Facilities Task Force Recommendations and Next Steps

Our On Mission for the Church Alive journey has taken place over the past three years now. Along the way, we have made every effort possible to communicate and to share the information about our parish merger with everyone. There have been opportunities to come together for assemblies, discussions, and ZOOM meetings. Our parish bulletin and website has contained weekly updates. On July 1, we became one new parish, Saint Paul Cathedral Parish.

Many decisions have had to be made along the way and will continue to need to be made for the good of our parish family. As we seek to create a vibrant parish that is able to do all the things a parish must do in ministry and outreach to the faithful, we have to find ways to move from maintenance to mission – spending less on our buildings and more on ministry and people.

After much prayer, deliberation, and consultation, we have made the decision to accept the recommendations of our parish Facilities Task Force regarding our four church buildings. The recommendations put forward unanimously by the Facilities Task Force are:  

1. Short Term: Saint Regis and Saint Stephen should not be reopened for regular worship but can be used for funerals, weddings, and baptisms with the pastor’s permission.

 

2. Long Term: Saint Regis and Saint Stephen are not needed for the operation of our new parish. The permission to close (relegate to profane use) should be sought in accord with both diocesan regulations and canon law at the appropriate time.

As you know, these recommendations were approved by the clergy team, by the parish finance council, and were communicated in a presentation on the website and discussed in two ZOOM meetings. I realize that these are difficult decisions, but ones that must be made in light of our parish needs and resources as we move forward. We are not able to focus on just “simply operating” or “getting by” in this present moment. We are making decisions that will help us to be a viable, strong, and faith-filled parish community for the long term.

As we study the demographic and financial data of our parish, and look at our long-term capital improvement needs, we find that we do not need – and are not able – to operate four different church buildings. Even more importantly is to realize the goal of On Mission for the Church Alive: to bring people together and to focus on the needs of ministry. This requires fewer church buildings and fewer Masses to serve the needs of the faithful for the long run.

To this end, and in light of acceptance of the recommendations put forth by the parish Facilities Task Force, we want to inform the faithful of Saint Paul Cathedral parish of several important decisions:

1. Only Saint Paul Cathedral and Saint Rosalia church buildings will be used for regular daily and Sunday worship.

 

2. All four church buildings: Saint Paul Cathedral, Saint Regis, Saint Rosalia and Saint Stephen will be used for funerals, weddings, and baptisms for the time being.

 

3. We will continue to monitor the needs of our parish and the resources available to us with the help of our parish staff and parish finance council and make decisions as necessary as we move forward.

 

4. Effective the First Sunday of Advent (November 28-29, 2020), we will implement a new Mass schedule for Saint Paul Cathedral Parish. That schedule is as follows:

                    12:05 pm Monday through Saturday - Saint Paul Cathedral                         Vigil Mass
                                    6:30 pm - Saint Rosalia site
                        Masses on the Holyday
                                    6:45 am - Saint Paul Cathedral
                                    8:15 am - Saint Paul Cathedral (Cablecast and Live Streamed)
                                    12:05 pm - Saint Paul Cathedral
                                    6:00 pm - Saint Paul Cathedral

Given the numbers of those attending Mass (the Mass counts for the past two years), and in light of the number of clergy assigned to our parish and the projections of available clergy moving forward, we believe that the Mass schedule outlined above is sufficient for our needs at this time. Both St. Rosalia and St. Paul Cathedral have adequate space for those coming to Mass and provide room for expansion.

Please note that we will resume the 6:00 pm Saturday vigil Mass at Saint Paul Cathedral. We have added a Sunday Mass at Saint Rosalia at 9:00 am instead of 11:00 am. This will give our parish an earlier Sunday morning Mass in addition to the 6:30 am and, in fact, was the time of the Mass at Saint Stephen. This also allows us to move the 1:00 pm Mass in Spanish to 12:00 Noon which was the time of the original Mass in Spanish at Saint Regis. We are hoping that these changes will be welcomed by a number of people in our parish.
 

5.  Transportation. We are working with a transportation company to provide some shuttle service to those who express a need for it. We would want to be able to have a pick up at Saint Stephen site and Saint Regis site for anyone who desires to attend the 4:00 pm Mass at Saint Rosalia site on Saturday night, the 9:00 am Mass at Saint Rosalia site or the 10:00 am Mass at Saint Paul Cathedral on Sundays.

