With the Diocese of Camden reducing the number of parishes in the six-county diocese from 124 to 66 (38 merged parishes, six parishes in three clusters, and 22 stand-alone parishes), one of the first steps toward creating a successful, vibrant parish in the midst of change will be the naming of new pastors in many of the diocesan parishes.
The first step in the process of naming pastors will be to conduct parish consultations with the parishes that have been merged, as well as in the parishes that will be getting a new pastor because the current pastor has decided to step down.
“It is very important in parishes that will have new pastoral leadership that the people be given the opportunity to express their needs and to share the effects the reconfiguration announcement has had ontheir communities,” said Father Terry Odien, Vicar for Clergy for the diocese.
One member of the 12-team priest personnel board, along with one of the other 12 consulters picked for the process, will meet with lay ministry leaders and staff members of the parishes that will have new pastoral leadership.
A major purpose of this consultation process is to discern the needs of the parish as well as gauge the dynamics of the community.
Each of the 38 merged parishes will have a pastor named to the newly merged parish.
In addition, any stand alone parish or clustered parish where the current pastor chooses not to remain in that assignment will have a new pastor named.
Following a discernment process, which would include a review of the results of the parish consultation, any priest of the diocese, including the priests that are currently assigned to the parishes that are a part of the merger, is eligible to apply for any parish that is open.
The Priest Personnel Board will then deliberate and make a recommendation to Bishop Joseph Galante of a pastor for each parish that is open.
“Our goal is to recommend to Bishop Galante the right priest for each parish,” said Father Tom Newton, the chairperson of the Priest Personnel Board.
“Given that the goal is to have creative, dynamic parishes throughout the diocese, it must begin with creative and dynamic pastors,” Father Newton added.
Once the bishop makes his decision on who will be named pastor of each open parish, that decision will be announced in August.
Because this initial round of pastor assignments is expected to create other pastoral vacancies in other parishes, there will be a second round of priest applications, followed by selection sometime in the fall.
After all pastors are named at each parish, there will then be a process for placing the remaining priests at parishes, with priests declaring where they would like to be, and the Priest Personnel Board recommending priests based on the needs of the parish.
“This is an exciting time for priests,” noted Father Odien. “They will be able to assess their own strengths and preferences, and indicate where they feel most comfortable.”
The dates when the mergers will take effect and the date on which the priest actually formally assumes the pastorate of the parish will be dependent on canonical and civil considerations and many other factors unique to each community. The priest selected and named as pastor of the new parish will become pastor with the formal decree establishing the new parish.
“Given the enormity of this task, we want to take the time to consider the needs of parishes and the gifts of our priests to ensure that decisions are made that will best serve the needs of the people. This will require flexibility and patience by all involved, but will, once decisions are made, be a crucial ingredient in creating stronger parishes,” said Father Odien.