Renewing the Church in New Brunswick
Pastor's Message (May 6, 2012)
Bishop Paul Bootkoski met with the Pastors of the New Brunswick Catholic churches on Monday, January 9, to discuss the implementation of the Renewing the Church process here in New Brunswick. The following message was given to each of the pastors to be shared with the Catholic community:
Building on the success of the Renewing the Church in New Brunswick (Part One) process, Bishop Paul Bootkoski has asked the seven Roman Catholic parishes of the New Brunswick Deanery to come together with the Catholic Center at Rutgers, St. Peter’s University Hospital, and Catholic Charities throughout 2012 to pray, study, and discern a common future together through a second round of the Renewing the Church in New Brunswick process. Bishop Bootkoski believes this is the right time for Catholics in the City to come together and vision a bright future as one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
Some of the challenges parishes will be asked to consider are changes in the populations attending the seven parishes, finance considerations, and the projected shortage of priests available for full-time ministry in our Diocese. Bishop Bootkoski has called for a proposal to restructure the Church in New Brunswick into 3-4 parishes serving the pastoral needs of the People of God.
A unique element of this process will be the consideration of whether and how St. Peter the Apostle Parish should become a “university parish.” The St. Peter’s Deanery Council members and the Catholic Center at Rutgers will jointly make a proposal to Bishop Bootkoski.
Beginning in March, the New Brunswick Deanery Council will, with their pastors, prayerfully discuss the gifts and challenges of each parish, the past, present, and future demographics of our area, and the current pastoral needs of the People of God in the New Brunswick Deanery. Late this year, the Deanery Council with the Pastors will make a set of recommendations to Bishop Bootkoski. The notes from each meeting will be posted on the diocesan website.