All Things New Decision Announcement Scheduled

As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, we recognize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us. In this moment, as Archbishop Rozanski prepares to share the future structure of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we are struck by the constant need for Pentecost to happen in our Church each and every day. It is the Spirit that allowed the early Church to move from fear to courage - from silence to a bold proclamation of the Gospel. As we have arrived at this moment in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, this indeed is a new Pentecost for us.

All Things New Draft Model 2

Dear Parishioners,
 
Thank you for your patience, openness, and willingness to participate in the process for the All Things New Archdiocesan Initiative. While the concept of change is always challenging and can make us anxious, I have been so edified by your willingness to see the reasons for change as what they are and to begin to engage them through efforts of evangelization and deeper discipleship.
 
I wanted to provide you an update as to where we are in the process. We are now more than a year into the All Things New process and after having received the initial models at the Parish Listening Sessions, we were able to gather and submit significant feedback from our team of Key Parish Leaders and our parishioners as a whole. The Archdiocese heard from more than 70,000 people through the DMI Surveys, hosted nearly 350 Listening Sessions at 178 parishes in the Archdiocese, surveyed 18,000 parish school parents, administrators, teachers, staff, donors, community partners, and volunteers, compiled sacramental, financial and demographic statistics for every parish and school, met with community, civic and business organizations, held focus groups, and had conversations at the deanery and parish levels, both in groups and one on one.
 
Over the past several weeks, the All Things New planning committee, which includes priests, deacons, parish life coordinators, lay leaders and religious from across the Archdiocese, have been reviewing and processing the parish feedback summaries, parish workbooks and financial data of every parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. All are currently posted on allthingsnew.archstl.org. Using that information, the planning committee has refined the first draft models to a second set of draft models, which offer one draft model per planning area. In reviewing the models, you will notice that the planning committee has made great efforts to incorporate reasonable feedback and suggestions, and many of the initial draft models have changed significantly.
 
Each planning area is divided into pastorates. Each pastorate reflects the area for which one pastor would be responsible. The planning committee has analyzed each pastorate to reasonably ensure each one has the resources (people, priests, buildings, and financial resources) to sustain a new territory and model. It is important to note that these drafts do not address worship sites, clergy assignments, or schools.
 

The next step is to gather feedback on the second draft models. Outlined below is the process we will be taking at St. Gerard Majella Parish:

• The Archdiocese has published the second draft models online for all to see at allthingsnew.archstl.org. Please take some time to review the models, particularly our own Planning Area 6.
• Please take our brief parish survey to give your thoughts and feedback on the second draft models. You can access the survey here. Please submit all feedback by Thursday, February 16.
• This will be the last set of draft models and the final portion of feedback gathered in order to enable the Archbishop to make a well-informed, discerned decision for the spiritual well-being of the Archdiocese, looking at the feedback of the people and the needs of the Archdiocese.

 
As you look at the draft models for Planning Area 6, many parishioners may feel relieved to see that the planning committee recommends that St. Gerard Majella Parish remain as a stand-alone parish. The temptation when reading this is to believe that SGM can now “check out” of the process, since nothing appears to change. The reality, however, is that while structural change may be less dramatic in our area than others in the final announcement, our parish cannot afford to simply move forward with “business as usual.” Something must change if our parish is to remain the vibrant and viable community it has become. Evangelization, discipleship of Christ, collaboration with other parishes, and responsible use of our temporal and clergy resources is a necessity for the future.  Without these, we cannot succeed in our mission, and our parish and Archdiocese may be back in this same place again in a few more years.

The challenge of All Things New is the call to closer discipleship of Jesus Christ in our Church, parish, and community. Thank you again for being part of this important process and know of my prayers and gratitude for you and your families.   
 
In Christ,
Fr. Michael Grosch

An All Things New Update

Recently, a team of nearly 50 volunteers, including religious orders, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary faculty and staff, associate pastors, permanent deacons and lay people synthesized all the information the Archdiocese of St. Louis has received regarding its 178 parishes during the All Things New pastoral planning initiative. Information gathered included feedback from key parish leaders, parish listening sessions, online surveys, individual letters and emails. The summaries will be another important piece of information as Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski makes a final decision on the future of the parishes.

The volunteers were asked to follow four guidelines: that they offer a fair representation of what people said; include the real contradictions and tensions reflected in the feedback; offer the good ideas and key insights shared; and ensure they are concise. Volunteers were not allowed to synthesize any information for parishes in their own planning area.

The initial draft of the parish feedback summaries have been shared with pastors, who were asked to share the summaries with their Key Parish Leaders and provide feedback.  Every parish feedback summary is now public at https://allthingsnew.archstl.org/. (Planning Area 6 Summaries.) You should contact your parish office for more information if you do not have access to the internet. All of this is geared toward the Archbishop making a well-informed, discerned decision for the spiritual wellbeing of the Archdiocese, looking at the feedback of the people and the needs of the Archdiocese.

