Patience
Partners in the Gospel is meant to be a slow process, which requires patience and waiting. After over a year of consultation, our parish family was announced at the beginning of February. The beginning of April saw the announcement of the priests who will serve our parish family. It becomes official on July 1. Then begins a three-year process of forming one parish. This process will include welcoming, restructuring, and envisioning.
There are many unanswered questions; answers will only emerge as you go through this process. We will need to sit with uncertainty for a while. This is not always an easy thing to do. The first phase will simply be getting to know one another: you getting to know the new priests, them getting to know you, the two parishes getting to know one another, staff getting to know one another, and even getting to know ourselves better.
Please refrain from contacting the priests before they officially arrive, so they have time to wrap up their current assignments. We will let you know when the new pastor and parochial vicars will join us in July, and we will all have several opportunities to welcome and meet them. Until then, I remain fully committed to you.
Remember this is a three-year process, and it is going to take time to come together. We do not need to rush it. We are embarking on a great opportunity. Let’s remember the ultimate goal of Partners in the Gospel is to revitalize parish life and to allow us to focus more attention, more energy, and more resources on our mission.