Priest Conveners are now working with their Core Teams to prepare parishes to join through merger. Last month the Catholic Star Herald invited Priest Conveners to share their thoughts on these questions:

Below are responses from a number of the Priest Conveners.

1. What are your hopes for the year ahead as you and your Core Teams inten­sify the work of preparing your parishes for merger?
2. What would you like the parishioners of the merging parishes to know now that the work has begun directly to prepare the parishes for merger?
3. What are some of the challenges you have faced and how have you either overcome or addressed those challenges?
4. What are some of the positive experiences or developments you already have had in working together with the Core Team and parishes?

Father Cadmus Mazzarella

My hopes are that we can communicate effectively with people of both parishes so that everyone can be well informed of the process. In this way, the merger will go smoothly and parishioners of both St. John Neumann and St. Mary’s will feel welcomed when the parishes join and form the new parish. It is also my hope that we can move quickly to become more vibrant and active in proving ministries to the people.

I want the people of the parishes to know that the Core Team will try to take into con¬sideration any particular concerns, problems or needs related to the merger.

We have been fortunate that the challenges we have faced so far have been minor and manageable.

With regard to the members of the Core Team, I have been impressed with their commitment, dedication and willingness to work as Core Team members. The people of both parishes have been very open and receptive to the merger. People of both parishes are excited about the possibilities of stronger and more active ministries because of the joining of resources.

 

 

 

Father Anthony Di Bardino

My hope is that the members of the Core Team can continue to grow as a team. Also, that they reach beyond themselves and begin working in collaboration with other community members to build the foundation for a unified and engaged parish.

I also hope that all parishioners come to know that this work involves the whole parish. No one can be excluded from being aware of and, in some way involved in the process, especially if that involvement is in prayer for the work being done. It can’t be viewed as only the work of the Core Team.

In order to address the challenges of merging the parish communities, team formation for the Core Team was critical. We engaged a professional facilitator to work with the team (and teams from neighboring mergers) to help build a sense of unity and purpose. This work gave us the building blocks needed to grow, and also helped the team understand when and why the “bumps in the road” might happen so that we’re prepared and can work through them.

The Core Team is planning to attend all masses at all three merging parishes giving parishioners a chance to meet and talk to the team. Our first weekend of doing that was with St. Ann’s in Elmer. The experience was great! The parishioners were warm and welcoming and really gave us a sense of their concerns and also their support.

 

 

Father Joe Ferrara

As the work of preparing the parishes for merger continues, it is my hope to work closely with the Core Team, pastors and parishioners to create a “New Faith-Filled” community from the two places I love!

As we begin this important work of bringing the parish communities together, it is important for parishioners to know the truth about the planning initiative and that we are not closing parishes, but striving to revitalize the Church in this area of the diocese.

Challenges are inevitable with change. But, as St. Augustine said, to grow is to change; to change is to grow!

I look forward to working with the Core Team and parishioners to create a new history, new traditions, and a new parish! We also want to help two communities come alive in the Spirit, again.

 

 

 

 

 

Father George C. Seiter

My hope is that with openness to God’s grace, our Core Team might prepare carefully and prayerfully for a new parish community. We hope to form a parish that is vibrant, viable and alive with love for God and one another in the Church. We have a great hope that people will be understanding, open and informed as we carry out this sacred task.

I would like parishioners of the merging parishes to know and appreciate the reasons for forming a new parish community (among these, strengthening the faith community and creating opportunities for improved care to the people, including important ministries). I would also want them to know how gifted,

talented, and faithful the members of the Core Team are. They are willing to listen and communicate and they are more than willing to sacrifice their time and effort to carefully and diligently form a new parish family.

As we undertake this work, one serious challenge is to make the time in an already busy schedule to tackle the work that will present itself in the months ahead. Our Core Team continues to work well with the parishes. All are eager to be of service to our task and to seek ways to move ahead even when difficulties arise. It also will be important for us to communicate often and well to the parishes. Our Core Team takes the responsibility seriously and are all intent on doing this to the best of our ability!

A very positive experience for our Core Team and parishes has been the good preparation and pastoral leadership exercised by the pastors of the parishes who are to merge. Msgrs. Scott and Brennan have given good effort to explaining to their communities the reasons for the merger. A good “foundation” has been laid on which to begin our work. And again, we are blessed to have on our Core Team men and women who are deeply committed to their Catholic faith and are richly talented. We are also blessed to have two Catholic communities who have already begun to reach out and get to know each other. This is so encouraging to our Core Team’s efforts!

Father Michael Field

As the year unfolds, my hope and prayer is for the two parishes in the Wildwoods to begin working together as friends and neighbors to create a new parish community that is welcoming to all. I hope that any divisions, walls or barriers of resistance give way to the great possibilities envisioned by the merge.

