Parish Merger

Bishop’s Address Regarding Combining of Our Lady of Sorrows with Holy Spirit

This is a summary of Bishop Kieran’s addresses to both churches from the Pastoral Parish Councils of the Holy Spirit and Our Lady of Sorrows and approved by Fr Hugh Flower and Canon Bill Davern.

Background

Bishop Kieran visited Our Lady of Sorrows, Effingham on Wednesday 13th July 2011 and Holy Spirit, Fetcham on Friday 15th July to explain the future of both parishes and the various issues and options available to him with regards to appointing a new priest and a combining of the two parishes. Canon Bill Davern, Dean of the Epsom Deanery, was present at the meetings.

Many parishioners were able to listen to the Bishop at their own church but not many managed to attend both meetings and the aim of this letter is to set out what the Bishop said and the reality which now faces both parishes. It is hoped it will answer many of the questions which parishioners quite properly have at this time of change and uncertainty.

Diocesan Clerical Manning

  • The Bishop explained that since 1963 the number of priests had declined while the number of parishes had increased. The Catholic Church nationally, including the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, was facing a demographic time bomb with more priests retiring and dying than were being ordained.
  • There were about 80 priests in the diocese. The diocese is just coping at the moment but the unexpected illness of 2 priests and the death of another have caused major challenges for the diocesan clerical manning pot. Put simply the bishop said the status quo could not continue; something had to change.
  • The ratio of priests to laity in the Diocese was 48,000 to 80 priests.
  • The Bishop mentioned that he was often asked to look at sources of overseas priests, from Africa or Poland. He counselled against this approach citing the difficulties experienced by the Diocese of Southwark who have tried this option. He also stated that we should not be exploiting Africa where, contrary to popular belief, there was a much greater shortage of priests than in UK.
  • Fr John McKay, Effingham parish priest, retired at the end of June 2011 at the age of 75 without a nominated replacement. A replacement has yet to be appointed.

Masses and Canon Law

  • Masses: The Bishop stated that one of the key factors for consideration was how many people attended mass and the need to accommodate the combined mass attendance from both parishes served by one priest.
    • The combined total per weekend was around 400 for both parishes. The accommodation of worshippers and the future requirement to provide mass for 400 per weekend using one priest is a key factor.The Bishop said daily masses cannot be guaranteed.
  • The Bishop stated that the primary task of a priest is to pray and celebrate the sacraments, the most important of which is the Eucharist.
  • The Bishop stressed the importance of prayer for the priest and the importance of time for prayer in a priest’s busy week. He cited the time required to organise and conduct a funeral being 8 hours. Combining parishes effectively doubles the load for such sacraments onto a single priest eating into the time available for other clerical duties.
  • Canon Law: This allows a priest to celebrate 3 masses on a Sunday (which includes Saturday evening) in “exceptional circumstances”. Two masses on a Sunday are permitted if demand dictates but the normal number should be one per priest per Sunday.

Money and Church Real Estate

  • Money. The Bishop made it clear that any money held by a parish belongs to that parish and cannot be spent outside the parish without the consent of the parish. The Bishop cannot direct what should happen to these funds and the diocese has little or no money to contribute to a merger.
  • Parish Halls. Both parish halls are of a similar age, look and feel and need replacing:

The parish hall at Fetcham is condemned – the concrete raft on which it was build is split in two and the building is experiencing heave and has a remaining life span of 2 years before it will have to be abandoned. To replace the building will cost approximately £250,000 for which there are no funds.

The parish hall at Effingham requires £150,000 to be spent on maintenance – the walls are bowing and the heating system needs replacement. Planning permission for a new hall has recently been applied for. This could be built in the copse beside the church which was purchased many years ago.

  • Churches.

OLoS Effingham. The Bishop stated that the cemetery at Effingham is one of only 2 catholic cemeteries in Surrey which gives OLoS a special status in the diocese; disposal is not an option and indeed extra land has recently been donated to increase the size of the cemetery. The Bishop assured parishioners of OLoS that there will always be a church at Effingham. The Bishop understood that plans had been drawn up to see if the church could be enlarged but nothing definite has been decided. The Bishop stressed that it is essential that the best architectural advice should be obtained for any plans for redeveloping the church building.

Fetcham Church of the Holy Spirit. The church is physically in good order and recently upgraded and needs little maintenance. However because of the sloping nature of the site it makes further development problematical. The residential accommodation is not up to modern standards for a presbytery.

Combining Parishes

  • The Bishop said that the parishes of Effingham and Fetcham would combine as one Parish.
  • The timeline for a decision on announcing who would be the replacement priest for the new parish would be made by the Bishop in September 2011 after the College of Consulters had met.
  • The detail of how to merge both parishes would take some time to work out and there were legal and procedural processes to go through. The Bishop hoped that planning could begin very quickly and would look forward to seeing a detailed plan by the end of 2011. He hoped both parish councils would work together in a spirit of friendship, honesty and respect to achieve a new and vibrant Catholic parish.
  • The Bishop was asked at the Effingham meeting whether it would it not be sensible to appoint a priest who had no connection to either parish to lead the combining of both parishes into a single new parish. The Bishop said he did not have the luxury of a pool of priests to choose from and therefore his freedom of action was limited.
  • The Bishop said it was normal when parishes merged to give the new parish a new name, although the name of the church did not necessarily have to change.