The priority during this period is the careful and sensitive pastoral preparation of the parishioners for the impending merger/closure. During this time, a number of other preparations can begin as well. These considerations are outlined here.
Parishioners should be informed that they will need to reregister at the parish of their choice after the merger, which may or may not be the designated receiving parish.
If they choose to affiliate with the receiving parish, verify their registration information contained in PDS with the central Family Office as a matter of best practice.
After the merger, they can contact the designated receiving parish for their personal sacramental records and PDS information.
If the receiving parish has the same (or similar function) societies and organizations, advise all parish societies and organizations at the merging parish to close their treasuries. All documentation must be provided to the rectory when the account is closed.
Any remaining society and organizational funds must be transferred into the merging parish’s operating account.
For any additional society and organization expenses after relinquishing their funds to the merging parish’s operating account, follow the section on Financial Procedures below.
All standing orders for the merging parish should be reviewed and perhaps reduced/cancelled, including:
Diocesan Purchasing
Missalette subscription
Bulletin publishing contract or orders for bulletin covers
Hosts & Sacramental Wine
Ash Wednesday Ashes
Palms
Paschal Candle
Music & Copyright licenses
Loose leaf lectionaries and Prayers of the Faithful
Annual Ordos
Publication Subscriptions (e.g. Our Sunday Visitor, America Magazine, etc.)
Other parish Subscriptions (e.g. Microsoft Office, website hosting, etc.)
Parishioners should be notified of the cancellation of envelopes, for which the merging parish is responsible.
Any donors who contribute via ACH or other electronic methods should be contacted to determine an end date for any regular giving to the merging parish.
Provide individuals who request them their financial contribution statement or history. Inform parishioners that their requests should be made to the parish prior to the merger.
Be sure to reroute the parish website to the website of the Family of Parishes or the receiving parish for at least one year following the merger. Be sure to remove auto-renewal information. Please refer to the section of this document regarding Communications for other similar items.
When a parish merger includes the closing of the merging parish’s church, these guidelines are to be kept in mind. The celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy is source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen gentium 11). Thus, it is most appropriate when a sacred building has been dedicated for this purpose is to cease in its operation, a final liturgy be planned to honor the past and look forward to the future. It is never permitted to carry out any sort of ritual which marks the closing of a church building before a decree relegating the building to profane but not sordid use has been issued by the bishop.
In planning a final liturgy for a closing church, it is essential to consider the following proposals.
Inclusion of Priests, Religious, Deacons, Laity Be sure to invite priests, religious, deacons and laity who have served the church over the years to any liturgies surrounding the closure. If possible, invite them to participate as liturgical ministers or ministers of hospitality. Prudence should be exercised in selecting a principal celebrant and/or homilist for these liturgies. The bishop prefers to preside at such liturgies and should be informed of them in advance to accommodate his schedule.
Spirit of the Closing Liturgy As is the case with the loss of a loved one, this is a sad time for the parish and our entire diocese. However, the final liturgy should still have the character and spirit of new life and hope, built on what was accomplished in the past by so many generations.
Holy Hours or Days of Prayer It might provide some solace and sense of closure, in particular for those who may be disaffiliated from the Church for any reason, to be able to simply visit the church for private, personal prayer, apart from communal liturgies. Identify and advertise a day or two when the church building is simply open for prayer, perhaps with a few members of the merging parish present to answer questions or provide outreach and welcome. This may be done in concert with a Holy Hour, with or without Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
Scheduling a Closing Mass
Consider scheduling only one Mass on the last weekend at the closing church. If possible, cancel the other Sunday liturgies at the receiving parish, or in the Family, to allow as many people as possible from the community to attend. Assure those who have scheduled Mass intentions that the obligation will be fulfilled in another way, possibly by a concelebrating priest.
Advertise the closing ceremonies by way of bulletin, website, social media and pulpit announcements, and/or news releases.
Sodalities and Social Organizations Invite Altar & Rosary Societies, St. Vincent de Paul, Knights of Columbus or similar organizations who have served the parish to participate in the closing liturgy. (e.g. the Altar & Rosary Society members could remove the altar linens when appropriate).
Offertory Procession It is important to keep the Eucharist at the center of the celebration of the closing liturgy, but the offertory could be a time to represent the spiritual life of the parish and to present the original death, marriage and baptismal registers as a sign of the roots of the community present. Those presenting these volumes could be long-standing parishioners, devoted volunteers, or members of founding families of the parish.
Procession to the Receiving Parish
Everyone in the church should be invited to walk/drive in a closing procession with the Blessed Sacrament. As on Holy Thursday, at the end of the Mass, the tabernacle should be emptied. Unlike Holy Thursday, the Blessed Sacrament should be carried in a monstrance, following all proper rubrics.
Each person should be given the opportunity to reverence the altar one last time.
Select participants to carry significant icons, processional cross, candles or other items that will be transferred to the receiving church.
Once outside, the procession should pause while the doors are locked for the final time. The transfer of the Eucharist continues to the receiving church, where members of the pastoral council and other parish ministries/pillar groups are on hand to greet and welcome.
The procession ends with Benediction and reposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
Ritual Texts
Appropriate ritual texts for Mass should be used in consideration of the liturgical day. However, in Ordinary Time, certain flexibility may be exercised. Please contact the Office of Worship for direction and assistance when planning the closing liturgy.
Have a worship aid available, including music and prayers to facilitate participation. Obtain necessary/prerequisite copyright permissions. Please submit a copy of worship aids, prayer cards or other similar mementos to the Diocesan Archives.
