It is announced in this weekend’s Christ the King/St. Thomas the Apostle bulletin that Deacon Walter Toot of St. Cecilia will be the deacon for Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha parish. This means that Deacon Thomas Beck of St. Thomas will be reassigned by Bishop Clark.
For those keeping score at home, St. Thomas the Apostle still has only one person on the new Irondequoit staff of 19 people, and that person is charged with business duties. There is not a single St. Thomas parishioner on this bloated payroll who has been given a “pastoral” position (i.e- religious education, pastoral associate, youth, etc.). How fitting that after this long and shameful pastoral planning process where St. Thomas was often under (and poorly) represented, that this unjust treatment will continue into the foreseeable future.
Updated staff list:
Priests-
Fr. Norm Tanck CSB [CTK]
Fr. Morgan Rice CSB [CTK]
Fr. William Leone [SC]
Fr. Timothy Horan [SMM]
Various retired and retired-in-name-only priests serve under these four.
Deacon-
Rev. Mr. Walter Toot [SC]
Lay staff-
| Donna Moll (Pastoral associate) | [SS] |
| Mary Ann Noto (Pastoral associate) | [SC] |
| Donna Walker (Pastoral associate/senior) | [SMM/St. Anne community] |
| Mary Ann Obark (Faith Formation) | [CTK] |
| Charles Prindle (Asst. Faith Formation) | [SMM] |
| Jean Grizard (Music) | [CTK] |
| Sarah Mancini (Asst. music) | [SMM] |
| Jack Fianacca (Asst. music) | [SC] |
| Kevin Spears (Youth) | [SMM] |
| Karin Spears (Youth) | [SMM] |
| Ruth Bailey (Youth) | [CTK] |
| Jeff Bailey (Youth) | [CTK] |
| John Luken (Business manager) | [STA] |
| Mary Merkel (Asst. business manager) | [CTK] |
The number of staff members, incl. priests and deacons, per Irondequouit Pastoral Planning Group parish:
| CTK | 7 |
| SMM | 6 |
| SC | 4 |
| STA | 1 |
| SS | 1 |
Note: One could be a stickler and say “wasn’t Fr. Tanck pastor of St. Thomas?” True, but he was pastor of Christ the King long before he was asked by Bishop Clark to also lead St. Thomas and St. Salome. CTK is run by the Basilians, and that is the parish to which Frs. Tanck and Morgan are assigned.
Tags: Bishop Clark, Church Closings, IPPG, News and Media
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Deacon Beck is a good, solid, orthodox holy man. He will be missed
In her recent D&C OpEd piece Elizabeth Stehler, former chairwoman of the Irondequoit Pastoral Planning Group and a member of the former Christ the King Parish, wrote,
It sure looks like some Irondequoit Catholics will be experiencing a lot more loss than others.
If you don’t mind, I have a question:
How would it help to have a person of traditional tendencies in charge of a parish office or two, when the person running the whole entity is liberal? I would assume the person running the whole entity would ensure that the traditionalist is kept in a short leash, and they would significantly clip their wings.
I think the main point here isn’t the political/liturgical/theological leanings of various staff members (although they’re not to be overlooked entirely). The main thing, as I see it, is that St. Thomas was told that their particular traditions as a parish, their own “essence”, would be transmitted in part into the new parish. This is impossible to do when their representation is stripped down to a business manager. Of course, the traditional-leanings of the parish are the overarching theme, but the main thing here is justice for the heritage of St. Thomas. Their voices are being silenced under the guise of “new birth.”
Enemies of orthodoxy will always be enemies.
Yea, this is more about fairness for the people of St. Thomas than whether or not the choir director is progressive. (I have no clue about that anyway)
A friend pointed out that Deacon Beck held a paid Pastoral Associate position at STA, while Deacon Toot was essentially a volunteer at SC. (Deacons do not get paid for assisting and/or preaching at Mass.)
Perhaps that had a lot to do with the decision involving which deacon to keep.
Makes sense now. They did not just dump him. Perhaps if he “volunteerd” again as it was when he was ordained he could “work” again. I recall when the modern age deacons started, they were to be a cup minister. As they got closer to retirement in their paying jobs it appearas that they found the church as a paying jobs;deacon rather than the original plan. I wonder if the old documentation is still around extolling the diaconate.
Deacon Beck after he was not re-hired as STA pastoral Associate – resigned as Parish Deacon for the new parish and is seeking a new assignment.