Grand Rapids Diocese Unveils Major Plan to Merge, Cluster, Close Catholic Churches
By Heidi Fenton
The Grand Rapids Diocese today will formally release what leaders are referring to as a “roadmap for the future”—a plan that calls for a dramatic restructuring of parishes across West Michigan through mergers, clusters, and the closing of three Grand Rapids-area churches. The “Our Faith, Our Future” plan is nearly three years in the making and involved consultation with priests from all nine deaneries of the diocese, and parish lay members. Bishop Walter A. Hurley gave his approval April 5. “We knew we were faced with fewer priests. We knew that in parishes, finances were stretched. We knew that we had a lot of aging facilities that had to be addressed in one way or another,” Hurley said on Wednesday, a day before church leaders were to publicly release the plan. “We’ve completed the study. Now we’re ready to move forward using this as a roadmap for the future.” The 33-page restructuring plan results from a study that began in 2009 with a goal of positioning the Catholic Church in West Michigan for long-term vitality. There’s no set timeline for when many changes will take place — that will depend on when existing priests retire or can no longer serve. The changes will happen over several years. But the goal, diocese leaders say, is to let parish members know what lies ahead to calm questions over aging priests and offer a clearer sense of what the future will bring. Each of the 99 churches in the diocese will be affected in some way. For some, the change will be dramatic. Three Grand Rapids-area churches — Our Lady of Sorrows in the city, St. Anthony in Robinson Township and St. Dominic in Wyoming — will merge with other churches and move out of their current places of worship. For St. Anthony, the change will come soon. The plan calls for a complete merger with St. Patrick Parish in Grand Haven by July 2. Facilities at St. Anthony will be retained at the discretion of the new, merged church, which will be known as St. Patrick-St. Anthony parish. Any sale of the property will require Bishop Hurley’s approval. St. Dominic Parish in Wyoming will merge with St. John Vianney Parish, located nearby. Our Lady of Sorrows, which now serves a combined Italian and Hispanic community in Grand Rapids, will merge with either the Cathedral of Saint Andrew or Shrine of St. Francis Xavier/Our Lady of Guadalupe. The latter two mergers will happen only after priests now at St. Dominic and Our Lady of Sorrows no longer are able to serve—whenever that may be. For the remaining parishes throughout the diocese—which governs parishes in Grand Rapids, Ionia, Muskegon and Big Rapids and along the Lakeshore—a series of clusters and mergers will take place. Each parish in the diocese will have a cluster partner — another parish to share a priest with if one pastor is unable to serve. When two parishes merge, there will be one pastor, one staff and one parish pastoral council. There may be one or more worship sites. In a cluster, parishes will remain separate entities with one common pastor. Some programs and ministries will be shared. The final plan was formed through a series of three phases. Leaders first looked at northern counties and the Lakeshore, followed by parishes in Grand Rapids and then Ionia and Muskegon. Hurley referred to the process as a “jigsaw puzzle” of sorts. A consulting firm—Meitler Consultants— offered guidance as diocese leaders reviewed statistical and demographic data. Meetings were held with parish leaders through each of nine regions, or deaneries, in the diocese. People were nominated in each of those nine regions to serve on a coordinating committee for the region. “We talked about what constitutes a vibrant parish, what were the criteria for that in terms of worship, in terms of formation and education, in terms of outreach and fellowship—what were the hallmarks of a parish that could be considered to be a vital and vibrant entity,” said Msgr. William Duncan, who led planning efforts. The goal, Hurley said, was to maintain parishes in their existing churches as much as possible—even if other leadership changes may be necessary in order to do so. Priests are asked to say no more than three Masses on a given weekend, so some changes in worship times may happen down the road as those pastors work with two parishes. Some churches will have seasonal Masses in areas where attendance fluctuates during winter months. But the goal is to maintain buildings in as many cases as possible. “People have great attachment to their local parish church where their grandfathers and grandmothers were married and their parents were married and they want to be married,” Hurley said, noting the deep roots each group has in its own place of worship. “The goal here is not to close churches.” He and Duncan both acknowledged the challenges ahead as different cultural groups and others work together as part of parish clusters. The plan calls for parishes to reach