone. The parish community, in a small way, is a symbol of the greater reality that is the universal Church.

            Prior to my arrival in western Wayne County, a pastoral planning effort took place here. While I missed that work, I did benefit from service on the diocesan Presbyteral Council, which received a report of the group’s work on May 14, 2024. Preparing to write this column series, I went digging through some of the history.

            I found references to a steering committee in our community’s bulletin on Nov 5, 2023, which spoke of focus groups, town hall meetings, and surveys as the models for collecting information from the community. The town halls were conducted on Jan 22 & 24, 2024 – which were livestreamed and may still be available on YouTube. Some 254 surveys were returned about the scheduling of Masses (as reported in an update Feb 18). A final report was published in the bulletin on June 16 – shortly before my arrival. Noting the many ways we were already working together, the planning recommendations accepted and approved by the bishop (and published on that date) were:

•        The cluster will continue to have two priests, and keep the current Mass schedule.

•        The parishes will merge into one parish when it is feasible (probably sometime after the diocesan bankruptcy is settled).

•        In the meantime, the parishes will continue the work of unification of shared services, cooperation between parish and finance councils and buildings and grounds committees, and other opportunities for cost savings.

•        The two parish will work together now so that any future changes will go smoothly.

(Emphasis in the original bulletin.) The Bishop added a recommendation of his own:

•        The parishes should “pray for and encourage vocations to the priesthood.”

Indeed, as that bulletin column noted, that is a duty of every parish.

            More next week.

 

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[6/15] Toward Becoming One Parish (II)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            Last week, we reviewed the work of a pastoral planning steering committee whose work completed before my arrival. This year, 2025, the pastoral councils of both parishes began meeting in joint session to take up the task of “work[ing] together now so that any future changes will go smoothly.”

            To make efficient use of our time as a group, we decided that we would begin with an effort to identify and consider important areas under which we might form this new unity. We are calling these “Pillars of Unity.”

            From the membership of this joint council, we solicited ideas for possible Pillars. We were encouraged to brainstorm to identify them, which might be characterized by one or more of the following:

•        something relevant to our shared life of faith (on an ongoing basis, or at least at some stage of it)

•        something that, to get right as we come together as one parish, we need to plan first

•        something that we might not do at all our churches or all the time, but is important not to lose sight of

•        something that we should do more than we do now (or even start!)

•        something that might work for us as a bigger parish that doesn't work so well at our present smaller-parish size (economies of scale)

•        something that will be a significant loss to us if we lose sight of it

•        something that describes a 30,000-foot view of an issue, not a super-detailed objective

•        something that can be named or described in seven words or less

Members brought their ideas to the meeting, and were asked to categorize them according to the marks of the Church—One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic—or Other if no category seemed to fit. We then split into groups to reduce all our ideas to a more manageable number: to group like ideas together, and then name each group. The number of people who identified a similar pillar does not make it necessarily important; it only indicates how obvious it was. To signal importance to the project of us coming together as one, each member was invited to indicate the five most important prospective Pillars of Unity.

            This process allowed those Pillars of Unity identified by the group as most important to rise to the top for our consideration. We then worked to identify persons to invite to lead discussions on the areas identified.

            This series continues.

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[6/22] Toward Becoming One Parish (III)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            We have been discussing the work of the pastoral councils of our two parishes meeting jointly and preparing to unite ourselves into a single parish. An early goal of this process was to identify “Pillars of Unity” that were important to keep in mind as we come together as one parish. The work that the joint pastoral councils did to brainstorm, collect everyone’s ideas, categorize them into a more manageable number and prioritize them resulted in the following Pillars of Unity. For summary purposes, those voted most important were:

•        Youth (11 votes) [under Catholic]

•        Music (10 votes) [under Holy]

•        Attracting Parishioners (8 votes) [under Apostolic]

•        Outreach (8 votes) [under Apostolic]

•        Liturgy (6 votes) [under One]

The next most important were:

•        Devotions (5 votes) [under Holy]

•        Communications (4 votes) [under One]

•        Communion with Universal Church (4 votes) [under Catholic]

•        Volunteers (4 votes) [under Other]

What do these Pillars of Unity mean?

