Merger Report

Diocesan Press Release: Merged Parishes to be Created July 1, 2021

May 29, 2021

Four groupings of parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh will merge on July 1, 2021, to create four new parishes, Bishop David Zubik announced today. Fifteen parishes will be part of the mergers.

“For more than two years, you have journeyed together on a road that is intended to unite you on the mission to bring the Good News of Jesus to your neighbors and to strengthen all of you in faith,” Bishop Zubik said.

In a letter to parishioners Bishop Zubik wrote, “This has not been a simple task. Jesus never promised that it would be easy to carry his message of love and mercy to others. He was clear that sacrifice would be necessary. However, you are positioning your new parish for more effective ministry by addressing financial needs, sharing resources and allowing your clergy to focus on the spiritual work for which they were ordained. With your faith in Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I invite you to warmly welcome and serve each other as you become one parish family.”

The four new parishes are:

•  All Saints (Butler/Center/Lyndora/Meridian), which brings together the parishes of Saint Andrew (Center Township), Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen (Lyndora/Meridian), Saint Michael the Archangel (Butler), Saint Paul (Butler) and Saint Peter (Butler)
• Christ the King (Lower Allegheny Valley), which brings together the parishes of Saint Joseph (O’Hara Township), Saint Juan Diego (Sharpsburg), Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Blawnox/Harmar) and Saint Scholastica (Aspinwall)
• Mary, Queen of Saints (Aliquippa/Center/Hopewell/Monaca), which brings together the parishes of Saint Frances Cabrini (Center Township), Saint John the Baptist (Monaca), Our Lady of Fatima (Hopewell Township) and Saint Titus (Aliquippa)
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Allison Park/Glenshaw), which brings together the parishes of Saint Mary of the Assumption (Glenshaw) and Saint Ursula (Allison Park)

Each of the mergers was requested by the priest-administrator of the grouping, after extensive consultation with parishioners. Bishop Zubik consulted with the diocesan Priest Council and Vicars General before approving each request.

The mergers are part of the ongoing On Mission for The Church Alive! strategic planning initiative, which is designed to help parishes mobilize their resources to prioritize mission over maintenance. Its goal is to help Catholics have a deeper relationship with Jesus, His Church and empower them to reach out to others with His love and mercy.

“This is a pivotal time for our diocese as we plan for the future of the Church of Pittsburgh,” Bishop Zubik said. “Southwestern Pennsylvania is radically different than it was 100, 50, 20, even 10 years ago, yet the work of the Church and our call from God to bring His love to everyone continues as strong as ever. As we address the challenges we face in the Church today, the witness of working and growing together reflects the unity of the Body of Christ that is essential to our mission.”

The mergers of July 1, 2021 will bring the number of parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh from 81 to 70.

 

4/18/21

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Thank you for the feedback and questions about the merger of our parishes. Your feedback and questions are valuable and helpful to this process. I asked members of the Advisory Council to assist with reviewing and responding. Please take a moment and review the responses to the questions we received. Thank you for your prayers and input as we move toward the July merger.

Is travel to all four churches an unnecessary burden on the priests and does this allow for interaction between parishioners and the priests?
Fr. Joachim, Fr. Canice, and I travel to our four church buildings for Sunday and weekday Masses and we are accustomed to this. The short drive
between our four churches is not burdensome. We have parish events and activities which allow for fellowship and interaction, and these kinds of
opportunities will be increasing.

Are all four parishes operating “in the black,” and are the closed schools a financial drain?
Currently, all four individual parishes are financially stable and are operating in “the black.” As for the school buildings, they are used for meeting
space, and conference space, priests’ offices, and religious education, and both closed schools are rented for athletic events and local community
events. When the new parish is formed, a major priority will be to create an efficient, well-run organization that will eliminate as much duplication
as possible and utilize group purchasing power to lower existing costs in as many areas as possible.

How will parishioners obtain sacrament records and how will sacraments be scheduled in our four parishes?
All parish records will be transferred to the Diocese of Pittsburgh Archives, and can be obtained through our parish office or by contacting diocesan
archives directly. Following the merger, we will have one parish office main number. Baptisms, weddings, and other needs can be celebrated at any
of our four churches per request.

