St. Benedict of New Prague closes doors, prepares for integration into St. Wenceslaus

.

• January 19, 2011 3:46 pm

From left, Gilbert Schoenbauer and Adeline and Bernard Sobczak react moments after Adeline tied a purple ribbon on the doors of St. Benedict Church Jan. 16, which marked the closing of the church building in Scott County. Photo by Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Bernard, 86, and Adeline, 88, Sobczak can look out the window of their home near New Prague and see the church of St. Benedict across the street. For more than four decades, they have walked out their front door and about 100 yards to the church doors for Sunday Mass. Jan. 16, they did it for the last time.

In the predawn darkness, they made their way through snow and cold for the final Mass at the church, which closed its doors shortly after the 7:30 a.m. liturgy ended. In fact, it was Adeline who tied a small purple ribbon on the doors, which made the closing official.

With a small crowd gathered around to watch, Adeline was joined by Bernard, a parish trustee along with Gilbert Schoen­bauer, 73.

The mood was almost festive as parishioners en­gag­ed in lively conversation as they filed out of the church and gathered on the sidewalk.

Then, a hush fell over the crowd as Adeline pulled out the ribbon and slowly tied it to the door handles.

Afterward, she and the two trus­tees turned to face the crowd. There was a moment of awkward silence, then all three began to weep.

“Very sad,” said Schoenbauer, whose wife, Shirley, was the church organist. “I didn’t want to see it happen. But what can you do?

We’ve got to keep up with the times. We don’t have enough priests.

“It’s like you lost something. I don’t cry very often. I cried when my mom died, I cried when my dad died, and I cried today.”

Part of the plan

It was an exhausting weekend for Father David Barrett, who celebrated the final Mass and “taking leave ritual” at St. Thomas in St. Thomas at 5 p.m. Jan. 15.

Both St. Thomas and St. Benedict were to be part of the merger with St. Wen­ceslaus in New Prague, St. John the Evangelist in Union Hill, St. Scho­las­tica in Heidelberg and St. Joseph in Lexington as part of the archdiocesan strategic plan, an­noun­ced the weekend of Oct. 15-16. St. Thomas appealed and was allow­ed to merge with St. Anne in LeSueur because of the proximity to that church.

Diane Weckman and Jack Stasney, who served on the transition committee, talked about plans for St. Benedict.

During the week after the Mass, St. Benedict’s Stations of the Cross were to be installed at St. John, where they will be dedicated during the Jan. 23 Mass, and St. John will welcome St. Benedict parishioners with coffee and rolls.

The following week, the statue of St. Benedict is to be moved to St. Scholastica and that parish will host a dedication with coffee and rolls on Jan. 30.

“We should all be fat,” Weckman joked.

Stasney said that people will be OK with going to another building for Mass, but it’s the “fabric part of the community” that will be lost.

“Change is inevitable in our lives,” Stasney said. “Some people are having a hard time with it and they need their own time to go through a healing process and move on — and that is how it is with human beings.”

St. Benedict parishioners are still working on an itinerary of items that have been donated to the church in memory of a loved one.

Although those items can’t be given back to the donors, Weckman said they would make room for them in other churches, where they will continue to be used.

“All our cassocks are going to St. Scholastica because theirs are in need of replacement and ours are in good shape,” she said. And she plans to contact the Mankato Catholic community, which is building a new church, to see if St. Benedict has anything that could fill their needs.

“Father Elgar [Bockenfeld, OFM], for years, had been preparing us,” she said. “When he was alive, he said, ‘It’s coming, so just buck up and accept it.’”

Stasney noted that Father Bock­enfeld had run three of the rural parishes as a cluster, sharing programs and sacraments over the past four years.

“We were already merging things, so some of the stuff is not going to be brand new,” he said.

Weckman added that she appreciates all the work done by Deacon Bob Wagner, Father Barrett and Father Kevin Clinton, St. Wen­ces­laus’ pastor.

“They’ve been a lifesaver for me.”

Personally, Weckman is sad about not seeing the people at St. Benedict every Sunday, as each family chooses a church to meet their needs.

