Preserve St. Vincent Video

News Coverage

YNN and WETM have stories about the sale of Saint Vincent's. Here's a statement from Deacon Dean in the WETM coverage:

"Deacon Condon stated that only a small group of parishioners do not agree with the closure and that most parishioners he has spoken to agree with the administration."

Apparently he doesn't interact with parishioners too much.

As expected...

A letter in Sunday's bulletin details the staff/council recommendation to sell Saint Vincent's:

"That All Saints Parish accepts the proposal from Providence Housing Development Corporation to purchase the St. Vincent de Paul campus for the minimum offer of $350,000 subject to the following contingencies to be further defined by Deacon Dean Condon:
    1. Diocesan approval.
    2. Commitment to use property for Senior Housing.
    3. Salvage rights for religious items.
    4. Allow Providence Housing at least two attempts to get financing with final date of December 2013.
    5. Price agreement based on average of two appraisals with minimum purchase price of $350,000."

This now will kick off the appeal process to our bishop. Details at tomorrow's meeting at the Union Hall, 2 p.m. The bishop is traveling down here next Friday, by the way, to celebrate mass with the children at 10:30 a.m. in St. Mary's Church. All parishioners are invited.

Remember, "Potter isn't selling, Potter's buying."

Do they have faith in us?

Some talented parishioners have put together a video to present at Sunday's meeting. Here's a sneak peek:

Whose line is it, anyway?

"People say, 'You haven't communicated well'. The point of these [facilities plan financials] was not to provide up-to-date analysis. It was something done four or five years ago. It was to communicate the fact that this stuff has been communicated. It has been out there."

Whose line is it? Find out Sunday.

Dear Editor...

There's a letter to the editor in this morning's Corning Leader. You might want to check it out.

Forgot to ask...

Could parish administration post on the parish website the actual financial statement for fiscal year 2009-2010, which ended June 30?

So much for parishioner 'input'

Now that our administrator has spent $4,000 on an updated appraisal for St. Vincent's, do you suppose an announcement will be coming soon....

Tell 'em, George Bailey!

To the starry-eyed dreamers out there:

The 3 x 5 card

Question: Will parish leadership publish a copy of the parish covenant on the ASP website, so that all may be aware of its promises?

For an example of an online parish covenant, click here.

Let them eat cake...

Download and print the flyer for the October 31st meeting at the Union Hall. The parish leadership is counting on your buy-in to their plan of dividing and dismantling our parish. The meeting on the 31st will give you an entirely different perspective--the unadulterated truth.

Have you heard the story of the dad who was teaching his kids a lesson about mixing error with truth? He told them he wanted to bake them a cake. It would have the best ingredients in it, but for one thing...a small amount of excrement. So small that you couldn't see or taste it, even though it was present. Naturally, the children didn't want that kind of cake.

Smart kids.

Not a dialog

So we went to the "Dinner and Dialogue" tonight. Not. A. Dialog. This was the format: You (meaning the parishioners) submit questions on a 3X5 card, and Deacon Dean would supposedly answer them, as long as there was time. One way communication.

The sense of weakness on the part of a leader who cannot actually engage with parishioners was revealing.

Problems with the Teen Angel program?

I have agreed to post a communication from someone going by the name Wrapitup who is trying to get information about reported changes to the Teen Angel program.

I recently heard from a teacher friend in the school district that the successful Teen Angel program is being revamped and will now be run by a Cody Smith. Word is out that apparently this person visited her middle school to announce the program changes and indicated that Marie McCaig would no longer be involved in the program which has been around for years. She called Marie to ask what this was all about and Marie was stunned to find that this was taking place. I have been a monetary supporter, shopper and have even helped with the gift wrapping when needed at Christmas time almost since the inception of the program. Could someone kindly enlighten me as to what this is all about? 

Community meeting scheduled

As promised, a followup meeting has been planned for All Hallow's Eve, Sunday, Oct. 31, from 2-3:30 p.m. at the Union Hall in Corning. There will be an hour presentation of financial information and alternative proposals, followed by a half-hour Q&A session.

We'll get out a flyer in the next few days to print.

The church budget

This is from the bulletin of another church in our Diocese. Interesting to see how others are handling financial transparency on a weekly basis.

This blog is here to stay

There seems to be some questions about the usefulness of this blog. I have had occasion recently to meet with parish staff and the parish council. In both situations, what was promised as a dialog to discuss some very serious issues in our parish did not turn out as hoped for. In fact, the opposite occurred. I hope and pray that lessons have been learned and the upcoming dinner and dialog on Thursday will be productive and an honest  give-and-take of ideas.