            Just because a particular area was identified as most important or not does not by itself mean anything. We identified Pillars to identify areas to talk about. Just because we talk about it doesn’t mean we will need to change anything. Just because we haven’t identified it as most important doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it. If we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t mean that thing will go away when we come together as one parish.

            These points we have done well to keep in mind as our discussions continue.

            We have undertaken this effort to help us focus our discussions as a joint pastoral council during 2025, and perhaps beyond. We understand these Pillars of Unity to be part of a living document. If we come to believe something important to be missing, we may decide to add it. We may find better language to describe a pillar and adopt it. If we need further discussion as a joint pastoral council to understand how we see a given issue, we can undertake those discussions. We expect to invite people who serve our communities to inform our discussion of the Pillars of Unity we have identified. We have also split ourselves into workgroups to study resources in greater detail to inform our discussions.

            This series continues.

 

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[6/29] Toward Becoming One Parish (IV)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            We have been discussing how our joint pastoral councils have identified Pillars of Unity to help us focus our discussions about becoming one parish. You may have recalled from previous columns that the four marks of the Church (from the Nicene Creed) were used to help us categorize our efforts. Let us look at those helped us categorize potential Pillars of Unity in greater detail.

One:

helps our community to have communion (broadly defined) with each other

helps us have communion (broadly defined) with the local Church (diocese)

Holy:

helps individual members of our community to fulfill their vocation to holiness

grow in Christlike-ness: love & serve the Lord & be happy with Him forever in heaven

Catholic:

dictionary: universal. Adjective to distinguish from other Christians.

helps our community to know what Christ taught and what the Church teaches

fosters communion (broadly defined) with the universal Church

Apostolic:

Apostle: one who is sent

sent forth from our community to spread the Gospel or help those in need

Other:

doesn’t seem to fit into any other category

 

            We have already identified that there is a tension between Music and Liturgy as two Pillars of Unity. The first, Music, categorized under Holy, seems to suggest an opportunity to “be all things to all people," that our larger size as one parish may help us accommodate different preferences at different Masses. The second, Liturgy, categorized under One, seems to suggest an openness to predictability, that our parishioners should be able to attend Mass at any of our churches and have a substantially similar experience.

            This doesn’t somehow make the process we are in “wrong” or “hopeless,” but speaks to the importance of talking about topics in advance with the help those responsible for them, to help us make sure we do the best we can to get it right.

 

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[7/6] Toward Becoming One Parish (V)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            This past week, we celebrated our Independence Day. While its name emphasizes a separation of the 13 colonies from their originating nation, we should not lose sight of the collective action declaring our independence and fighting for it. “United we stand, divided we fall” was a slogan that bound us together in common cause. The constitutional republic which we enjoy today better reflects that union than our first attempt at a national government.

            In a similar way, the history of Catholicism in this country speaks to the diverse way that one faith found different cultural expressions. In big urban areas, you could often find different Catholic churches founded by Irish, German, Italian, and Polish immigrants in close proximity. Different nations tended to hold different saints dear; there were diverse ways of celebrating the same holidays; public processions and celebrations common to the more Catholic countries were unheard of in places where the faith had been persecuted or even underground for a time. In short, it was hard to get along with all our differences.

            Reflecting the custom of the pastoral council of St. Maximilian Kolbe, we have decided that our joint discussions will take a pause during July and August. It is difficult enough to plan family travel without the additional worry about making church meetings. So far, we have discussed matters under the Pillars identified as Attracting Parishioners / Youth, and Music / Liturgy.

            The Catholic Leadership Institute produced a whitepaper earlier this year titled Reaching, Engaging, and Inspiring the Next Generation. It was based on an 18-month survey of The Millennial Generation (born 1981-96) and Generation Z (born 1997-2012). A recent study reported 85% of young people stop practicing the faith between Confirmation and reaching age of 21. We are somewhat reassured that many churches are struggling to reach this age group. The survey helped us recognize that many parish celebrations and office hours are during the typical workday. Offering services like weeknight confessions (which we have offered for some time on Mondays and Wednesdays) and a weeknight Mass (recently started on Wednesdays at St. Patrick) can help us reach this community. It also invites us to think: when we discuss matters like the time of Mass, do we consider “what do I want” or “what would be best for the community?”

