Somersworth-Rollinsford Sub-Cluster 21

Listening Session

July 10, 2007

A Listening Session of the Somersworth-Rollinsford Parishes Sub-Cluster 21 was held on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at the Oaks Country Club in Somersworth, NH.  Well over 200 parishioners attended.  Each of the three parishes was well represented.

Fr. Aaron Pfaff provided the opening prayer and remarks.  He outlined the goal for the evening session.  The diocese has recommended that the cluster group begin to think about merging two  more of the three churches.  The Cluster Task Force is looking for guidance from the parishioners in questions, comments and concerns so that the group can make a proposal to the diocese that reflects the wants and needs of the cluster’s parishioners.

Tom Brown, representative from St. Martin Parish, presented a PowerPoint demonstration that provided the background information of the Cluster Task Force along with the defining terms in the diocese directive, statistics of each church gathered in 2005 and some possible options that can be considered.  The meeting then was opened for questions and comments.

Questions and comments generally fell into four categories:  Financial, Building and Land Logistics, Other Factors to Consider, and Perpetuation of the Faith.  The following is a synopsis of questions and comments from the open discussion:

Financial

Q - If there is a merger between Holy Trinity and St. Martin, considering the data collected, the higher value of HT but the larger parish size of St. Martin, what would be given more weight?

A – Both would have to be considered.

Q - Where would the assets of a sale go?

A - The diocese has stated that the debts and assets of any church merger will stay within that parish cluster.

Q - Can the proceeds from such a sale be used to build another building such as a Youth    Center?

A - Yes

Q - Do deeds belong to the parish or the diocese?

A - The diocese has ownership but has said that the assets can stay within the newly

      adjusted parish cluster.

Q - What kind of debt does each of the churches have?

A - St. Mary – no debt, Holy Trinity – no debt, St. Martin - $50,000 – There is enough money in the capital improvement funds to pay off this debt, if we choose. (Post session note:  St. Martins debt has just been reduced to below $3,000.)

Q - Is there a limit to how much money a parish can have in the bank?

      A – No, not that we are aware.

C - Holy Trinity is very valuable; its value will only grow in the future.  This might be a value that is worth keeping.

Q - In the area of repairs and updates to buildings, is it wise to spend money on them now when there might be a closure?

Q - Why not get a formal appraisal?

       A - There is a cost associated with an appraisal.  It is only good for this time,

              and not for any time in the future.

Q - Will the financial burden of the church be a driving force in the decision?

Q - Does the diocese tell the churches to support other churches who aren’t meeting their obligations?

      A - The parish submits a yearly budget.  The diocese doesn’t tell us what to do with   the money, they just review the budget.  But if there were concerns, they would ask for a plan that would work on solving the problem.

Building and Land Logistics

Q - Holy Trinity has a lot of land that would accommodate expansion.  Does St. Martin have the same capability?

A-  St. Martin has less land but could look into purchasing another piece of land between the church and the cemetery.

C - The diocese has said “no nuclear options.”  This means that they will not consider closing all of the churches in order to build a bigger, newer church.

Q - What is the status of the repair to the rectory?  The fire happened at the end of February.  It has been five months and we are no closer to having the building repaired.  Why is there no decision?  It is hard to believe that the insurance company has not made a decision yet.  We want Fr. Aaron close by, the offices back home.

A-  The diocese has put a hold on the repair to the rectory until a decision has been made concerning the merger.  They also want the offices and the rectory to be two separate locations to allow the priest a feeling of some privacy.

C - There is an ordinance in Somersworth that states that repairs need to be made within one year.  This needs to be considered.  Also, we should consider ourselves lucky to have mass here every week.  There are parts of Canada that have mass only once every 3 to 4  weeks.

Q - Would it be feasible to have an architect look the buildings over to determine what might be easier to expand?

A-  This could be part of the audit that the diocese will conduct

Q - Could the parking lot at St. Mary’s hold extra people?

A-  The parking lot has just been expanded and now holds about 70 - 80 cars.

Q - What about the name of the parish if there is a twinning?

A-  Twinning does not affect the names of the parishes or the church buildings.  A merger will garner a new parish name but keep the building names the same.  The diocese will send three names for the new parish.  We will be allowed to choose one.