Arrange for a parish reception after the closing ceremonies, and possibly display parish memorabilia for the last time.
Mass Intentions in the Midst of Merger/Closure
Mass intentions quite often commend in prayer the soul of a deceased person but may also be for the personal intentions of the living. In some cases the commitment is to ensure that the Mass is celebrated within a year, but frequently also involves other conditions such as a specific time or place for the Mass, especially to coincide with an anniversary of death or when the person requesting the Mass has great interest in personally participating in the celebration.
As our parishes prepare to celebrate their final Masses and merge into their receiving parishes in the Families of Parishes, the Mass Books will no longer be open to schedule new Mass intentions.
Communal Intention Masses (e.g. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day) will be transferred to the Mass Book of the receiving parish.
Unfulfilled Masses (e.g. for a living or deceased individual) will be transferred to the Mass Book of the receiving parish unless otherwise indicated by the donor. Every effort will be made to reschedule the Mass for the same date/time or the closest date/time possible. The donor should contact the parish office if they have any specific requests.
Estate Masses will be transferred to the Mass Book of the receiving parish unless otherwise indicated by the descendants of the deceased; if there are terms attached to the Estate Masses, they will be honored as faithfully as possible, but may be reviewed/revised. Requests/changes must be made in writing to the Pastor of the receiving parish (i.e. regarding frequency of Masses, dates, locations, etc.) by an authorized representative of the decedent or family.
The merger of a parish and/or closure of a church affects not only the parishioners past and present, and the fate of buildings, but touches deeply the heart and soul of its Pastor and pastoral staff. Some recommendations are:
The people of a merging parish should be listened to and shown empathy and compassion. They need to remember and reminisce, grieve and heal.
Be patient, honest, and sensitive. Some parishioners may be in a state of denial or anger over a merger or closing. Much of their anxiety stems from fear: fear of the unknown; fear of the loss of status/control and the influence many of them exercised in various ways in their parish; and fear of rejection by the receiving parish. They are asked to “let go” of the known and familiar for an uncertain future.
Talk about the merger/closing as a reality in both private conversations and in public (homilies, social events). Be honest and keep to ensure all are informed as best they can be, admitting a lack of knowledge if that is the case, and making a good faith effort to obtain answers. The Renewal Office exists to assist in these matters.
The attitude of parish leadership is paramount and infectious. Make every effort to be positive—don’t play the blame game.
Counter any attitudes of defeat or failure. To some parishioners, merger of a parish or closing of a church means that somehow they failed, and consequently they could be discouraged and disheartened.
In exploring the reality of a merger, this new community derives its strength from the gifts and charisms of the former communities. This new combination, with the commitment of the faithful will give birth to new gifts and deeper faith.
As information becomes available, communication to the parish(es) involved is key. Information may posted (via bulletin, pulpit announcements, social media, websites, etc.); parish “town hall meetings” to share developments and allow sufficient time for feedback and reaction are just a few suggestions.
Parish councils, pillar groups and parish organizations/ministries will need to meet and all be included in dialogue to allow their concerns to be heard and to seek to address them appropriately.
Even if disagreement exists with the final decision of merging/closing of a parish(es) in the Family of Parishes, please refrain from disseminating personal opinions to staff and parishioners. The parishioners and staff are looking to their clergy and lay leaders for guidance during this time of transition.
If the parish is merging with another:
Utilize the Pillar groups that have been formed during the Road to Renewal. At this point, people from the Family should already have been working together to address the pastoral needs and concerns of the Family of Parishes. To these groups, a transition team should be formed and added. A transition team might include a staff person and three to five parishioners from each parish depending on the number of parishes involved in the merger. Members of the transition team should be selected by the Pastor. They should be parishioners who are supportive of the merger and who understand it to be a way of building a stronger and more vibrant parish. The transition team members do not represent their former parish, but the new entity.
The transition team, in dialogue with the Renewal Office, should work on a timeline for implementation. This would involve the final liturgical celebration for each site, closure dates for any sites not to be used, and an official date for the parish merger and/or church closure.
Schedule joint opportunities for worship and celebrations (such as Thanksgiving, Penance Services, special Prayer Services, Holy Week, etc.) within the Family of Parishes to build community.
Consider exchanging choir/music groups on various Sundays.
Facilitate the integration of parish ministries and organizations by having joint meetings of the officers and/or joint meetings of the membership on an alternating basis, and the participation of both groups in any social, religious, or fundraising activity.
Integrate your Faith Formation program(s) as soon as possible within the Family of Parishes. Collaborate with the merging parish(es) on sacramental programs.
Plan a liturgical celebration of the parish in accord with the following section on “Liturgical Guidelines Ritualizing the Closing of a Worship Site.”
With the assistance of Catholic Charities, invite a grief counselor to address the parish on the topic of grief and mourning for the loss of a parish community. Let the counselor explain processes, and lead them through the states of denial, anger, bargaining, and hopelessness towards a sense of hope and acceptance.
If more than one worship site will be used, the Liturgy Pillar will be tasked with developing a schedule for Masses and other activities. Devotions that have been very meaningful to the merging parish should be incorporated into the life of the receiving parish. All current ministries, especially liturgical ministries, should be evaluated and new ministries should be considered.
If the merging parish hosted a parochial or regional school, think of how items from that school might be memorialized in the receiving parish or elsewhere within the Family of Parishes. For school inventory, see the Department of Catholic Schools “School Closing Procedures.”