            We also note there are merits to scale, here. We noted the efforts in churches in eastern Monroe County to engage these young adults through efforts called Converge (www.converge-roc.com) and Elevate (elevate-roc.com) that we are aware of, and hope to periodically advertise in the bulletin to raise awareness.

            Fr. Symon will resume alternating bulletin columns next week. I will speak about the Pillars of Music / Liturgy in a future column.

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[8/3] Toward Becoming One Parish (VI)

By Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            I wanted to keep you up-to-date on the discussions of the joint pastoral council meetings of our two parishes. I haven’t yet covered the last meeting on June 10.

            We previously discussed how the effort to identify Pillars of Unity surfaced some topics that were in tension. The Music Pillar, categorized under Holy, seems to suggest an opportunity to “be all things to all people," that our larger size as one parish may help us accommodate different preferences at different Masses. The brainstorming that resulted in that pillar raised such topics as “Types of Music at Mass,” “Folk Music,” “Combined music planning/coordination,” “Liturgical Diversity (meet different spiritual needs).”

            The Liturgy pillar surfaced under the category of One. It seems to suggest an openness to predictability, that our parishioners should be able to attend Mass at any of our churches and have a substantially similar experience. The brainstorming here included “Liturgy Congruent” (I’m sure exactly what that meant), “Liturgical Uniformity (predictable weekend experience),” “Liturgy – important to have unified services,”

“Liturgy Committee to plan common seasonal liturgies,” “Start funeral hospitality (Martha Ministry) at any location that does NOT have it.”

            To help the joint pastoral council discuss these matters, I called together those most responsible for the music in our churches and filled them in on the efforts to become one to date. We noted immediately that music does not exhaust all the possibilities contained in these two pillars. We also noted that the ways in which the music program already worked were not likely known by the pastoral councils. That said, we prepared a discussion that began with “today” and then raised four proposals for discussion, to facilitate becoming one parish. Those proposals were:

•        To unite around a single hymnal in the new parish. (At present, three of our churches use Glory and Praise and Epiphany uses a hymnal that predates the new liturgical translations of 2010.) Note: in 2024, the U.S. Bishops approved a new bible translation and sent it to Rome for approval. This may affect the Lectionary we hear proclaimed at Mass in the coming years. That may be the most opportune time to consider hymnal choice.

•        To introduce a new Mass setting (Gloria, Holy Holy Holy, etc.) for our four churches, for the shared experience of learning it together and for use at major parish-wide Masses. We could also change the Mass setting together with the liturgical season.

•        To hold some sort of joint event involving the music and liturgy leaders from all four sites (for example, a service of Lessons and Carols or a vespers service) as a means of bringing the two parishes together.

•        To form a true liturgy committee across the two parishes (rather than just a music selection committee), which would plan in advance for the liturgy for Holy Days, Feast days, solemn Masses, special rites, etc. (not for just the music but for the entire celebration).

In the light of its ongoing discussions, these recommendations were well received by the joint pastoral council.

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The following was an announcement made at Masses January 17-18.

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You may recall that our parish cluster undertook a pastoral planning process that concluded in 2024. After consultation and study, we reached the conclusion that our two parishes should be united into a single parish. Bishop Matano endorsed this recommendation. However, it was reasonable to wait until the uncertainties around the diocesan bankruptcy were resolved. Now they have been. As you may have read in the bulletin, or heard from members of our pastoral council, the formal effort to enact this merger has begun.

 

In response, a merger committee has been convened consisting of members from both parishes to document the progress that has already been made in our effort work together more effectively, and to draft a plan of merger to be presented to the Diocese.

 

This process of coming together as one parish anticipates the continued availability of two priests for our four churches and a continuation of our current weekend Mass schedule.

 

As part of creating a new parish identity, our Faith Formation Coordinator will engage the children of both parishes to help us identify a patron saint for the new parish. We anticipate this process will result in several saints proposed to you for consideration.

 

The Merger Committee will continue to keep the parishioners informed as the process advances.

