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As the Albany Diocese tries to staff parishes with a decreasing number of priests, so, too, do religious orders. Two weeks ago, the Augustinian order announced that its friars will no longer be living at St. Augustine's parish in Troy.

Instead, Rev. David Kelley, OSA, pastor of St. Mary's in Waterford, will now take on St. Augustine's, as well. Three more Augustinian friars will assist Father Kelley, including Rev. Michael Stanley, OSA, and two others who will be assigned soon. The order prefers that its friars live in community.

Rev. James Spenard, OSA, the current pastor of St. Augustine's, said he was surprised to be reassigned to St. Rita's parish and the National Shrine of St. Rita in Philadelphia.

"I thought I would age out [of ministry] here," Father Spenard told The Evangelist. A native of Waterford, he's 68 years old and had assumed he'd retire as pastor of St. Augustine's at 75. The parish itself celebrated its 175th anniversary last year.

Father Spenard has been living at St. Augustine's with Revs. Fritz Cerullo, a 75-year-old Augustinian who's been there for two years; and Jorge Reyes, who came to the parish at Christmastime while transitioning out of mission work in the Dominican Republic. Both of them will be reassigned, as well.

Few in numbers
In letters about the changes read at Masses at both St. Augustine's and St. Mary's, Rev. Michael Di Gregorio, OSA, provincial of the order's Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, told parishioners: "I am sure you know well the challenges which many religious orders are experiencing, with a diminishing number of religious and priests available to maintain all of our commitments in parishes, schools and other ministries. We Augustinians, like other religious and diocesan clergy, are an aging group.

"Since I assumed my duties as prior provincial last June, we have celebrated the funerals of eight of our friars -- the youngest of whom, at 52 years of age, died suddenly while engaged in a very active ministry," Father Di Gregorio added. "On the other hand, we welcomed just one novice to profession and have not had an ordination in two years."

Father Spenard is concerned about the shrinking presence of Augustinians in the Diocese. St. Anne's parish, also in Waterford, closed in 2003 when its Augustinian pastor was transferred to St. Mary's; he listed other parishes in Cambridge, Greenwich, Hoosick Falls, Schaghticoke, Pittstown, Mechanicville and Stillwater that his order once oversaw, which have since become diocesan parishes, closed or merged.

In his years in ministry, the pastor has seen the order withdraw from nine sites in New York State -- including, in 1997, Carthage in the Ogdensburg Diocese, where he served.

"I don't envy [the provincial] his job," Father Spenard remarked. "This province of Augustinians is getting smaller and older. They're attempting to preempt strategic planning and preserve Augustinian common life."

Missing you
The pastor said he'll "miss everything" about St. Augustine's when he moves on this summer.

"I've loved it here," he said simply. "I've loved the people."

Father Spenard said he's been proud to see his parishioners welcome Catholics from other, closed parishes; he noted that St. Augustine's took on an Irish heritage celebration from the former St. Patrick's parish in Troy, a summertime novena to St. Anne, and a perpetual adoration chapel from St. Paul the Apostle parish.

"They're the things that shouldn't be lost," he said.

The adoration effort has been a particular success, with hundreds of people signing up for an hour of eucharistic adoration.

"There's never a time when the Blessed Sacrament is alone -- never, ever," Father Spenard boasted. "For a parish priest to come home any time of the day or night" and find someone -- often, several people -- in adoration has impressed him greatly.

The pastor does worry about the parish school, which currently enrolls about 115 students in pre-kindergarten through grade six. "The school is excellent, excellent," he said, "but it's beyond our capacity [at the parish] to support."

Adjustments coming
While pastoring two parishes isn't unusual, Father Spenard thinks it will be difficult for parishioners to adjust at first to not having a resident priest. However, he said, "My hat goes off to Father Kelley" for taking on another parish: "I have every confidence in Father Kelley -- and parish life will go on."

Father Spenard will leave for Philadelphia sometime after leading a July trip to Prague and down the River Danube with 34 parishioners from St. Augustine's.

He said his new assignment will bring him to a very active shrine and "what's left of a big Italian parish" in Philadelphia, since the ethnic community there has become more diverse.

"I'll miss it. I surely will," he said of St. Augustine's. "But the parish will continue." [[In-content Ad]]

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