 

In order to determine the viability of this service, we need those interested to sign up and indicate for which Mass they need transportation. This would be a weekly sign up so that we can make the arrangements. We are asking anyone who would like to use the shuttle service to notify the parish administrative office in advance at 412-621-4951 or email at info@saintpaulcathedral.org. We will need to know your intention to use the shuttle no later than 3:00 pm on the Thursday of the week you intend to use the shuttle. If you have signed up and find that your circumstances change such that you will not be using the shuttle that weekend, please call the parish office as soon as possible at 412-621-4951 to notify us of that change. Since there is a cost to the parish for utilizing the shuttle service, we do not want to operate the shuttle unless there are people who have signed up to use it.

I would continue to ask for your patience and understanding as we do all that we can to bring our parish together into one community of faith. Change is never easy for any of us. But let us never lose sight of the big picture and why we are here in the first place: to grow more deeply in our love for God, to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, to open our hearts each day to the amazing grace of God given to us in the Church and especially the sacraments, and to serve the needs of others, so that we can gain the only thing worth gaining – life forever in heaven. Saint Paul, pray for us.

We have reached the point of making decisions about the use of our church buildings moving forward. A Facilities Resource Task Force has worked over these past months, in accordance with the policies and protocols of the diocese, to evaluate our church buildings in light of what our new parish needs for ministry and what our parish can afford given our resources. These are not easy decisions to make. The whole reason for merging our four parishes is the reality that we cannot continue to support all the church buildings that we have and there is not a need for using them all for regular public worship.

Our goal has been and continues to be moving from maintenance to mission – allowing our much-needed resources to move from bricks and mortar to the needs of the faithful in our parish community. We want to touch the hearts of the faithful and be able to serve their needs and to help bring them closer to the saving love of God and life in Jesus Christ.

I would invite you to view the presentation below that explains the process underway and provides the recommendations that the Facilities Resource Task Force has made to me about the use of our church buildings moving forward. You will see the many challenges confronting us with declining offertory revenue, significant capital projects needed for some of our buildings, changing demographics, the number of clergy available and the need to reduce our Mass schedule. These recommendations from the Task Force come after much investigation, study, reflection and prayer and represent for us the best opportunity we have to create a vibrant, life-giving and financially stable parish for the long term. I am grateful to the Task Force and the fidelity, professionalism, and care with which they accomplished the very difficult task they were given.

I know that these decisions will affect people deeply. Change is never easy. But I am inviting each of you to consider the most important questions of all:
 

1. What do we need to do to make these changes work?

2. What do we need to do in order to help you and others feel comfortable and welcome in attending Mass at another church site?

3. Think about what else we can do to serve the needs of our parishioners and others? What can you do to get involved in the life of our new parish?

 

FACILITIES RESOURCE TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS
Q & A from the input received in the ZOOM meetings and other means
 

1. If we can use the church buildings for funerals, weddings, and baptisms, why can’t we just have one Mass on Sunday as well?

Our desire is to do all that we can to be present to the members of our parish family especially in times of death, as well as special occasions like weddings and baptisms. But the bigger picture continues to be focused on how do we best bring our parish family together for the long run in light the number of Masses we need, which buildings can be financially sustained and the decreasing number of clergy.
 

2. How can I go to St. Rosalia or St. Paul Cathedral when I don’t feel welcome?

Hospitality and welcome are core, foundational values for our parish and we all need to work diligently to be sure that every single person is made to feel welcome wherever they go to Mass. This will continue to be a high priority in our pastoral outreach and we want everyone to help us make this a reality by serving as greeters, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at our worship sites and volunteering for parish activities.
 

3. Why do we need to worry about issues with capital improvements when the Church is perfectly fine the way it is?

The church buildings are not perfectly fine the way they are. People may not always see or understand the serious issues involved in maintaining our church buildings for the future – but these realities cannot be ignored. Some of them involve health and safety issues. We only have so many resources and these have to be used wisely for the good of our entire parish.
 