“I will have to get out there and make a phone call and stop in,” she said. “It’s our church family. I don’t see them all the time, but if I needed them, I know they’d be there.”

Weckman said there are positive aspects in the final collaboration be­tween St. Wenceslaus and the other parishes involved in the merger.

“St. Wenceslaus has so much to offer with adult studies,” she said. Although St. Benedict and St. John had a thriving religious education program with 125 children in­volv­ed, there was no Sunday school, Bible study or options for post CCD kids and that has her excited about the changes.

“It opens up more opportunities for us to grow in our faith,” she said.

---

Other mergers

Two additional mergers set forth in the archdiocesan strategic plan be­came official with the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011.

St. Francis de Sales and St. James in St. Paul officially merged Dec. 31, said Greg Vasterling, parish business administrator.

“Legally, yes, it’s done. But it’s business as usual to a certain extent, until we review all the different pieces of our campus and what that might mean,” he said.

The two parishes have been collaborating over the last four years, sharing a pastor, school, finance council, parish council and more.

“Under the archdiocese format, the next thing that happens is that a leadership committee is formed to review the campuses,” Vasterling said.

The first thing the parish will need to address is the urgent review of the school, he said. For now, Mass times will continue as they have been at both churches, he added.

Also merged as of Dec. 31 are: St. Andrew with Maternity of the Blessed Virgin in St. Paul. Catholic Spirit

New Prague pastor relieved by changes to merger

.

• December 1, 2010 10:17 am
• 
  

Father Kevin Clinton, pastor of St. Wenceslaus in New Prague, said he is feeling a bit less pressure since Archbishop John Nienstedt modified the merger plan among six parishes in the area.

The new decree for the New Prague area merger removed St. Thomas in St. Thomas from merging with St. Wenceslaus in New Prague and merges it instead with St. Anne in LeSueur as the receiving parish.

The rest of the merger remains the same, with St. Benedict, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph and St. Scholastica merging into St. Wenceslaus on Jan. 1. The St. John, St. Scholastica and St. Wenceslaus buildings will remain open.

The changes affecting the New Prague area merger are one of two mergers modified by Archbishop Nienstedt in response to information received from parishioners in petitions to reconsider merger decisions announced last October by the archdiocese.

The other modification involved a merger of parishes in northeast Minneapolis. The original decisions in the remaining 12 mergers were confirmed.

Decisions still to be made

In the New Prague area, “It’s a win-win situation,” Father Clinton said. The parishioners at St. Thomas are not only geographically closer to LeSueur, but they also have closer relationships to the parishioners at St. Anne, he said.

It also decreases — from six to five — the number of parishes for which the pastor is now responsible to blend into one parish that worships at three sites.

One of the greatest challenges will be where and what time to celebrate six Masses at three sites, after the last Mass is celebrated at St. Benedict, he said. Mass has not been celebrated at St. Joseph for the past two years.

Many decisions are yet to be made by the transitional leadership coordination committee, made up of two representatives from each of the five parishes, along with Father Clinton, Deacon Bob Wagner and Father Dave Barrett, the regional associate pastor.

“The facts are that even with two priests serving five sites, the five sites were not sustainable,” he said. One of the sites had 14 households. Another site had just 50 to 75 people attending the one weekend Mass offered.

“People are grieving,” Father Clinton said. It is like a death within the faith community.

However, he said, the creation of the new parish won’t change much in the way people worship. That is just a “legal modification,” he said. What is more important is the relationship of the people, who have the power to create something new and life-giving for the future.

Father Clinton said he is getting a lot of support and advice from the archdiocese and meetings with other pastors of merging parishes.

“Archbishop Nienstedt spent a few years in the New Ulm diocese where he learned a lot about rural faith communities,” he said. “So, that is to our advantage. He is not unfamiliar with the dynamics that do evolve and can evolve.”

The pastor also is grateful that there are no staff reductions with the merger, since the parishes outside of New Prague did not have any staff besides the priest and volunteers.

Throughout the merger process, Father Clinton is keeping people updated through the parish bulletins, announcements from the pulpit and through lay leaders reporting to the entire parish community.

