Hudson parish judges merger nearly two decades later

The 1990 merger of three parishes in Hudson may provide the Albany Diocese's best example of 20/20 hindsight during the "Called to be Church" process.

When St. Mary's, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Sacred Heart parishes merged into one community, closing the latter two, "it was like the annihilation of part of [parishioners'] families," recalled Rev. Winston Bath, pastor of St. Mary's then and now.

Because population shifts and the priests' shortage were only just becoming evident, the Hudson merger was not part of a Diocese-wide planning effort. In fact, the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning didn't even exist yet.

"People didn't see or feel the need for the planning process," Father Bath stated.
But Rev. Randall Patterson, head of the diocesan Priests' Personnel Office at the time (and now pastor of Our Lady of Victory parish in Troy), and Sister Nola Brunner, CSJ, diocesan Vicar for Religious, were assigned to lead the parishes through a two-and-a-half-year planning process that led to the merger.

There was no rule book to guide them, with most previous church closings having happened in "the days when a bishop said, 'This church is closed,'" said Sister Nola, thumping a fist on her desk to illustrate.

Pain and plans

"The people of Hudson could have felt they were being singled out. It was very painful," Father Patterson told The Evangelist.

Unlike the Called to be Church process, he added, "we didn't have a lot of groundwork and 'loosening of the soil' conversations. A lot of different issues came on the table at one time; people were bound and determined their church was going to remain open."

One issue was ethnicity. Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish was predominantly Italian, while Our Lady of Perpetual Help/Sacred Heart was Polish. St. Mary's had many Irish Catholics on its roster -- and there was also a growing influx of Hispanics in Hudson.
And "in each parish, people had a strong sense of community. They were very attached to their communities," said Father Bath.

Joe Pazera was the head of Sacred Heart's parish council. He passionately defended his parish: "You go to the church your whole life; you take care of it like a baby. You don't want it to close."

A planning committee of 36 representatives of the three parishes was formed. As parishes have done during Called to be Church, they evaluated buildings, finances, Mass attendance and other aspects.

Inevitable

"As the process went on, it was obvious St. Mary's could accommodate everybody," said Sister Nola. "People could sense that the two smaller churches were going to go."
Father Patterson remembered the night that diocesan officials took a confidential vote among committee members about merging, knowing they couldn't remain as they were. The priest said "there were many people who did not believe the facts as they were presented."

One person told the group, "I was born into this church. I've never belonged to any other church -- and now you're telling me we have to go elsewhere?"

Town meeting

A series of meetings with parishioners was held, culminating in a "town meeting" where Catholics from all three parishes were invited to come and talk with diocesan officials about the plan. A few hundred people were expected to attend.

More than 1,000 came. Sister Nola described the scene: police attempting to calm the crowd, people carrying statues of their parishes' patron saints into the room on their shoulders, crying and shouting that devolved into physical threats.

"One woman stood up and said, 'You just can't close that church. My grandfather carved the wheel that rings the bell.' And she was crying," Sister Nola recalled with tears in her own eyes.

Because the parishes could not come to any agreement except keeping all three open, said Father Patterson, "the decision came down" from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard that two would have to close. 

Many parishioners challenged that decision; the Bishop held another meeting in which he addressed concerns and explained why the merger was necessary.

Mr. Pazera said he came to believe Hudson was "overchurched." Even his own children, once parishioners, had grown up and moved away to Missouri, Louisiana and Massachusetts. 

Finale

In February 1990, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Sacred Heart closed. The new community was called "the Catholic community gathering in Hudson, New York," until the name St. Mary's was chosen.

Many parishioners left the Church in Hudson entirely. Kathy Jenkins, now office manager for St. Mary's, said that diocesan officials have described the Hudson merger as "poorly handled." 

"I wish it could have been different," Father Bath stated. He wishes that the Diocese had chosen to continue dialogue rather than enforcing a decision, to "give us the space to wrestle with the issues and come up with something most of us could live with."
He believes diocesan officials "didn't have a good understanding of where people were coming from" in defending their parish ties.

Father Patterson -- who agreed that officials then "were not prepared, as we have been with the Called to be Church process" -- lauded Father Bath for pulling the shattered parish community together with "his pastoral presence over these years."

Starting over

One immediate effort to create community after the merger was the formation of a Christian service committee, primarily made up of women from all three parishes. They started working on a host of projects and learned about one another as they served others.

"It was a slow process of people getting to know each other," said Father Bath. "We also created the first pastoral council after the merger, with equal representation from all three churches."

Mr. Pazera became president of that council, a position he still holds. He boasted that "Italian people are our main cooks" at St. Mary's now.

"It's been a long process. People were so alienated," Mrs. Jenkins remarked. "It took a long time to pull together like this."

Eighteen years later, she said, St. Mary's parish is "pretty mixed: a large population of elderly, a goodly number of younger families." 

Father Bath occasionally sees "lost" parishioners return to the Church, most often after attending a wedding or funeral and seeing that "there's something worthwhile" at St. Mary's. 

Religious education also pulls in new families: Mrs. Jenkins noted that St. Mary's has become known for a "fabulous" faith formation program.

Formation first

With students doing community service from Kindergarten through high school, "the religious education program has become the backbone of our service," she explained. "We have people from other parishes signing up."

Mr. Pazera told The Evangelist that donations are also on the rise at St. Mary's. The offertory collection "is now averaging more than $5,800 a week. It looks pretty good," he said.

All those interviewed agreed that Called to be Church is better than what the Hudson parishes went through. Sister Nola noted that, since this process affects every parish in the Diocese, none can feel singled out.

"People now know that what we said [in 1990] is a fact: You can't have a priest everywhere," she explained. 

Called to be Church does have its challenges: Mr. Pazera said that some parishioners at St. Mary's are resentful of a new church being built for St. John Vianney in Claverack -- itself a merged community -- when others are being asked to close. He also believes Called to be Church is taking longer than necessary.

But at least "this [planning process] is happening all over the Diocese," Father Patterson noted.

According to Mrs. Jenkins, St. Mary's has conquered the struggle to become one community: "We're a real family. People will help out no matter what the situation is."

(9/25/08)