Dayton parishes unveil pastoral region

Initiative shows potential for new urban ‘model’

By David Eck

DAYTON DEANERY — You might say that Father Del Staigers is a modern-day circuit rider — only without the horse.

Every Sunday morning he finishes his Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Dayton and hops into his car for the 10-minute drive to Queen of Martyrs Parish, where he prepares for his 11 a.m. Mass.

Toss in his Saturday evening Mass at nearby Corpus Christi Parish, and you can clearly see the community Father Staigers is helping to create.

The goal is simple: in an era of fewer priests and shifting population, maintain three separate parishes that operate as a single pastoral region.

The arrangement, one of the first in Dayton’s urban core, allows the three parishes to remain open, yet one pastoral staff and pastoral council serve them. There is a single Mass at each parish every weekend, which encourages members from one parish to attend Mass at the others.

"We’re keeping all three sites," Father Staigers said. "We’re trying to keep the customs, what makes each of those parishes good, alive."

A banner depicting the new logo for the pastoral region is displayed in each of the three churches.

The reconfiguration and new Mass schedule went into effect July 1. About 1,100 families are in the pastoral region.

It differs from a traditional consolidation, in which multiple parishes are merged into one. The parish is then typically renamed.

The creation of Dayton’s Pastoral Region Two, which contains the three parishes, grew out of the Dayton Catholic Urban Presence Plan (CUP). Under CUP, which began in 2002, six parishes in urban Dayton ended up forming the two pastoral regions.

"My perspective is that it also gives us the opportunity to understand what it truly means to be Catholic," said Lori Mayo, a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy. "I think we are off to a wonderful start. People welcomed each other and people feel at home in each of the worship sites."

A population shift in the area and fewer Catholics created a need for reorganization.

"People are moving," Father Staigers said. "Population is shifting. We don’t have enough priests.’’

Though it’s only been a month, Father Staigers and parishioners say they can see positives, especially at the Masses.

"One of the great things that’s happened is with our new Mass schedule people from all three parishes are coming together," Father Staigers said. "Our Masses are vibrant and well-attended. I wasn’t planning on that, quite honestly, for the summer. We’ve had wonderful participation. I can see things getting better, smoothing out."

The Masses are more active.

"The people who were serious about this (planning process), who stepped forward, realized we had the same goal in mind and the same concerns," said Ann Szabo, a Corpus Christi parishioner. "When that happened, everything flowed. Everything just seemed easy. Mass schedules that seemed to be hard weren’t. Going to Mass with other people wasn’t hard. When I go to church I always know somebody. I just haven’t seen them for a few years."

The pastoral region approach will allow the faith community to stabilize and grow together. It will provide the ability for new ministries

"We have a lot more opportunity for outreach in the area," Father Staigers said. "St. Vincent de Paul has really worked hard to come together.’’

Efforts to help address the hungry through food pantries have also increased.

"The major thing that this will bring to the community and the area that we serve is that Catholic urban presence," said Pam Long, the pastoral region’s lay ecclesial minister for evangelization." It’s amazing the strengths that we’ve uncovered. It’s like finding new treasure in the field."

The reorganization also allows the parishes to share their unique traditions and customs with the others.

"It’s a real respect for the traditions and customs of each parish," Long said. "By inviting new people in, we’re sharing the original custom, but we’re also making it new again.’’

Stronger ministries are also possible.

"In some areas we are three times as strong in serving the people of the three parishes and the neighborhood," Long said. "It helps parishioners a lot to know that their service to others extends throughout a larger area. The ripples go out.’’

Having the staff together in one building has been a benefit. "We were on the phone constantly from site to site," Father Staigers said.

Previously there were three parish staffs. Everyone had to reapply for available positions. The current staff mixes members from each of the former staffs, plus new members.

The region held a progressive open house and prayer services among the three parishes on the first weekend of the new Mass schedule. Parishioners in the region moved from parish to parish meeting the members, eating and praying together in the churches.

"We honestly believe that keeping a parish intact with its history and its customs was important for this stage," Father Staigers said. "I think that was everybody’s wish."

In each church is a banner featuring a golden cross, each parish name and the phrases "United in faith, hope and love," and "Together in Christ."

While there are plenty of benefits, Father Staigers admits the road has been rocky. There is anger and hurt.

"People were hurt in the process and sometimes weren’t listened to or they felt that they weren’t appreciated," said Jenifer Wilhelm, a parishioner at Queen of Martyrs. "It’s a shame that in some circumstances that some people were hurt in the process, and we hope that healing will occur in the future.

"I think it is satisfying to know that even though we have survived through the process, we have accomplished something that other people still have in front of them," she said. "Hopefully they can use what we did as a learning tool."

The learning continues to take place.

"I believe that things are coming together," said Denny Bensman, pastoral administrator of business. "It is important to remind ourselves that this is a transition year and we have to be flexible as we work through the collaboration of both the ministry and business aspects of our parishes. We have learned quickly that there is no cookie-cutter recipe for the business side of the process."

Another adjustment was related to the school serving the three parishes.

Many families with school-aged children left the region when five Catholic schools in the two pastoral regions were consolidated into one serving both regions. That, too, was an outgrowth of CUP.

The new school, named Mary Queen of Peace Catholic School, opened for the 2006-07 school year. It has two campuses.

"I was naive," Father Staigers said. "I figured everybody would just see the writing on the wall and go for it. That’s not how it worked."

He quickly learned it would be a lot of emotion. He would deal with a lot of fires.

"Logic doesn’t always work in trying to explain things," he said. "It’s dealing on an emotional level that is really important. It’s also knowing that some things just don’t have too many variables."

Still, he was surprised and hurt by some of the personal attacks he and others received during the process.

"One of the biggest challenges I’ve had through all this is to help people remember number one that they’re Christians and number two that it’s the Gospel that forms us, and no other set of guidelines. Sadly, unfortunately, not everybody’s ready to let the Gospel be our formator."

Regardless, he looks ahead. The reorganization has stabilized the pastoral region, strengthened the parishes and will allow for growth.

"I’ve been trying to encourage people to enter into this with the attitude that if we all do our role, we can grow our pastoral region," he said. "When people shift and your community becomes older, or there’s fewer young people, less money, fewer people as a whole, you’ve got to do something."