Creating a Catholic Community

Closing parishes opens other doors for parishoners

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Stettler

This is what Father Mark McGee found as pastor of the Holy Trinity region (Stettler- Castor-Consort).

In building up a cluster of communities with a limited number of priests, it is necessary to bring a sense of ownership to people's present religious experience and their experience of parish life, McGee told the WCR.

The region, which started its transition about five years ago, has come a long way. They put tangible structures to facilitate the transition of the different communities into a single region.

This year, they named that region the Most Holy Trinity.

Years ago, they identified the three centres, which they now call Eucharistic centres. Each centre is composed of two or three communities that worship together.

"One thing that helped us in adapting to changes is changing the language. Instead of talking about parishes, we've been trying to talk about Eucharistic centres," said McGee.

Now people come to these centres to celebrate the Mass. "They almost come as guests or visitors, but they are not," stressed the young priest.

A real need for acceptance, both by the people whose parishes were closed and by those who have to welcome others, has arisen.

"Everyone needs to take ownership of this experience. The only way to do that is to focus on what bonds us together as Catholics and that's the Eucharist," said McGee.

Although the transition is a major change and challenge, the situation also opened up opportunities for people to share.

An effective parish council that responds to the need of the people in their local settings is an imperative for such a setup. These local settings, in turn, need to interact with the larger setting within the region.

Janet Klasson, the region's parish pastoral council chair, said, "The process evolved by trial and error." They identified what was working and was not.

What worked in their situation was the creation of a central parish pastoral council, with representatives from the three Eucharistic centres and the surrounding communities.

"I think that the laity has to be really committed, caring and involved. Without the laity being involved this kind of model doesn't work and I think the whole Church doesn't work."

Klasson described how the laity has to take on a lot of pastoral functions that in the past were exclusively handled by a priest.

Visiting the sick, taking communion to them and leading Bible studies are some of the pastoral functions the laity can perform. "We have to be trained and formed in that," Klasson said.

"Father Mark is a visionary. He sees the long term instead of just where we are now." - Donna Gamache

"It's been a period certainly of change, growth and healing. We've done a lot of healing. We've moved forward. For the most part there are still some people that are hurting. But there's a lot of hope in this region."

Monty Sommer, past PPC chair, agreed. He said there are still some people in the region who are hurting from their experiences. However, he believes "the spirit in the whole region is fairly high."

They had their first annual general assembly last year. This year, because they now have a regional name, they also celebrated their regional feast day, May 25-26. And on June 9 they had the second annual general assembly.

During their feast day, the whole region paid attention to the history of their particular churches and communities at their respective Eucharistic centres.

Opening the cornerstone of Christ the King Church and marking the retirement of its secretary Linda Dean who served the parish for 39 years, were among the highlights in the Stettler Eucharistic Centre.

McGee said they decided to take time acknowledging Dean's role as a transitional figure.

"She gave many years of service to her particular community. And in the transformation of parishes, she stayed on for about six years through the clustering of parishes in that region," McGee said.

Opening up the cornerstone with the time capsule imbedded on it was about the past. But the ritual involved is also relevant to moving on to another phase of their history as a community.

Father Ernest Battle, who was pastor of the parish for over 30 years, put the time capsule there. Dean had worked with him all that time.

They also acknowledged certain parishioners who had been there for 50 years and gave them a special solemn blessing because they are the people who had been welcoming newcomers.

In Consort, they gathered at the site of the new church. Part of their transition is to look forward to building a new Eucharistic centre for the region.

Archives for each centre were set up. They also produced a parish handbook that will standardize the policies across the whole region.

They also created a regional calendar to harmonize their activities and help in pastoral planning for the year ahead.

Donna Gamache, who had been going to the parish for about six years, said, "I never really felt the impact of these changes because I have not been here long enough."

However, she is convinced that having a regional name really helped the transition. "It gets away from a territorial baggage that was there," Gamache said.

"A good leader to guide the people, somebody who can look at the broader picture really made a lot of difference. Father Mark is a visionary. He sees the long term instead of just where we are now. His goals, and the plan to achieve those goals, are very clear.

"I would like to see the lay people taking on a more active role in ministry and in supporting our priest."

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