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CONTACT:  Sally A. Oberski       
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FAITH & FUTURES PLANNING LEADS TO PARISH TWINNINGS ACROSS DIOCESE

Parish futures planning began with Bishop James Hoffman

February 15, 2010 – Toledo, OH – The Diocese of Toledo announced to parishioners in ten parishes located in Crawford, Wood, Allen and Lucas counties that effective July 1, 2010 the ten parishes will be experiencing changes.  The parishes will be “twinned” either for the first time or in a new configuration. Twinned parishes are defined as two separate parishes served by one pastor. Each parish retains its present name and identity. An 11th parish will transition from a resident pastor to a Pastoral Leader assisted by a Priest Chaplain.

The twinning’s and the appointment of a Pastoral Leader are the result of the Faith and Futures consultation and planning that began under Bishop James Hoffman in 2001.In 2005, Bishop Leonard Blair acted on recommendations in the Faith & Futures plan to close 17 parishes, merge 14 parishes into six and twin 52 parishes, six of which were new configurations, as well as create one new parish. At that time the number of parishes went from 165 to 132.

In a letter read to each of the 11 parishes at liturgies February 13 and 14, Bishop Leonard Blair explains the need for the changes are because of the availability of priests to serve as pastors. “There are always unforeseen variables when it comes to the number of priests who will be needed to fill pastorate openings, especially because of health issues, in a given year. Right now, it appears that as of July 1, 2010 we will have nine priests leaving, and potentially three priests entering the assignment pool” Blair writes.

The following parishes are affected by this weekend’s announcement:

Holy Family Parish, North Baltimore will twin with Immaculate Conception in Deshler. Both are located in Wood County. Father Jeffrey J. Nordhaus will serve as Pastor of both parishes. He is currently the Pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish and Saint Louis, Custar. Father Steve Cairns is presently pastor of Holy Family and is retiring.

Saint Patrick Parish in Providence will be twinned with Saint Louis Parish in Custar. Saint Patrick is located in Lucas County and Saint Louis parish is located in Wood County. Father David D. Tscherne will serve as Pastor of both parishes. He is currently the Pastor at Saint Patrick Parish.

Saint Joseph Parish in Galion will twin with Holy Trinity Parish in Bucyrus. Both are located in Crawford County. Father Ronald J. LeJeune will serve as Pastor of both parishes. He is currently the Pastor at Holy Trinity Parish.  Father John Brennen, recently deceased, was administrator of Saint Joseph and Father Robert Hass is assigned as temporary administrator.

Saint Charles Borromeo Parish in Lima will twin with Saint Patrick Parish in Spencerville. Both parishes are located in Allen County. Father Stephen J. Blum, presently pastor of Saint Charles Borromeo will serve as Pastor of both parishes.  Father John Fleck, who is retiring, is pastor of Saint Patrick and Saint John Parish in Landeck.

Saint John the Evangelist parish in Delphos will be twinned with Saint John the Baptist Parish in Landeck. Both parishes are located in Allen County. Father Melvin T. Verhoff will serve as Pastor of both parishes. He is currently the Pastor at Saint John the Evangelist Parish.

Saint Mary Parish in Clyde will receive an as yet to be named Pastoral Leader, that is, a non-ordained person charged with the administration and pastoral, non-sacramental care of a parish. Father Raymond A. Fisher will serve as Priest Chaplain for priestly and sacramental ministry of the parish.

According to Sister Joyce Lehman, CPPS, Secretariat Leader for Pastoral Leadership, these parish twinning’s and the use of the Pastoral Leader model help to address the need created by the diminishing number of priests available to serve parishes. “If twinning and Pastoral Leaders are embraced by parishes, it will be possible to address the needs without closing parishes in most, if not all cases.  If parishes themselves see the advantage of merging with another parish to strengthen the local community, that recommendation would be considered, but at present and if conditions remain as anticipated, twinning and Pastoral Leaders are the primary way we hope to address the ongoing shortages.”

Bishop Blair adds that Faith and Futures also envisioned that, “Over time, there would be fewer priests entering retirement, and that while the numbers might not be as strong as in the past, there would be a steady stream of new priests. I am happy to report that although ordination numbers are uneven (five last year and only one this year), we are blessed with more than twenty seminarians, and confident about our future prospects.”

The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest Ohio, serving 321,516 Catholics in 128 parishes. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, and Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.

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