Other Factors to Consider in the Decision

C - We should look at what happened up in North Conway.  They couldn’t come to an agreement, so the diocese closed all the churches in favor of one new larger building.  If we can’t come to an agreement, the diocese might do the same.

A-  It is our understanding that the diocese has stated that they would not consider a “nuclear” option

C - If we don’t merge peacefully, it will put a strain on the priest.  We have lost 100 priests in our diocese due to physical and emotional strain.  We need to face reality.  Once a priest is put on medical leave, his future as a pastor is in questions.  He may not ever be able to assume pastor ship again.  We have one holy priest.  We are very fortunate. 

Q - Is there a timeline established for this process?

A-  Not yet.  We are meeting on our own initiative right now.

C - Based on the numbers of parishioners in the cluster, it is inevitable that something will close.

Q - What if there is a new bishop?  Will he stand by the decision from the previous bishop?

Q - What proposal is the diocese looking for? Many proposals have been rejected before.  Should we just find out what they are looking for?

A-  Many of the previous proposals that were turned down were due to issues in the Dover sub cluster, not with the Somersworth-Rollinsford sub-cluster.

C - We need to consider all options before making a decision.  In Manchester, a church next to an elderly housing complex was closed in favor of another church quite a distance away thus making it very difficult for those elderly people to get to church.  Let’s not make an oversight like that.

Q - What caused the diocese to want to reconvene the clusters?

A-  The availability of priests.  They are being spread too thin.

Q - Who ultimately makes the decision?  Is it the bishop?

A-  Fr. Aaron stated that when he was on the Presbyral council, this group gathered information and proposals, analyzed the data, financial reports, etc. and then made a recommendation to the bishop.  The members of the council, 16 in all, were all priests.

Q - If a decision cannot be made, can the diocese come in and seize everything and thus make the decisions for us?

A-  If we can not come to a decision, the diocese most definitely will make it for us.

Perpetuation of Faith

C - We want to be seen as vibrant Catholics – we should consider all locations along with the future of our children and future of the faithful – Where will Mass be celebrated?  How many masses will there be? – we should be able to gather anywhere – the money should be merged so that care can be provided for all – that is what faith is about – St. Mary’s is sweet and wonderful, we could have nine masses there – the question is:  What do you want for your children and the future of our faith?

C - Are we putting our hopes on something that can’t be?  Can we be a parish with three churches?  Is it realistic?  Could we make the covenant for all three churches?  Can we make do with one priest if we stop having the extra masses and have one mass at each church each weekend?  Could the three churches accommodate only three masses?  Could all three churches commit to the covenant that there would be just the three masses, with the money going to one pot so that it doesn’t matter which mass you attend?

C - We should consider supporting where Holy Trinity and St. Martin comes together –

This is an economical decision and a realistic situation - We need to decide what is best and move forward – we all know each other here in Somersworth, it’s time for us all to come together and work together, not keep both churches open – St. Mary is in a somewhat more remote location and is doing well supporting itself – it can continue in that fashion

C - We should merge together and become one community.  What about the youth of our faith.  We need money to support youth in order to perpetuate our faith.  Can we do something about getting more youth at the next meeting?

C - We are a Christian community and should all work together

Q - How can more parishioners become more involved in the decision-making process?

A-  Voicing concerns to your parish cluster representatives – e-mail the parish secretaries, who will forward the e-mails to the cluster representatives.

C - No matter what we want, the diocese will make the decision.  We should have one church in Somersworth and St. Mary’s in Rollinsford. 

            A great deal of applause followed this comment.

Q - Should a vote be taken tonight about the merger?

A-  A vote tonight would be swayed by those in attendance.   We still need to wait for the diocese to complete the audit.  But we could do a show of hands to get a general sense of where people are at. 

B-  “Do you support the merging of the 2 Somersworth churches into a single parish, with only one church at either St. Martin or Holy Trinity?”  – a great majority of hands went up

Fr. Aaron said his good-byes.  The group was thanked for coming and for their support.  A thank you was issued to the Oaks for providing these accommodations at a much reduced rate for us.  The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Laurie Lambert

St. Mary Parish

Rollinsford, NH