Town meetings keep Catholics up to date on 'Called' planning

All parishes in the Albany Diocese are currently holding meetings of local planning groups (LPGs) as they finalize recommendations for their futures during the "Called to be Church" process.

Some, like Holy Spirit parish in East Greenbush, are also participating in "town hall" meetings with parishioners from all the parishes in their groups, making sure everyone has the chance to ask questions and raise concerns before the proposals are sent to the Diocese in June.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard will announce his decisions on the parish proposals in the fall; the final plans will begin to be implemented in 2009.

Town hall meetings

Rev. Joseph O'Brien, pastor of Holy Spirit, noted that his parish is grouped with Sacred Heart in Castleton, St. Mary's in Clinton Heights, and St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph's in Rensselaer.

Together, the parishes have already held two "town hall" meetings to consider proposed Mass schedules for the future, lifelong faith formation, prayer and worship, and sacramental preparation.

A third meeting, May 7, will examine Christian service and parish administration and finances.

Wide interest

Father O'Brien was impressed to see 175 to 200 people, representing all the parishes in the LPG, in attendance at the first meeting.

"In the main, people seemed to have a good level of understanding" of the Called to be Church process, he added. "The questions were pretty intelligent -- beyond a more introductory phase."

The pastor believes the lay-led LPG did a good job communicating information about Called to be Church to all the parishes. When planning meetings were held, he said, the results of those discussions were printed in all the church bulletins, "so everyone was reading the same thing."

Changes

At the first town hall meeting, parishioners discussed a reworked Mass schedule for the LPG churches. Father O'Brien noted that they had been told some time ago that the Diocese would only be able to supply three priests to cover the churches in the future; the proposed Mass times would help make that workable.

"We need your participation in the process, because this is the schedule you'll be living with," Father O'Brien remembered telling parishioners. "Let us know the essential things we need to address."

Since the LPG committees saw all parishes in the group as viable, their Called to be Church proposals have centered around all four communities linking; they do not intend to recommend closing any churches.

'Big picture'

At the meeting, Father O'Brien said, people seemed to accept the "big picture." Their questions were more about minor adjustments to the timetable than major changes.

"Some people are still really digesting it; others are saying, 'This is a good approach. We know there's going to be some change,'" he said.

It's important, he said, to look at linking "in terms of opportunities: What can we do together to make things better?"

He added that the resulting ideas are not clergy-directed, but are coming from the laypeople in the LPG.

Overall, said the pastor, "I feel confident that our planning group can develop some recommendations, get them out to the people, and say, 'What can we learn' [from their input]?"

(04/10/08) [[In-content Ad]]