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[Feb 1] Communication (I)

by Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            Last year I wrote a series of columns for the bulletin that described the work of our joint pastoral councils preparing to become one parish. They identified a series of “Pillars of Unity” which have been guiding their discussions to prepare our communities to merge. I will ask that those columns be posted to our website so that you can easily review them if you like.

            In its fall 2025 meetings, the pastoral councils discussed how we communicate today, demographic data, and began a discussion of outreach to our homebound parishioners.

            The Conversation on Communication focused on the many ways we communicate today. By and large, most of these efforts are our joint efforts.

• Bulletin (recently enlarged)

• Announcements before Mass (coordinated through the Ontario office)

• Livestream graphics (already a joint effort from both parishes)

• Website (www.catholicparisheswwc.org)

• Social Media (here, our efforts are separate for our separate parishes, with the exception of YouTube. Also, we don’t know who “owns” the Facebook page for SKD.)

• Posting to Bulletin Boards or Doors of Church (opportunities for improvement)

• Emails (to direct audiences only – e.g. faith formation families)

 

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[Feb 8] Communication (II)

by Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

            Last week, we saw the many ways we communicate today. Our discussion also surfaces other opportunities that we do not regularly pursue at this time:

• Social Media (other than Facebook and Instagram)

• Advertising (in the Courier or other local outlets – we also do not advertise through Social Media, which likely limits our reach on those platforms)

• Generic email blast through our website provider (This is advertised through our website today but we have never followed though with sending one.)

As we become one parish, we identified the following changes that should happen (or should be considered):

• Bulletin/website/livestream: updating language from cluster of two parishes to one new parish

• separate parish Social Media presences should merged or be evaluated for continuation where engagement is limited

  • There is also a separate Facebook page for the Macedon Food Pantry that should remain separate

• Decide to start a generic email blast or remove sign-up from website

 

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[Feb 15] Diocesan Data

by Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            Another topic covered at the joint meetings of our pastoral councils this fall included data about our community. Here is some of the information gathered for that discussion.

There are 86 parishes in the diocese, and 15 priests still in active ministry over the age of 75 (and they don’t have to be). We have been assured by Bishop Matano and the director of the priest personnel board at the diocese that the plan is to keep two priests assigned to our community. The loss of an assigned priest would likely affect our community in more significant ways than our merging into one parish. Thankfully, it is not something we anticipate at this time.

            Since our fall meetings, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York has been appointed to follow Bishop Matano. Bishop designate Bonnici may see things differently. It is too soon to tell. He will be installed and begin his leadership of the diocese on March 19.

            About 20% of people in the 12 counties that make up the diocese are Catholic. In the last decade or so, the Catholic population of the diocese has declined by 60,000. The overall population has declined by about 100,000.

 

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[Feb 22] County and Parish Data

by Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

Last week, we discussed some of the data at the diocesan level. Today, things get more local. The demographics of Wayne County are interesting, and seem to reflect what we see in the pews. Where Wayne county most stands out from NYS and the entire country is that we have fewer persons in their 20s and 30s, and more in their 60s.

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            In addition, here is data about parish households as maintained both from the parish and the diocese. We have noted with interest that a discrepancy remains even after the parish census effort this last year. We anticipate learning the reasons for this, and minimizing it if possible.

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[Mar 1] Save the Date

by Fr. Steven Lewis, Parochial Vicar

 

            By custom, a subgroup of the St. Max Parish Life Committee works to schedule a Lenten Mission. This year’s recruitment of a speaker saw particular difficulties when two “yes”es become “no”s due to unforeseen circumstances. Facing this challenge, and with our efforts to become one parish coming into greater focus, the idea of inviting someone to help us meditate on our shared journey through changes arose.

            This theme is not directly connected to the Lenten Season, and the format we envision is not exactly a mission. So we wish to announce that, instead of a Lenten Mission this year, we will hope to enriching the spiritual life in our community by offering the following:

 

“Conversations in the Spirit as we Journey Together”

will take place on May 4-5-6

 

We are discussing offering an afternoon and evening session each day. So mark your calendars and stay tuned, as our journey continues.