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	Panel: Merge 6 Parishes By Leslie Richardson Republican and Herald January 8, 2008 http://www.republicanherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19176869&BRD=2626&PAG=461&dept_id=529074&rfi=6 McADOO — The weekend announcement that six parishes in the McAdoo area would be merged into one is another step in the church consolidation process that started in February, according to an official from the Allentown Catholic Diocese. According to Matt Kerr, director of communications for the diocese, Monsig-nor Edward Zemanik did what all of the Northern Schuylkill parishes should be or will be doing — keeping the parish informed of the work of the deanery region committees. "The minutes of the deanery region committees are to be printed in the church bulletins," Kerr said Monday. "Monsignor Zemanik also discussed the matter with the congregation, which is good." Parishioners reported Zemanik announced during weekend services at Immaculate Conception Church that the six parishes in the deanery would merge into one after restructuring is complete. St. Patrick, St. Kunegunda and St. Mary of the Assumption in McAdoo, Immaculate Conception in Kelayres and St. Michael and St. Bartholomew in Tresckow will merge into one church under the plan. 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. According to the church bulletin, during the meetings, Zemanick, dean of the region, reviewed the criteria for parish restructuring and the implementation guidelines. The committee watched "Matters of Faith" a DVD produced by the Diocese of Buffalo on how the consolidation of parishes worked there. During the committee meetings, Zemanick informed the members that three priests will be assigned to Region Four that consists of 9 parishes. There are currently three priests serving the region. The committee concluded that applying the criteria of one pastor to one parish meant that restructuring was needed in the region. The committee reviewed statistics on baptisms, weddings, funerals and seating capacity at the nine parishes and the results of the parish survey. In February and March 2007, the Vicars Forane developed first drafts of the Deanery Regions. By mid-May each pastor designated two representatives from each parish to serve as representatives to the Deanery Region. Final drafts for the deanery regions were approved and announced in late June. Parish self-evaluations were completed in September and the findings were announced in October. The results indicated there should be one priest to one church and the desired proportion of priests to people is 1 to 2,400. Using this ratio, it was suggested at the time that some churches would have to close and parishioners would be merged into a single parish. The process of restructuring will be conducted with an emphasis on the parishes resulting from mergers or consolidations being erected as territorial parishes with new boundaries. When a merger of parishes is indicated and one of the existing sites will be retained, the process to determine which church building is to be retained must consider at least the following terms: the physical condition of the church building, the size of the church building relative to the combined average Sunday Mass attendance, accessibility for the physically disabled, parking, location of the church building in relation to membership of the parish and the size and condition of the existing support buildings. Beginning in October 2007 and ending June 2009, representatives from each deanery region were to formulate a plan for their region and submit it to the Diocesan Pastoral Council for review and final approval by the Most Rev. Edward Cullen, Bishop of Allentown. "They (the Region Two Deanery Region Committee of the McAdoo area) now have a lot of work to do," Kerr said. "They still have to recommend which building to use and suggest three names to the Pastoral Council. This is still to be decided locally." A similar process will now begin in Region Four.
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