out to Hispanic populations, a growing community that for so long has remained separate in many ways, Hurley said. He hopes to see integration and a more unified community. Where in some places, parishes have fewer than 50 members, others are growing. Hurley used the diocese's newest church, St. Luke near Grand Valley State University, as an example. Leaders look to focus on areas of growth across West Michigan. “Change is very difficult for people … we all have our own preferences and we all have our own likes and dislikes, but sometimes we really have to set some of those aside, otherwise the whole ship is going to sink,” Hurley said, noting the importance of a restructuring. “It’s whether we want to spend some of our money on administration or whether we want to spend our resources on mission and pastoral care.” THE LIST Unless otherwise noted, mergers or clustering will occur when the current pastor resigns or is "not available to be assigned." Below is an abbreviated details, download the official document for more details. Ada • St. Robert of Newminster, 6477 Ada Dr.: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Belmont • Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 6390 Belmont Ave. NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Byron Center • St. Sebastian, 9408 Wilson Ave. SW: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Caledonia • Holy Family, 9669 Kraft Ave.: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Cedar Springs • St. Margaret of Scotland (Harvard), 10195 - 16 Mile Road NE: Will serve as chapel assigned to Mary Queen of Apostles of Sand Lake, but Mass will eventually be moved to a location in Cedar Springs. Comstock Park • Holy Trinity, 1200 Alpine Church Road NW: Will cluster with Holy Family of Sparta. Grand Rapids • Cathedral of Saint Andrew, 301 Sheldon Blvd. SE.: Will remain open. • Our Lady of Sorrows, 101 Hall St. SE: Will close, merge with St. Andrews or St. Francis Xavier/Our Lady of Guadalupe. • Holy Spirit, 2230 Lake Michigan Dr. NW: Will cluster with St. Anthony of Padua. • St. Anthony of Padua, 2510 Richmond St. NW: Will cluster with Holy Spirit. • Basilica of St. Adalbert, 701 Fourth St. NW: By July 2, will merge with St. James Parish. When St. Adalbert's pastor retires, it will merge with St. Mary and SS Peter and Paul parishes. • Sacred Heart of Jesus, 156 Valley Ave. SW: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • SS Peter and Paul, 520 Myrtle St. NW: Church will remain a worship site but will merge with St. Adalbert. • St. James, 733 Bridge St. NW: Already clustered with St. Adalbert, the two will merge but retain two worship sites. • St. Mary, 423 First St. NW: To merge with St. Adalbert. Mass to be reduced to three a weekend. • Blessed Sacrament, 2275 Diamond Ave. NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Alphonsus, 224 Carrier St. NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Isidore, 628 Diamond Ave. NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Jude, 1120 Four Mile NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • Immaculate Heart of Mary, 1935 Plymouth Ave. SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Paul the Apostle, 2750 Burton St. SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Thomas the Apostle, 1449 Wilcox Park Dr. SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • St. Stephen, 745 Rosewood SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Grandville • St. Pius X, 3937 Wilson Ave. SW: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Jenison • Holy Redeemer, 2700 Baldwin St.: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Kentwood • St. Mary Magdalen, 1213 52nd St. SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Lowell • St. Mary, 402 Amity St.: Will cluster with St. Mary Parish on May 30. Parnell • St. Patrick, 4351 Parnell Ave. NE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Rockford • Our Lady of Consolation, 4865 Eleven Mile Road: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Sand Lake • Mary Queen of Apostles, One W. Maple St.: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. • Santa Clara Mission, Coral, 1 Maple St.: Will merge with Mary Queen of Apostles, serve as a summer chapel. Sparta • Holy Family, 425 S. State St.: Will cluster with Holy Trinity of Comstock Park. Wyoming • St. Dominic, 50 Bellevue St. SW: Will close, merging with St. John Vianney Parish. • St. John Vianney Parish, 4101 Clyde Park Ave. SW: Will merge with St. Dominic. • Our Lady of La Vang, 2019 Porter St. SW: Will remain open. • Holy Name of Jesus, 1630 Godfrey Ave. SW: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Mass to be reduced to three a weekend. • Shrine of St. Francis Xavier/Our Lady of Guadalupe, 250 Brown St. SE: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Mass to be reduced to three a weekend. • St. Joseph the Worker, 225 32nd St. SW: Asked to nominate parish cluster partner. Contact: hfenton@mlive.com
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.