“As much as we can, we are trying to take the best from each community and bring it into the new environment,” he said.

Changes in Minneapolis

In another merger in Minneapolis, Archbishop Nienstedt confirmed his original decision, with some modifications, to merge Holy Cross, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Clement and St. Hedwig.

Modifications include that the combined parish community will be named Holy Cross, and the effective date of the merger will take place upon the retirement of Father Earl Simonson as pastor of St. Clement, which will take place by July 1, 2013.

The archbishop also reaffirmed the Polish nature of the combined parish community, including the continued offering of Mass in Polish, and he stated that Mass will continue to be offered onsite to residents of Catholic Eldercare facilities adjacent to the church buildings of St. Anthony of Padua and St. Hedwig.

Father Glen Jenson, Holy Cross pastor, was unable to comment on the changes in the merger before this issue of The Catholic Spirit went to press.

Parishioners involved in the two revised mergers — in the New Prague area and northeast Minneapolis — have until Nov. 29 to appeal the changes to Archbishop Nienstedt.

Parishioners in parishes where the mergers remain unchanged have until Dec. 3 to appeal the archbishop’s decision to the Vatican if they choose to do so.

Archdiocesan staff members are working with pastors, lay leaders and parishioners at affected parishes during this time of transition, according to a news release from the archdiocese. Pending appeals, the first round of mergers go into effect on Jan. 1. Changes will roll out over the following months and years; they will not all happen at the same time.

According to the archdiocese, 21 parishes are scheduled to merge into 15 receiving parishes, which will lead to a reduction in the number of parishes from 213 to 192. Catholic Spirit

.

Archbishop modifies two of 14 original mergers

• November 19, 2010 3:30 pm
• The Catholic Spirit

As result of petitions, combined parish community in northeast Minneapolis to be named Holy Cross; St. Thomas to merge with St. Anne in LeSueur

In response to petitions sent by parishioners to reconsider parish merger decisions, Archbishop Nienstedt modified the merger of Holy Cross, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Clement and St. Hedwig in Minneapolis.

A new decree of merger for the four parishes includes making the name of the combined parish Holy Cross.

Second, the effective date of the merger will take place upon the retirement of Father Earl Simonson as pastor of St. Clement parish, no later than July 1, 2013.

Third, the archbishop reaffirmed the Polish nature of the combined parish community, including the continued offering of Mass in Polish. He added that Mass will continue to be offered onsite to residents of Catholic Eldercare facilities, which are adjacent to the church buildings of St. Anthony of Padua and St. Hedwig.

In the New Prague area merger involving St. Benedict, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph, St. Scholastica, St. Thomas and St. Wenceslaus, St. Thomas is removed from the merger and will, instead, merge with St. Anne in LeSueur. The other details of the St. Wenceslaus merger remain the same: the remaining four parishes will merge into St. Wenceslaus, and the St. John the Evangelist, St. Scholastica, and St. Wenceslaus buildings are identified to remain open. New decrees for the New Prague area merger and the new merger of St. Thomas and St. Anne were issued.

With these revisions to parish mergers, 21 parishes are scheduled to merge into 15 receiving parishes, bringing the total number of parishes to 192, compared to the current 213 parishes.

A merger does not necessarily mean that the merging parish’s church building will close. Decisions regarding the church buildings of the newly combined parish community will be made by local leaders in consultation with Archbishop Nienstedt and the presbyteral council, a representative body of priests.

Parishioners at parishes affected by the new decrees of merger who believe they are negatively impacted by a decision have until Monday, Nov. 29, to request in writing that the archbishop reconsider the decision.

Parishioners affected by the 12 mergers confirmed by the archbishop may appeal the archbishop’s appeal response to the Vatican.

More information about the appeal of a parish merger may be found at http://planning.archspm.org/wp-content/uploads/Appendix-A.pdf

Pending appeals, the first round of mergers will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, with further changes continuing over the following months and years.

The archdiocesan strategic plan is the result of 20 months of study and consultation, which includes the input of pastors and other clergy, parish and Catholic school leaders and staff, parishioners and Catholic school families.