Why are the budget projections/needs forecast not printed in the bulletin?
The budget was created for the fiscal year July 2019-July 2020, prior to the March 2020 shutdown. As of the March 2020 shutdown, the diocese
requested a monthly cash flow (simple snapshot of income and expenses by month) instead of an annual budget. Each month, we have been able
to cover all of our expenses due to the generosity of our parishioners. Currently, we have four stable parishes merging to form one new financially
stable parish.

Why have we stopped listing who the priest celebrant is for Sunday Masses?
When two of our priests were exposed to the virus, we stopped listing who the priest-celebrant was for each Mass in the bulletin. Because of the
many adjustments we make to our schedules, often with little warning, the decision was made not to list the priest-celebrant.

What are the reasons for converting the convent into a Youth Center, and what are the expected expense?
Rather than having an empty building sitting on our property, we are seeking to fill the needs of our youth and young adults by having a designated
space for events and activities. With the new hire of our Youth Minister, Joshua Snatchko, as well as our growing Young Adult Ministry, we expect
to use this space on a regular basis. It is a centrally located building that offers itself as a welcoming place for our young people—a group that has
been identified as very important to the future of our parish and faith. This project is expected to cost $14,000. Approximately half of this cost has
already been raised through generous gifts of parishioners from all four parishes.

At the time of our parish merging, will we conduct a parish census?
The merging of all parishioner data onto one system will allow us to remove duplicate registrations as well as those that have moved or passed who
were not previously removed. Once that is completed, serious consideration of a census will be made by council.

Have we consulted other parishes in the Diocese of Pittsburgh that have already completed the merging process? Does the Diocese have a
way for parish merger experiences to be shared?
As we go through the merger process, we are working with Dr. Gretta Stokes-Tucker, our diocesan consultant, who works in the Parish Services
Office. Based on the success and failures of the merging of previous parishes, they have provided us with assistance to move forward and navigate
our difficult circumstances.

Will you please provide more details about the naming process?
In the fall of 2020 a form to submit names that would best express our identity as a parish community was made available to all parishioners
through the bulletin, website, and mail. We received many suggestions. Similar or duplicate names were combined, and a list was compiled. The
names were discussed with the Advisory Council and evaluated based on a variety of factors, including frequency of submission. Some were eliminated because they did not meet the diocesan criteria, did not seem to express our identity as a grouping, or were already assigned to other parishes. The remaining names were compiled and the top 20 were submitted to Bishop Zubik. The Bishop eliminated several of these from consideration and indicated which of the remaining names were also being considered by other groupings. There were five names out of our 20 submissions which were not being considered by other groupings, virtually guaranteeing that we could be given one of those names. These five names are: Mary, Queen of All Saints*, St. Augustine, St. Martin de Porres, St. Rocco, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Bishop Zubik will prayerfully discern which
name to give us. This name will be revealed before the July 1st merging.

Once we are a merged parish, will we have one Parish Share Campaign?
Yes.

How will Mass intentions be scheduled?
Every effort will be made to accommodate the date and location (church) of the requestor. Following the merger, we will publish the new guidelines
for scheduling Mass intentions.


In the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Fr. Jean-Luc


(*Please note that in the 4/18/21 bulletin as well as the 2/25/21 PowerPoint presentation there was a slight error in stating this suggested name.  Much apologies for this oversight.)

Virtual Parish Assembly (2/25/21)

Our first Virtual Parish Assembly was presented on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 7:00PM and is now available for viewing via the video player conveniently located on this page.  Within this online presentation, various aspects of the parish merger are discussed and answers are given to previously submitted questions regarding it.
 

If you are a MACH1 parishioner who has questions and/or feedback you wish to share,
please submit it using the ONLINE SUBMISSION FORM
found on the Parish Plan Development page by

CLICKING HERE

If you prefer to to submit your questions/feedback using a PAPER SUBMISSION FORM,
you can download a pdf of one by

CLICKING HERE

Whether you use the ONLINE or PAPER method, please be sure to make your submission BY NO LATER THAN MARCH 15, 2021
so that it can be reviewed before the next Advisory Council Meeting set for March 17, 2021.

Check this page for updates.  Our parish grouping will also publish related information in the weekly MACH1 bulletin as well as make use of regular mail and email.  Due to the challenges of the pandemic and the safety of all our parishioners, we will hold our parish grouping virtual 'church hall' assembly type meetings online for now.

Our Five
Parish Name
Suggestions:

— Mary Queen of All Saints* —

— St. Augustine —

— St. Martin de Porres —

— St. Rocco —

— St. Thérèse of Lisieux —