Update from the pastor to parish pastoral council 11 December 2003

Liturgy
The changes introduced November 30 seem to have gone well. In a few months we will review the changes for all; hopefully the rhythm of the postures will settle in before long.

Finances
The Parish Finance Council met on December 3rd. Offertory improved a bit in the fall but is still about 10% below our budgeted goal. We will be speaking to that in upcoming weeks. (The impact of the storm December 6-7 had a fiscal impact as well with offertory significantly lower.)

Census 2004

We are planning the beginning of an annual census of the parish this December with a notice in the bulletin and invitation for all to update their data with us.

Parishes of the Archdiocese – merging or reconfiguring or closing

The recent stories and charts and details of the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald deserve reflection, albeit in a measured way. The data on which some of the charts are drawn are not all accurate but the overall picture is realistic. The history of the past decade of changes is relatively correct.

What the Archbishop’s plan is will be revealed, hopefully, at an upcoming meeting December 16th. The press releases etc. suggest that the plan is more about process than specific lists; presumably that process will include local input.

What does appear obvious is that there will be a reduction in the number of parishes etc. in upcoming months or years. Presently this parish is around the eightieth percentile in size. Thus by sheer raw numbers about twenty percent of the parishes are smaller and eighty percent are larger. My guess at this point is that we should not panic that we will be closed but that realistically we should recognize we are close to the line by some of the criteria.

As reliable details come forth we will keep all informed.