Was poking around the web today and found this 2007 Catholic Courier article about All Saints Parish. From the article:
Now, All Saints is eyeing the closing of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church -- a move Deacon Condon said might occur as soon as June 2008.
"Motivated by the knowledge that the parish may only have one priest within the next three years, the finance council and parish council have begun a careful review of parish finances and building needs to determine the best way to be good stewards of our resources. If a sale were to be entertained, IMH would be the most logical to consider since it's the smallest church," stated a Sept. 16 bulletin article by Karen Paschal, parish pastoral council chair, and William Cassidy, finance council chair.
Dialogue sessions on this and other facility-related matters were recently conducted among parishioners and parish leaders at all three worship sites: Oct. 21 at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Oct. 28 at St. Vincent de Paul and Nov. 4 at St. Mary.
"The biggest concerns were, do we have a plan -- a longer-term plan for the welfare of the parish?" Deacon Condon said of the meetings.
He said potential action regarding Immaculate Heart of Mary stems from an extensive parish study earlier this decade. That study resulted in the recommendation that both IHM and St. Patrick be sold. Factoring into these conclusions were declining population in the Corning area; a projected drop in priest availability and the number of Masses to be offered; and the relative proximity of all four churches, meaning parishioners would have a manageable drive to Mass if one or two churches were to close.
Not a word about selling St. Vincent's. Not a word...until the middle of mass in August 2010.
So how active is Deacon Dean and his financial council pursuing the sale of IHM? I heard not very active at all and that maybe their plans for selling it have changed. What is the truth here?
ReplyDeleteHave you looked around IHM lately? Take a walk into the side sacristy- a mess. Walk through the back corridor between the 2 sacristies, the carpet is rotting away from the roof leaks. Then scoot down the stairs for a drink from the kitchen sink...wait...better think twice...the kitchen should be condemned. It is filthy. Not to mention the lawn full of dandelions and weeds.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is the Lord's house?
No ownership.
No pride.
This troubles me about all three remaining churches. We can't keep putting off repairs; more expensive damage will be done. Isn't that what happened to some local schools?
ReplyDeleteI know we have a lot of very skilled, generous parishioners. What if people volunteered to do some maintenance? What if we set up some type of committee? If parishioners don't take responsibility of these churches, no one will.
I agree, Immaculate Heart is an embarrassment. When I think of how impecible our facilities used to be, it makes me sad. Previous leaders were sensitive to maintainance and the appearance of our church properties. Not sure who to blame but agree with Susan that we all should be helping out. It is troublesome that (1) of our maintainance personel is still vacuuming the Condon residence for 1/2 day each week. There are much more critical areas that need her attention.
ReplyDelete6:38 are you serious?! that is so wrong! we should not be paying for that.
ReplyDeleteLet's not go back to the vacuuming again.
ReplyDeleteIt is true.
It is an abuse of power.
But it is what it is.
Sorry 9:08 but I did not know that piece of info. It's news to me and maybe to others who have just found this blog.
ReplyDelete9:28 This is pretty much common knowledge but if you have any doubts, call the Central Office. If there is nothing wrong with this practice, our Pastoral Admin. should be willing to confirm.
ReplyDeleteIHM is basically the domain of the Youth Ministry these days and they don't exactly do anything to maintain the place from what it sounds like. Gee, would seem to me cleaning the place up would be a good youth project...nah, what am I thinking.
ReplyDeleteWhy won't the administrator let a volunteer group plan a work day or sounds like work days to get some of the property in order. Whether for use or for sale, it needs to be presentable at the best we can. It is downright poor, very poor stewardship of resources given us,to abuse them as the property and buildings have been abused. Whatever happened to pride of ownership? Come on administrator, let the people contribute to the upkeep of THEIR CHURCH. I believe the concept of good stewardship is a strong Roman Catholic tenet.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have work days! On Good Friday, we were invited to join parishioner crews who worked on the grounds. Not so anymore. The music has taken top priority over the general upkeep. Very troubling. Has anybody ever checked out the church hall at Saint Catherines? Or Saint Josephs? Or Saint Mary's on the Lake? They each are perfectly and proudly maintained. Too bad our Immaculate Heart is not really immaculate.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of IHM....From the grapevine I heard that some or all of it was sold to Dunkin Donuts. The grapevine is usually about 90% truth. Anybody else hear this and how much of the land was sold or will be sold to Dunkin Donuts! I suspect after we read it in the paper there will be an announcement in the bulletin about it.
ReplyDelete