After months of waiting, Greene County Catholics got the final word on the future of their parishes at weekend masses and in the June 14 issue of The Catholic Globe.
St Brigid in Grand Junction and St Columbkille of Churdan are both being merged with St Joseph in Jefferson. The assets and liabilities of both parishes will be transferred to St Joseph, along with all the sacramental records and death records. The members of the two parishes will become members of St Joseph unless they notify the St Joseph parish office to the contrary.
Bishop Walker Nickless had separate decrees for each parish published in The Catholic Globe. According to the decrees, the church buildings will move to secondary church status for a period of at least one year, beginning July 1. At long as the buildings are properly maintained and financial obligations related to maintenance are met, the buildings will be available for weekend mass, funerals, wedding, and other sacramental celebrations.
The three separate parish councils will become one, with one or two representatives John Lynch and J.J. Hoyle on the council representing St Brigid and Paul Fey on the council representing St Columbkille.
Father Jeff Schleisman, pastor of the parishes, said Sunday morning that members of St Brigid and St Columbkille are “elated” at the news. They had been told earlier their churches would be totally closed. Another draft called for St Brigid to remain open but St Columbkille to close. At Easter, Schleisman announced that St Columbkille would remain open, but then learned there had been confusion over terminology and the future of the church was once again uncertain.
Schleisman said he hopes members of the various parishes won’t put up barriers or draw distinctions in the merging process. “’Catholic’ means universal,” he said Sunday. “We’re people of God, and we don’t want that little thing to separate us. We’re all one and we need to work together. We’ll have a greater community to work toward goals together.”
The first plan announced included St John of Ogden becoming part of the Greene County parish. The final plan merges St John with Sacred Heart Parish in Boone. St John will be a worship site.
