Greene County Catholics, particularly Grand Junction Catholics, need to wait until the new year to learn the fate of their churches.
Parishioners of St Brigid in Grand Junction learned that their church is on the list of churches proposed for closure or reduction to oratory status in late February as part of the Sioux City diocese’s Ministry 2025 plan. The original Ministry 2025 plan called for transitioning 40 of the diocese’s 108 parishes.
The spectre of St Brigid closing was mentioned by several in reference to the school in Grand Junction being closed.
The timetable outlined created an expectation a decision would be made by late summer or early fall. In October, Fr Jeff Schleisman, pastor of the Greene County cluster (St Brigid, St Joseph in Jefferson and St Columbkille in Churdan) said the priests of the diocese had seen a draft plan and that it would be finalized in November.
Parishioners learned last weekend the final plan won’t be available until January. Planning in new parish clusters will begin in late winter or early summer, with implementation of the final plan taking place in the summer of 2017 in some locations. In other places, implementation will be delayed as the diocese’s priest personnel board determines assignments as new clusters are formed.
In October, Schleisman said the Greene County cluster would get larger, but he didn’t say in what direction the cluster would grow.