I have found that the Core Team members recommended by their respective pastors are very dedicated people who are praying together, working together, and have one clear focus. In their deep love for the Church, the People of God, they are laying the foundations to create a parish that honors all that has been, recognizing the reality of the present, and creating a vision for the future. They are very much in tune with the full array of thoughts, feelings and ideas.

For the Core Team and Convener, it has been a challenge to provide accurate, up to date and pastorally sensitive information so that both parishes understand that there are no winners or losers in the joining of parishes. Both parishes are rich in history and more than “summer parishes.” It will take time for Wildwood parishioners to understand “One Parish with two Churches,” since both facilities will be a part of the facilities plan designed by the Core Team in consultation with a committee representing both parishes. For the good of the new parish we will continue to work towards healing unity and will continue to listen to the voices and concerns of parishioners.

Recognizing the concerns of some parishioners who are worried, angry, or unsettled, there also has been a tremendous number of parishioners who more quietly recognize the necessity of this merge and those around the diocese. The Core Team and I recently celebrated Mass with the two parish communities. Numerous people welcomed me and actually expressed excitement about what is happening. Some expressed frustration that sometimes only naysayers are being heard, and wanted me to know that many are willing to help and make the merge work. The Core Team itself is very considerate of one another and is confident that it will complete its historic and vision setting a path for a new and dynamic faith community. Amidst the natural resistance to change, there is a general understanding of the need for the merge and the desire to bring it about and enjoy the new parish.

Father William Moore

As we begin to prepare the merging parishes, it is my hope that we stay focused on our goal to use our creativity to form a new parish faith community. This takes time, but we all have something to contribute. I hope we all will see this as a great opportunity to experience more, that we will realize that we stand to gain rather than lose in the process.

That there will be changes and that fulfilling our mission as a Church and a parish must involve change, always, of course, for the better and in order to accomplish our goal to be a vibrant, caring people of God.

At a time like this, it is necessary to keep everyone properly informed concerning the process and intended outcome. Progress was made when we used a variety of means to carry this message including a Gathering God’s Gifts Bulletin Board and Question/Comment Box in both parishes, information meetings, homilies and on site visits to the parishes to greet and dialogue with the parishioners.

As I get to know individuals by working closely with them on the Core Team I see there is more openness on everyone’s part. This I attribute not only to their good will but to the time we take to spend a good 20 minutes in a faith sharing prayer at the beginning of every meeting. Even if there is disagreement, everyone feels they are working toward a common good and respect the work and decisions we make together.

Father Thomas Newton

The Core Team already has completed six of the thirteen scheduled meetings. Eight committees have been formed and are working hard to complete their assigned tasks as identified by the Merger Manual. The committees are Worship; Parish Organization, Structures, and Staffing; Finances; Facilities and Grounds; Ministries; Civil/Canonical Concerns, Mission Statement, and Naming of the New Parish; Celebration of the Merger and Welcoming All Parishioners; and Property Inventory and Sacred Articles.

It is important for parishioners to know that what the Core Team and the Convener are doing is working to create a new, vibrant and dynamic parish. The organization, structures, staffing, ministries, etc. will not be a blending of the two parishes but will rather be the creation of a new entity. I would also want the parishioners to know that the Core Team and I are very enthusiastic about the work that we are about and we believe that what we are doing will have many positive benefits for the people of the new parish community.

The most significant challenge we have faced is trying to bring about a greater understanding among parishioners that we are not concerned, first and foremost, with holding on to the structures and ministries of the existing parish communities. Rather, it is important to draw on the spirit and traditions of the existing communities to lead us to create something new, which is much, much greater than the sum of its parts.

The Core Team has had perfect attendance at every Core Team meeting and event. The Core Team has spent a significant amount of time at the beginning of each meeting praying together with an opportunity for shared prayer. I believe that the Spirit of God has led the Core Team to come together as a cohesive group, free of competing interests and egos, to work together to create a new parish community. We have spent a Sunday morning at each parish in the past month celebrating liturgy together and sharing in fellowship with the parishioners. The goal was to create an environment that communicates to the parishioners of both parishes that the Convener and the Core Team are transparent and open to the ideas, thoughts, hopes, and concerns of all parishioners.

Father Patrick Brady

 

As I meet with the Core Team in the months ahead it is my hope that any multicultural and bilingual obstacles can be overcome.

It is important for parishioners to know that, in the end, clarity and charity will be necessary if we are to successfully unite the parishes.

One challenge is facilitating open, honest communication in a climate of psychological safety so that Core Team members and parishioners feel free to express inquietudes.

Since we’ve been meeting, we have been discovering mutual giftedness, previously unknown, on the part of persons and communities from other communities or cultures.