Dialog, which the dictionary describes as "a discussion between representatives of parties to a conflict that is aimed at resolution," should include the idea that both sides have something of value to contribute and a common basis from which to work toward reconciliation. No 'side' has all the answers or has been free of mistakes, which brings me to the topic of this blog.

It is no secret that parish leadership wants it to go away. Suppose it did. Suppose it disappeared tomorrow. Would the issues also suddenly disappear? The answer is self-evident--the issues would remain.

What would disappear is the parishioners ability to communicate their thoughts and ideas to the parish at large. In a free society, all have the right to express their opinions, whether or not those opinions are popular or agreeable. The price of all having a voice is that both good and bad ideas and opinions are expressed. It requires that we learn to discern between right and wrong ideas, that we learn the Scriptural way of not taking offense, and that we actually live what we claim as Catholics.

Since starting this blog, I and my family have been attacked and maligned. Recently, since I began posting under my own name the attacks have intensified, some of them coming from parish staff. None of it is unexpected. It comes with the territory. It's uncomfortable and disagreeable. I can certainly sympathize with those who have been criticized here. But I think it's worth it if we can get to the heart of the matter--if we can get to the truth. And until that happens, this blog is here to stay.

Faith

The rescued Chilean miners have been such an inspiration. They kept the faith. Great article here. FTA:
Jimmy Sanchez, one of the outspoken believers, said, "There are actually 34 of us, because God has never left us down here." Ultimately, Villarroel and the other rescued Chilean miners recognized -- as we must all learn to do -- that their fate rested not in human hands or expert plans alone, but in the providence of God. Villarroel surely spoke for the other miners -- many fell to their knees in prayer as they came out of the rescue capsule -- when he thanked God for a second chance at life. Omar Reygadas clutched his Bible as he exited the rescue capsule, and he knelt in prayer when his feet touched ground. His first words were "God Lives." From the first to the last rescued Chilean miner, these 33 men have learned much they can teach us about faith and what is real.

Dinner & Dialogue

If you didn't already know, Deacon Dean and the parish staff are hosting a Dinner & Dialogue for parishioners on Thursday, Oct. 21, 7 p.m., at All Saints Academy Gym. It may be a good opportunity to ask questions about the sale of St. Vincent's, or whatever else you may be wanting to know. To RSVP (by Oct. 19), call 936-4689, ext. 210. Thanks to parish leadership for planning the event. Details here.

Watching with Him

There are just a few hours left on the Adoration sign-up list. To sign up, go here.

Changes in place

No more strictly anonymous posting.

Meeting summary now online

A summary of the September 29 meeting with Deacon Dean is online.

Registration info

If you want to use an email address that is not connected to your regular account, you can go to Google or Yahoo! and set up an email account--which you can then use when posting comments here. Here's the links:

Yahoo! Registration

Gmail from Google

They are pretty self-explanatory as you follow the steps to creating an account.

Information about the September 29 meeting with Deacon Dean will be up later today.

A small change

Hello all,

As an alternative to shutting down the blog as requested by parish staff, we have decided to take the step of requiring registration of those who comment. Now, this is quite a simple thing and your anonymity is still preserved if desired. However, it does require a name of some sort to be used when you post, and a registered email account (which will not be published if you choose that option). For instance, if you click on my name in a comment, you will be taken to a profile page that I have elected to make non-accessible. Others may choose to open up an email account with Yahoo! or another venue that is not tied to their regular email account, and use that for posting comments.

Registering will eliminate the many identical 'anonymous' that can get confusing. We will all have a unique 'handle' that makes comments specific to an individual.

There are several different avenues through which you can register and here are links to some of them. If you have any questions, the blog will not require registration until  Wednesday, so you can comment, ask questions, etc., in the old way until that time. Some of you may be able to suggest which preference is best and give advice on signing up.

• Live Journal
• Google
• Open ID
• AIM
• Word Press (for those who might want to start their own blog, our site accepts registrants from WP)
• Blogger (You can sign up here in conjunction with Google)

I believe there are a couple other options you can research if you would like. So, the bottom line is, when you post a comment you will no longer have the 'Anonymous' option in the drop-down menu.

Getting answers

Parish leadership has put up a new Q&A page. Several important questions are asked and answered.