Secure Churches and Debt-Free Parishes!

Secure Churches and Debt-Free Parishes!

First, I need to begin on a somewhat serious note. You may have seen the news this past week that the investigation into the party(-ies) responsible for the intentional fire at St. Mary church in Franklin is still ongoing. Because the authorities do not yet have a suspect, they are looking into the possibility of a connection between this fire and those at two other churches in the southeast Massachusetts & northern Rhodes Island area in the past four months. The fact that arson and vandalism usually take place when no one is around to catch the perpetrators makes it hard to catch them, but the positive side is that means these acts are unlikely to happen when parishioners are gathered for worship or other events. Nevertheless, I want to assure you that we are double checking that all our church doors are securely locked, and we are actively pursuing other security measures, such as the possibility of security cameras. You can help keep our churches secure by making sure the doors latch behind you when you leave, particularly if you are one of the last few people to leave church or an event. Our “mother parish” in Franklin has been able to worship in their chapel and church hall, and they are making good progress in rebuilding their sacristy and restoring the rest of the church. While it may not be possible, they are making every effort to get their main church ready for use by Christmas - with major support from our archdiocese, we pray that this comes true!

 

Our Plainville-Wrentham Collaborative parishes have been rebuilding in less dramatic but equally important ways for many years now. A while back, St. Martha was able to sell part of the parish property to provide funding for church improvements, and subsidized the Parish income during some very difficult years. St Mary, Wrentham has been laboring under the burden of Parish debt from expanding the church (1989) and rebuilding the rectory/parish center (2000). Scripture likens serious debt to a form of enslavement: it can get to the point where we feel “owned” by others - as many of us may have experienced. As we announced at St. Mary Masses last weekend, this month St. Mary Parish is making the final payment on a debt that once exceeded $2.4 million dollars, and for the first time in 35 years, the parish will join St. Martha in being debt-free! We will celebrate on the first weekend of Advent (Nov. 30 - Dec. 1) with a symbolic “mortgage burning” following the 4pm Mass, with wine/beer and hors d’oeuvres, and at each monthly coffee & donuts after the 9:30am Mass. If you are available, people from both parishes are invited to come honor the St. Mary Parishioners for their achievement, as well as a couple of people whose leadership helped make this possible.

 

Now that we have been set free, Jesus would not want us to fall back into slavery! Some members of the Collaborative Pastoral Council recommend we do everything possible to avoid having to go into debt again. To do that, we need all parishioners to continue the level of sacrificial giving that you have been offering. To these ends, when the “Building Fund” collection ends at St. Mary next month, the Pastoral Council and Finance Council are asking you and me to simply combine our offertory and building donations into the one, offertory collection, so that our parishes can be proactive in avoiding future debt. During the parish debt, we had to limit ministry expansions and defer some major maintenance. This fiscal year, we need to prioritize projects like major repairs or replacements of the church doors and rain gutter work to stop moisture damage to basement flooring. In the near future, we need to address larger projects, such as: 35-year-old deteriorated flooring throughout the church, aging church furnace, etc. 

 

We are in this together, and I am as committed as the rest of you to making our parishes stronger in both our material resources and spiritual programs. May our work of “rebuilding” our parishes bear fruit for generations to come!