The entire strategic plan is available at http://planning.archspm.org. Catholic Spirit

.

New Prague area Catholics not surprised, but many still sad about merger announcement

• October 18, 2010 8:42 am
• Maria Wiering

The Church of St. Wenceslaus

Six parishes in the southwestern part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are slated to merge under the strategic plan announced Oct. 16, and most parishioners are not surprised.

Under the plan, St. Wenceslaus in New Prague will receive the nearby parishes of St. Thomas in St. Thomas, St. Benedict in New Prague, St. Joseph in Lexington, St. John the Evangelist in Union Hill and St. Scholastica in Heidelberg.

The parishes are among 21 parishes that will merge with 14 receiving parishes during the next several years, according to the plan, bringing the archdiocese from 213 parishes to 192.

“We knew there would be a change coming before too long,” said Nicole Schmitz, 38, a parishioner at St. Wenceslaus. Her husband, Brad, 44, is a lifelong member of St. Wenceslaus. The change will be harder for those merging into St. Wenceslaus than for its current members, Nicole added.

The parish enrollment at St. Thomas, St. Scholastica, St. Benedict and St. Joseph is under 80 households each. St. John the Evangelist has 219 households. St. Wenceslaus is by far the biggest parish, with 1,355 households.

“In the interest of our whole region and the common good, this is a good decision,” Father Kevin Clinton said after announcing the merger at the end of Saturday evening Mass at St. Wenceslaus Oct. 16. He learned of the merger at a meeting for priests the day before, and he was not surprised by the archbishop’s decision, he said.

“I was very pleased with the thought and the sensitivity and the consultation that led to a good decision,” he added.

The six parishes began looking at a new arrangement when Father Clinton became pastor of St. Wenceslaus in 2006 — long before the start of the archdiocesan strategic planning process in February 2009.

At that time, one priest served St. Wenceslaus, and two elderly priests served the other five parishes. At present, Father Clinton, his associate, Father Dave Barrett, and a retired priest are celebrating 10 Masses each weekend in five sites, some of which are just a few miles of one another. Mass has not been celebrated at St. Joseph for more than a year.

After the six parishes merge into one, Mass will be celebrated regularly at three sites: St. Wenceslaus, St. Scholastica and St. John the Evangelist. The churches of St. Thomas, St. Benedict and St. Joseph will close sometime after Jan. 1, when the merger becomes official.

St. Benedict parish council member DeAnn Croatt, 58, said losing her parish will be sad, even though it’s not a surprise. When she moved to the area in 1978, she and her husband Peter “shopped” for a parish, and they chose St. Benedict. They liked its small community, she said.

“We always knew we could go to St. Benedict. That’s just what life was,” DeAnn Croatt said. “Now it just feels like we don’t have a home, a parish home.”

She has questions about what will happen to St. Benedict’s parish buildings, which include a church, school building and rectory.

Some fellow St. Benedict parishioners are resentful of being merged with St. Wenceslaus because of its large size, Peter Croatt said.

Father Clinton said keeping two small worship sites in the merged parish is important for ministering to Catholics who like the intimate church atmospheres.

He plans to attend three workshops on pastoring a parish through merging, he said, hoping to blend the parishes’ best practices into the new parish and avoid the parishes’ current weaknesses. The greatest challenge will be handling the parishes’ assets and liabilities, he said. As buildings close, Father Clinton expects to plan closing and welcoming rituals for the new parish community.

“This is something like the work you need to do when you blend families,” he added. “You’re talking about human relationships, and human relationships don’t happen just because you say they happen.”

For some parishioners, the transition won’t be difficult. St. John the Evangelist parishioner Pam Glisczinski, 42, said that as long as there’s an 8:15 p.m. Saturday Mass somewhere, as there was for years in Union Hill and now is in Heidelberg, she’ll be happy. She’s a dairy farmer, and it’s the best time for her family to attend Mass.

“This is not just about merging and closing,” Father Clinton said. “It’s about creating something that is sustainable and good for the future. . . . The death and resurrection of Jesus happens for communities, too.” Catholic Spirit