UNITY

"We need to be unified! What can we do to have unity? Why do people stand in the way of unity?"

Any phrase with the word 'unity' in it has raised the hair on the back of my neck for the past three years. Any time legitimate questions were brought up in group discussions about how to deal with our parish merger, ultimately someone would try to end the conversation with "Can't we have unity?" I have commented for many years now that I would love to know what exactly this unity looked like. I always felt that those who criticized parishioners for not being 'unified', were leaning on a grand 'Cop out' phrase. They were actually a minority who didn't seem creative or caring enough to really venture into unknown territory. Talk about people who were really afraid of change!!

But this morning, as I was glancing through the Catholic Chronicle, I think I may have seen what unity really looks like. "Paulding Parishes Unite" lured me into the article about Antwerp St. Mary's, Paulding St. Joseph and Payne St. John uniting into one parish named Divine Mercy. My immediate reaction was, "Poor things". But as I continued reading, I felt as if I was an eldest child who later tells his parents that he resents how differently he was raised as opposed to the middle or youngest children of the family. I wistfully read how "all three church buildings will remain open under the new name. 'We are going to see how it works,' Fr. Fillman says of the new schedule, adding that it will be reassessed in the fall."


So, parishes didn't have to be closed after all?? Reassessed?? All initial decisions made by people miles away are not always final?

Then, my heart leapt and ached at the same time. The Chronicle article went on, " What's unique about the Paulding county situation is the fact that the decision came from the 'bottom up' process rather than a 'top down' decison made by the bishop, says Father Michael Billion, diocesan episcopal vicar and chancellor. The official suppression of the three parishes and announcement of the new parish comes after three years of study and planning by stakeholders in Paulding county."

"Three different scenarios were developed in the process and presented to the congregations for their input on each of the options." 'This is the one they came up with,' Fr. Fillman says. "

Now, I realize, from being on Transfiguration's Pastoral Council for the past four years (as of Thursday evening my term has now ended.) that what 'they' came up with could have been manipulated by their staff, but I am willing to believe that it was truly a joint effort. The article said that 84% believed closing the church would hurt the local communities, and that 75% were willing to make adjustments to secure all three churches in to remaining open.

Although I would love to talk to people from those parishes about the nuts and bolts of what happened (especially how they arrived at Divine Mercy for their name), I am still very envious that the people seem to have been dealt with respectfully. The Diocese, as parents who were overly rigid with their 'first borns', may be begininng to see their parishes as children who are priceless individuals worthy of communication. Being a member of a church who went through those first closures, I can't help but be happy for those three churches remaining open to serve. I am not sure who to thank, but I would surely love to shake the hand (or hug!) the person in the Diocese who surveyed all the carnage left from the initial closings and said, "Let's reassess this." God Bless You!!

But what about Transfiguration of the Lord Parish?

Our parish staff encouraged, on the basis of the Pastoral Council's reccomendation, the formation of a "Blue Ribbon Committee" to meet and come up with ideas to unify the parish. The committee of parishioners walked through many difficult issues and came up with a report that was mailed to every household in the Parish. Parishioners have since come up to me on the street marveling at the transparency of the recommendations. They appreciated the fact that a code of silence seemed to have been broken and that they might finally be able to be treated as responsible participants and guardians of the parish they had grown to love.

The Leadership of the Diocese seems to have reassessed the situation, will our local leadership do the same?