 

 

Father Jim Dabrowski

I hope to encourage empathy and mutual respect for each other and especially for the parishes as we begin to prepare for merger. This mutual respect, in my view, is the key for a successful merger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father Ernest R. Soprano

 

My hopes are shared with the Core Team members and people I have met in this community. They are for a peaceful transition to a new experience, fully aware that change causes many reactions. Cooperation is next, along with faith filled experiences - many that may be familiar - others that are new and dynamic expressions of our love for Jesus Christ and for the sisters and brothers in this new faith community.

Know, among the parishioners, that honest faith filled members have courageously stepped forward. I have met kind and caring people who may not have all the answers, but are willing to work for the best interests of the Church in this area of the diocese. Each aspect of parish life will be examined and studied, in all its parts, as we strive to be the best parish, filled with care and commitment, economic prudence, with thoroughness in as many details as is possible.

My greatest challenge at the moment has been the distance between my present assignment and wanting to be “present” to the people in North Cape May and Villas as often as I would prefer, especially at Sundays and special events in their present parishes. I have relied heavily on e-mail, fax, and telephone, and to meet with concerned individuals is my concern.

Some of the positive experiences have been to share daily Masses when evening meetings at each parish run late into the night. I have attended one social event in each of the parishes this past fall. Each encounter tells me a little more about “individual stories” of faith. I’ve enjoyed everyone of the people of the Villas and North Cape May I’ve had the opportunity to meet. A summer picnic is planned at a nearby campground and “all” will be invited to attend in hopes of meeting each other. In short, I couldn’t be happier thinking about these people and what is being accomplished.

Father Tom Barcellona

 

It is my hope that through the work of the 11 members of the Core Team our parishes— our new family—will get to know one another We want to bring an increasing awareness of our mission together by focusing not so much on what each individual parish has now, but what we will have as a truly united parish. With all three churches remaining as worship sites it makes our task a little challenging, but it is my hope that as one parish we will have unity.

We have just begun our work, having completed the first several meetings. I would ask that parishioners have faith in those who were chosen as Core Team members to carry out this important work of joining the parishes together.

The greatest challenge of the first four meetings has been “time.” It seems that two hours for a meeting goes by so quickly, so for subsequent meetings we have to survey and possibly add more time or maybe more meetings. However, forming committees to focus on certain areas of work and having more people involved should make a difference.

I think what has been so positive about the process so far has been the openness Core Team members and their willingness to listen. Hopefully this will transform not only us but the three parish into a single unity filled with the Spirit, allowing for rebirth into a new parish family.

Father Joseph Capella

 

I hope that as this year progresses, the process will excite an increasing number of parishioners to take an active role in the process as it allows for more parishioners to get actively involved. I hope that a new vision of church will emerge from this process, a process that is at times painful but also full of hope and promise.

I think that it is important for parishioners of each merger to know that we are in the process of forming new Catholic-Christian communities throughout the Diocese. It is a very important and exciting time for the Church of Camden as it was for the Churches of Corinth, Rome, Colossae, Thessalonica,
etc. as they were founded in the name of Jesus. Parishioners have an unprecedented opportunity to help found (or re-found) our various local faith communities.

There are times when parishioners or Core Team members may feel unprepared, overwhelmed and unsure of what God is asking of us. Yet, we still say “yes” to this call of discipleship. This process requires a huge leap of faith on many levels, trusting in God’s promise that the Church will never be left alone. The process is exciting while at the same time daunting in its scope. The challenges include practical types of issues, but also conversion of heart and trusting in a new vision of church. Prayer, community and faith in God’s promise to always be with us continue to help us overcome whatever challenges there may be.

I think that even though some parishioners are upset and even angry at what is happening, at a more profound level they understand and even agree with the necessity of what we are doing through this merger process. It has been positive to hear that from them even though it is a difficult reality to admit. Also, a wonderfully positive experience has been the realization that the local faith communities of the merging parishes have real input into the future of their faith community. I have noticed members of our Core Team coming to realize that they are going to have a direct and lasting impact on the future of the Church.

Msgr. Victor Muro

 

 

I hope with our Core Team to complete the entire series of recommended meetings and make the new parish that will result from the unification of St. Francis and Immaculate Heart of Mary a reality, through mutual understanding, respect and peace. I am confident we will become one strong, vibrant Parish.

I hope to give parishioners a chance to become aware of what is going on through ongoing communication and reassurance.

While there is still some difficulty in the concept of joining together as one Parish, we have addressed this through communication and by sharing activities together.

I have been encouraged that Core Team members have worked together with mutual understanding and respect. We have established our Religious education program together, had a Christmas Concert for both Parishes, celebrated the Feast of the Three Kings, and First Penance service together. There also has been