Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

Prior to the issued decree for the merging of the parishes of our ACC, we were instructed by the diocese to begin an inventory process for each parish. That inventory would then be an accurate representation of the goods each parish brings to the merger, and a helpful tool when deciding what we do with those goods following the canonical and civil mergers.

 

The inventories can help identify specific needs for items or materials that one location might have, or the excess/availability of items at another location that could potentially be used in an area of need. When there are items that are identified as not being needed, the inventory is helpful for tracking exactly what we do with each item. For example, if a particular church building is not going to be used, it is good to look at the different decorations that were used in that building. The decorating crew from the other buildings can come together and determine what would be good to use at another location and what might not be necessary. Then, we look at the items together and see if there are items we want to hold on to or store as we continue to discern needs. After that, we can open up the remaining items to parishioners or the local community if they are interested. Finally, anything that has not been claimed might get donated to a second-hand shop or community store.

 

Similar things can be done with various faith formation materials for classes or projects. We have already started some of that with materials at St. Kathryn, but there are still many things in the building.

 

Since the church has not been relegated, all the things necessary for Mass are still at the Church. Most of those Mass items will stay with the parish as we look at how to incorporate the different pieces into the primary and partner churches so that there would hopefully be something familiar at each location regardless of where you are from. That includes things like the statues and some of the larger fixtures which would not be given away, sold or destroyed; though they may go into storage for a time as we develop a plan for them. The intention is that all those items be faithfully tracked as clearly as possible.

 

If you ever have any questions about where a particular item is, or wonder what might have happened to another certain piece, you can always contact the parish office for information. And, as I have encouraged in the past, if you have a specific idea for any items in any of the churches, you can share that with the parish office and our transition team subcommittees.

 

Peace in Christ,

Father Timothy