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	Faithful Await Fate: Priest Says Parishioners Deserve to Know about Church Merger Plans By Amanda Christman Standard-Speaker January 8, 2008 http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6549&Itemid=2 There is still much work to do as the Diocese of Allentown manages a shortage of priests by consolidating or merging churches, a spokesman said Monday. But a local council charged with reviewing churches in the North Schuylkill Deanery has an idea of what needs to be done. "To this point, they feel there should be a merger," diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said. A 12-member deanery council is examining six churches St. Patrick, St. Kunegunda and St. Mary of the Assumption in McAdoo, Immaculate Conception of Kelayres, and St. Michael and St. Bartholomew in Tresckow. Monsignor Edward S. Zemanik, pastor of the McAdoo and Kelayres churches, said the council is facing a very difficult task. The group knows it is impossible for all the churches to remain open after the diocese decided one priest is needed for every 2,400 parishioners, he said. The deanery region made up of Tresckow, McAdoo and Kelayres has about 2,500 parishioners. Zemanik said he wanted to be honest with his parishioners and told them during weekend services that a merger is likely. "I've been here for 10 years and I'm still in awe over the faith of the people," Zemanik said. Parishioners, he said, were upset but a few told him the congregation would persevere. "Our faith is what brought us through," Zemanik said another parishioner told him. The parishioner is proud of how strong and faithful the coal region's Catholics are, he said. "No one wants to lose their church," Zemanik said. "Now the challenge is to connect our hearts with our heads. Anytime you're dealing with loss or grief we have to be able to put our heads and hearts together." And a church closing, Zemanik said, "is like losing a loved one." Many parishioners have received sacraments at one church and then watched their children do the same, he said. "It's a very strong and beautiful history," Zemanik said. Kerr said churches in McAdoo, Kelayres and Tresckow are only at the beginning stages of the merger. Once a decision is made by the deanery it is passed to the diocesan pastoral council a 23-member group of mostly laypeople then to the diocese council of priests and finally to the bishop, Kerr said. The diocese has not received a formal submission from the North Schuylkill Deanery yet, he said. Those on the local council are not allowed to discuss proceedings with the media as per diocese synod rules, Zemanik said. The group is taking the process one step at a time, Zemanik said. Now it is studying buildings to determine which church will remain open. Through the study, a Mass schedule will be established, too. Kerr said the diocese projects to have 115 active priests by 2010, compared to the 127 active priests it has now. To meet the priest-to-parishioner ratio, the diocese decided churches needed to merge or consolidate, he explained. "We're trying to adjust the distribution of the priests we have," Kerr said. The process to consolidate or merge churches in the Allentown diocese began in 2005, Kerr said. Guidelines for the move were outlined by the diocese. "We understand this is going to be a painful process," Kerr said. "That's why the diocese has included so many laypeople in the process." Parishioners of Annunciation BVM, St. George, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Shenandoah and St. Mary Magdalen in Lost Creek received a similar report over the weekend. Those churches are part of Region Four and that deanery region committee met Oct. 23 and Nov. 20 at St. Stephen Church, Shenandoah.
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