By Robert Mentzer
Wausau Daily Herald
May 12, 2008
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/WDH0101/805120443/1981
Speaking to full pews Sunday morning at St. Matthew Parish in Wausau, the Rev. Robert Thorn did not mention the La Crosse Diocese plan to merge many of Wausau's Catholic parishes.
But the service on Pentecost Sunday carried a theme of transformation that could be applied to the church's plans.
Few of the parish mergers would affect where people attend Sunday services.
 |
| Worshippers at St. Matthew Parish celebrate Sunday Mass with the Rev. Robert Thorn. St. Matthew will be affected by the La Crosse Diocese plan to restructure central Wisconsin Catholic parishes. Photo by Rob Orcutt |
St. Matthew, for instance, would be a "liturgical satellite" instead of a parish, but it would continue to hold services. Members outside St. Matthew after services were mostly accepting of the changes.
"Everybody wants to keep their own parish if they can," said Karen Nauta of Rib Mountain, who has been a member of St. Matthew Parish since 1967. "But you don't go to a church for the building or the name; you go because you want to worship."
Kathy Matsick, 56, of Rib Mountain agreed.
"It's not going to be a change to me, as long as I can come here on Sunday and worship," Matsick said.
Matsick and her husband, Mike, have been attending St. Matthew Parish since 1977.
At St. Michael Parish in Wausau, June Tambornino, 58, of Wausau, said that church already shares priests with other parishes. Along with combining parish administration, expanding the number of people served by each priest is a major part of the merger plan.
"We're already in transition," Tambornino said. "It is hard to expand (the parish's) identity. There will be some adjustment. But we're kind of already doing that."
Whether the church building is its own parish or part of the proposed merged parish, "it's still St. Michael's," Tambornino said.
Glenn Witter, 53, of Wausau attends Church of the Resurrection in Wausau and is involved with the lay group Catholic Fire, which works to keep people involved with the church.
"The reality is there are going to be fewer priests in the future, and the church will have to deal with that," Witter said. "But the members of the community celebrate regardless of who the priest is."
Contact: rmentzer@wdhprint.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.