4. If St. Stephen closes Hazelwood will suffer. If St. Regis closes, South Oakland will suffer. What about the Church’s support for our neighborhood?

We understand completely how important church buildings are to all of us and to our neighborhoods. But sadly, times do change and not all church buildings can remain open. But the presence of the Church in a community – and serving that community – is not tied to a building. We have many needs in Hazelwood and South Oakland as we seek better ways to serve the homebound, elderly and poor, to reach out to those who no longer choose to practice their faith and others who need to experience the saving love of God. That is what we are intent on doing in Hazelwood, Greenfield and Oakland for the long run.
 

5. I can’t believe that the financial numbers presented are really accurate. Where did those numbers come from?

The financial numbers presented are real, accurate and true. We have competent and dedicated diocesan and parish staff whose job it is to help manage the financial responsibilities of our parish. We also have a dedicated and gifted Finance Council who give great oversight to the financial position of the parish. Each year the parish publishes the financial report in the bulletin and we have been intent on sharing our financial situation with the parish many times over during the course of the last 2 years as we have worked to come together.
 

6. What will happen to the funds received from the sale of any parish buildings?

The buildings are part of the heritage of our parish. Any sale of properties provides additional financial assets for the future of our parish family. These assets are put away in our savings account and decisions about their use will be based on what our needs are and involve the input of our finance and pastoral councils as we plan for the vibrant and faith-filled future. We would only need to use these assets for operations in the case of an emergency when we do not have sufficient offertory revenue to pay our bills. That is exactly what we are trying to prevent by moving from maintenance to mission.
 

7. Why do we have to pay off the debt from Saint Paul Cathedral and Saint Rosalia?

As of July 1, we became one parish and the finances of the four former parishes were merged. These responsibilities are now our responsibilities as a parish family. St. Stephen, St. Rosalia and St. Paul Cathedral have brought debt into our new parish family – we have been blessed with the generous help of the diocese in forgiving part of our new parish debt and we are grateful for that help. Now it is through our faithful stewardship that we need to find ways to pay off existing debt and operate with a balanced budget each year. A balanced operating budget actually provides very minimal debt service so that offertory contributions do not go to debt but to ministry and mission operations. The greatest financial concern is that we are facing a potential operating deficit of $600,000 for this year. The focus of our efforts is on finding ways to reduce expense and to increase revenue.
 

8. Why should we have to pay for the renovation of Synod Hall?

The renovation of Synod Hall is an exciting and needed project – it will become the new pastoral center for our parish and be a great asset to us and to the community. However, the funds to renovate Synod Hall are not coming from parish operations – these are funds being raised specifically for that project. The bulk of what has been raised so far – nearly $2 million – was raised as part of the Church Alive campaign for the Cathedral – we are in the fifth and final year of pledges being paid – and we are working diligently to raise the remaining funds to undertake the project.
 

9. Why should I contribute any money at all if we aren’t going to use my church building?

As of July 1, we are all members of a new parish with a duty to support the parish regardless of which worship site we might be attending. Faithful stewardship is a responsibility for every Catholic – it is a precept of the Church that we must use our time, talent and treasure to help the Church. It is my hope that everyone will see the promise and hope that our parish brings to so many as we seek to serve our families, the elderly, the sick, our children and youth, our young adults, as we want to evangelize and teach and to serve. This is the work of Jesus Christ that the Church continues – our life is not about buildings but about being present with the truth and love of Jesus Christ to people everywhere. We would hope in the end that everyone will desire to help our parish do what the Church does – save souls and bring people to heaven.
 

10. I walk to church and have no car but if my church site closes how will I get to Mass?

We are committed to help anyone who needs to get to the Saturday evening vigil Mass or Mass on Sunday to be able to get there. We have made plans to provide transportation by stopping at St. Stephen and St. Regis to transport people to the Saturday evening Mass at St. Rosalia and the Sunday Mass at St. Paul Cathedral. We are working to begin a transportation ministry, as well, where neighbors can intentionally help to bring people to Mass with them. This is a critical issue that we are committed to make work – anyone who wants to get to Mass will be able to get to Mass as safely as possible given the current COVID-19 environment we are in.
 

11. Is the closing of church sites and possible sale of assets really about abandoning the poor so that our parish can serve the rich?