The All Things New planning committee is expected to refine the draft models to one model per planning area.  Armed with the feedback summaries, parish workbooks and financial data, the team will analyze each model to ensure each one has the resources to sustain the new structure.  Another round of draft model options will be shared with the priests in early February, with a period of feedback. Other factors will come under consideration, including redrawing maps of the archdiocese and priest reassignments.

It is expected that by the end of April, Archbishop Rozanski will have met with Consultors to review final draft models, and then he will have a month to pray and discern before announcing a final decision on May 28, the feast of Pentecost. Implementation of these plans will take effect
beginning in fall 2023 through 2026.

Please continue to pray for the gift of true discernment so that we may continue to do the Will of God in all things.

Update & School Survey

Thank you to all of you who participated in the St. Gerard Majella Listening Sessions for All Things New this past week.  I am grateful for your investment in the future of our parish, our community, and our Archdiocese, and for your commitment to Christ and the Gospel message. These discussions are never easy, but it’s important that we persevere in our faith in God, our hope in the mission, and in our love for each other. That’s the only way forward.

As I mentioned at the sessions, sometimes emotions can cloud our judgment in these matters – whether because we’re happy and not considering other factors, or because we can be angry and simply responding out of a fear of loss.  One of the most important things at this point in our journey is to take what we heard and what we’re thinking, and bring it to the Lord in prayer. Ask Christ to give you peace and clarity in discerning what is truly best, and to help you articulate what your thoughts and concerns are.

You will soon have the information that was presented, along with opportunities to leave feedback. Please take this opportunity to heart, and offer the feedback that is important to this process. For any questions, email allthingsnew@archstl.org.

Current school parents and teachers also have the opportunity to fill out the school survey. This survey can be taken online and will be available to be completed from October 17 through November 1.

Current School Parents/Guardians Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NQYVH6M

Current School Faculty Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJSLNXP

Let’s continue to pray for each other, and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with his peace, understanding, energy, and love!

All Things New Parish Workbook

You can find our parish workbook at the link below.  This contains many of the details that went into the models that were shared at the listening sessions.

Parish Workbook

All Things New Education Survey Results

The results of the All Things New Education Survey have been posted.  Take a few minutes to check them out here.

Addressing Some of the Rumors Around All Things New

Reprinted from an article in the Catholic St. Louis Magazine by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Many of us are familiar with the role of the fact checker.  When claims are made by political candidates, the fact checker does the research to determine whether they are true.  And it often turns out that the claim is only partly true. In this article, I'd like to play the role of the fact checker for some things that are being said about the All Things New pastoral planning process.

Claim: “I heard that Pittsburgh went from 188 parishes down to 57, and we are working with the same group.”  

It's true that that's what happened in Pittsburgh. And it's true that Pittsburgh worked with the Catholic Leadership Institute, and so are we. But Pittsburgh's plan was Pittsburgh's plan, and our plan will be our own. The Catholic Leadership Institute is here to help us fashion our vision and plan, not the other way around.

Claim: “They already know the plan.”

This is, perhaps, the most important rumor that people hear.  I will not tire of reiterating: we do not already have a plan!  We know what the demographics look like; we know what the sacramental and financial trends look like. What we are discerning is what our infrastructure could look like, and what our mission should look like. Some preliminary models will be prepared over the summer as a starting point for conversation.  But then these preliminary models will be brought to the priests and the faithful through listening sessions so we can hear from peoples’ hearts. The conversations we have will clarify what we need to prioritize, and how we will invest our time and energy moving forward.

Claim: “All Things New is trying to destroy the tradition of the Church.”

We’re not trying, in any way, shape or form, to change what the Church believes. Quite the opposite: What the Church believes is the foundation upon which we build!  All Things New will not change the nature of the Mass, or of the priesthood, or of the sacraments, for example. What we are looking at is the way parishes are structured in this sense: where they are located, how priests are distributed among them, how parish programming supports evangelization. What we believe will not change. How we operate needs to.

Claim: “Demographics are inevitable.”

Let's call this “demographic fatalism.” If we just look at the numbers, they are declining. If we simply project those numbers into the future, it looks like the decline will continue to get worse. But consider just one counter-example. In the early 1800s, Catholicism in France was in demographic freefall.  By the late 1800s, there had been a tenfold increase in the number of priests and religious sisters! Of course, there were many factors in this turnaround. But the fundamental elements were the grace of the Holy Spirit and individuals cooperating with that grace. We need to view our own demographic
trends with human realism, and we are. But we also need to view them with faith in what the Holy Spirit can do, and what can happen when we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

Many things are genuinely unknown at this point of the process.  What often happens, however, is that those unknowns get filtered through our fear, sadness and anger. That filtering process turns uncertainty into rumor - and rumors are not the Lord’s work! So here's my plea: let's resist the rumor mill! And here's my proposal: every time we experience fear, sadness and anger - which we all do! - let’s pivot on them in a different direction. Let’s make them occasions for turning to the Lord and asking for His guidance.