Parish Forum Update
On Sunday, September 10th, over one hundred St. Andrew parishioners met to discuss the future of our parish and the diocesan restructuring plans. The current proposal merges St. Andrew and St. Jude parishes. This means that Sunday Masses would end at St. Andrew, and our parish would not determine the use of St. Andrew’s buildings, grounds, and finances.
After considerable prayer and discussion, St. Andrew’s Parish Council decided to adopt an alternative to the Erie Diocesan proposal. Our Parish Council firmly believes in the vibrancy of our parish and the need for it to remain a parish. We ask you to request:
- that the plan for St. Andrew be revised, and
- that we become a “partner parish” with St. Jude or another parish.
Those in attendance strongly supported the Council’s plan and -- with the help of the Holy Spirit – we are preparing a response to the initial proposal. We hope it will persuade the planners to reevaluate their understanding of our parish and revise plans for its future. St. Andrew Parish Council is currently exploring ideas for partnership possibilities which would allow us to maintain our unique identity as a community of believers who serve the Lower West Side of Erie through our presence and mission.
This Diocesan plan is only a proposal, and your feedback is invaluable. We urge you to support our efforts by responding to the proposed plan in the following ways prior to the September 29th deadline.
- Prepare an individual response to the plan using the form that is included in today’s bulletin, available in the back of church, and available online at https://www.eriercd.org/planning-feedback.html.
- Sign and send the response form that the Council has prepared: link/hardcopy
- Reach out to fellow parishioners to support our appeal process.
In your response, please consider the information about St. Andrew Parish that the Parish Council prepared to demonstrate the vibrancy of our parish: link/hardcopy
In so many ministries, day to day we are living out our mission to worship God and share the love of Christ for his people. If you have specific testimony of your experience of the parish or your role in the parish, please include that as we want to make a compelling case for the strength of the St. Andrew faith community.
St. Andrew and Our Lady of Fatima – Pray for Us!
Parish Council:
President: Jim Vieira
Members: Lisa Austin, Eileen Barron, Jordan Dahlstrand, Carol Hoffman, Jeanne Lillis, Jerry Martin, Dominic Sansone, Brian Stark, Joe Weindorf