Of course, the answer to that question is unconditionally NO. The reality is that our parish cannot afford to maintain nor supply sufficient clergy for four different worship sites. The recommendations to close several church buildings to remedy this situation was based upon objective diocesan protocol and guidelines, including where parish members live, access to worship sites and the capital costs of rendering sites fit and suitable for worship. Saint Paul Cathedral parish is already present and serving the poor and those in need in many different ways in the neighborhoods in our parish and that will continue to be a huge priority for the mission and ministry of our parish. With less resources being directed toward maintaining facilities that we don’t need; we can engage in more vibrant ministries that touch the lives of those in need directly. Some of these include our food pantry, St. Vincent de Paul outreach, St. Elizabeth of Hungary fund, our care and outreach to the elderly and homebound, evangelization outreach in the neighborhoods to touch people who no longer attend Mass and those who do know the love of God, our bereavement outreach to those who have lost loved ones, ministry to those who have addictions and their families, ministry to immigrants and refugees in our neighborhoods, and many others. We need more resources to provide sufficient pastoral care to many who are poor and suffering.
 

12. How will we identify the needs of our parish and make decisions about the kinds of ministry and outreach that we need?

One of the primary responsibilities of the Parish Pastoral Council is to work with the pastor to create a pastoral plan for our parish. The pastoral council is being assembled with representatives that reflect the diversity of our parish family: where people live, age, gender, professional skills, ethnicity, and background. The pastoral council represents everyone in the parish. The pastoral council will help to assess the needs of our parish and create a pastoral plan that identifies the type of ministries that can serve those needs. This will be a priority for us as we move forward this year.
 

13. If we can raise sufficient funds to keep the church building open will that change the plan?

Our first and most important concern is creating a vibrant, faith-filled parish community. The recommendations of the task force are not focused simply on the church buildings. We have studied carefully all the ministry needs of our parish and what resources are available to us. With the continuing decline in the number of clergy moving forward, we also must schedule fewer Masses based on what we truly need and not simply for convenience. That will allow for more vibrant liturgies with more people in attendance at each of the Masses scheduled. Our goal is focused on what we need to do to build a vibrant, faith-filled parish that meets all the criteria for what a parish must be; we are not focused on simply trying to keep individual church buildings open.
 

14. Will we have time to celebrate a final Mass in any of the church buildings that might close in the future?

The answer is YES. In the short term each of the church sites will continue to celebrate Masses for funerals, weddings and other special events that might arise. When the time comes for us to close a church site and we seek permission to relegate that church building to profane use, there will be time for the faithful to gather and to celebrate a closing Mass, share memories, and bring closure to that chapter in our faith journey.
 

15. If we close St. Stephen and St. Regis, some people have said they will go to another parish somewhere else. What can we do to prevent that?

We do not want to lose a single person as we move forward with whatever decisions have to be made. It would be sad indeed for a person to make a decision to leave Saint Paul Cathedral parish simply because they cannot attend Mass in a particular church building. Each of us has to work hard to try and convince our family, friends and neighbors to remain a part of our new parish, to get involved, and to bring the history and legacy of our four former parish communities into the makeup of our new parish. But in the end if people want to leave our parish because of a building and have no desire to remain, then we wish them well and will keep them in our prayers. If someone makes a decision for the good of their own faith journey to move to a different parish then it would be our hope and prayer that those who leave will continue to practice their faith in whatever parish they chose to attend.

First Meeting: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 from 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm

Second Meeting: Thursday, September 17, 2020 from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm

Join Zoom Meeting via internet
https://zoom.us/j/8902773301?pwd=Y0NRVTVlUVlJVGMrMlVuSWhldjdtUT09

Meeting ID: 890 277 3301
Passcode: 1cs7rW

Join Zoom Meeting via telephone: 1-646-558-8656
Meeting ID: 890 277 3301
Passcode: 478920

Meeting protocol:
 

1. Please watch Father Stubna’s presentation prior to the ZOOM Meeting

 

2. We will focus on clarifying anything in the presentation and discussing how best to implement the recommendations moving forward

 

3. Everyone will be muted and can unmute to ask one question or offer one point of feedback so everyone has an opportunity to participate