The following update appears in the upcoming Christ the King/St. Thomas the Apostle/St. Salome bulletin:
“St. Salome reach consensus with the proposal for one Irondequoit parish but has requested that their church building not be closed and sold but retained in the inventory of the new parish to be utilized as additional meeting space, funeral or other worship needs, etc., as well as being used to grow a partnership with the residents of the Providence Housing Apartments. St. Thomas the Apostle has requested that it remain a standalone parish, preferably with a resident priest, for a period of time to prove its viability.”
The St. Salome and St. Thomas proposals both sound reasonable. St. Salome being used only on occasion would alleviate the burden on the priests in the cluster (soon to be Irondequoit parish). St. Thomas being given a period to prove its viability would put the fate of the parish in the hands of the parishioners, rather than the IPPG. If St. Thomas can not stand on its own, it would close, but if it can, the parish deserves to remain open.
Let’s hope the IPPG will put aside parish politics and the selfishness of the haves over the have-nots, and allow both proposals to move forward.
Tags: Church Closings, IPPG, News and Media
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This seems exceedingly reasonable. I couldn't think of a more suitable decision than that which the two parishes reached.
i have HAD IT with this inability to succumb, er, be open to the Spirit (of Vatican II)! The St Thomas community needs to STOP DOUBTING what the IPPG does! It's just getting unreasonable…they want to STAY OPEN WITHOUT REGARD TO WHETHER OR NOT IT MAKES THE BISHOP HAPPY! How dare they? You'd think they worshiped Christ instead of Clark…Don't they know that here in the DoR, we have moved into a post-Christian existence?
Everything's great here! We are so welcoming, unlike the rest of the county. Just look at that Mass that was posted here a couple days ago. When a certifiably retarded person wants to give a homily, even though she is a woman, we accept it! When our musicians are tone-deaf and think that guitars are more worshipful than organs, we encourage it! Then, when the congregation (huh, y'kno, they had horrible music and all pretended to be deaf…connection?) doesn't know the correct postures, meh, let 'em do what they want, we're just so glad they're here…well, 25% of them anyways.
Welcome to the Diocese of Rochester, featuring Mass for the Liturgically Challenged!
Our parish in the DOB merged and both parishes had well-attended Masses and a decent size congregation before the union.
The other site has become an oratory and on Sundays we attend Mass at the other, larger of the two churches. All weekday Masses (except for the school Mass) are held at the oratory as are some of the traditional devotions that the previous parish celebrated prior to the change. Both buildings have been able to retain their individual identities and are decorated exactly the same as they were before.
Funerals and weddings can be held at either the oratory or the Parish church building.
It has been not unlike a marriage – as we joined, each party gave up a bit yet gained something new in return. Their choir remained intact and now is present at two Mass times. Our choir remained intact and performs at the other Mass times. Now one can see overlapping, and it is no longer two groups but one.
We have all gained much, and it has been a great benefit to our community. I'm sure we'll still feel growing pains from time to time, but overall, it has been full of blessings.