From the Pastor

Dear Parishioners,

    Last Thursday, April 3, Bishop Galante announced the reconfiguration of the parishes of the Diocese of Camden. This announcement followed a year of planning by parishioners, pastors, groups of parishes and a Diocesan commission. At the end of hearing all of the information and recommendations, the Bishop made his decisions.

    One of the decisions was the merger of St. John, Holy Saviour and Transfiguration into a new parish at St. John. Needless to say, this will involve some changes for us. We will now have a larger parish which includes the territory of the three combined parishes. This merger will not take place immediately; it will take months of planning and meeting before this new parish is established. Decisions will be made on how best to serve God's people, how many masses can be retained at separate churches, etc.

    Bishop Galante made these changes for several reasons, primarily the growing shortage of priests to staff these parishes, the decreasing number of people attending Mass, and the need for resources to serve the people in vibrant parishes. These mergers will affect the lives of most of the priests. When a new merger or parish is established, all pastors will lose their positions and a new pastor will be appointed. This applies to me. At this point in time, I plan on applying to be pastor of the newly formed parish.

    These decisions will affect so many people and parishes throughout the Diocese. The sadness that will be felt by the closing of parishes and churches is understandable. It will be a difficult time for all of us. Great compassion and sensitivity must be displayed by all. Let us all place our challenges of the coming year in the hands of our Blessed Lord and our Blessed Mother. They will guide us and help us to truly make God's love present

Yours in Christ,

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