Dear friends at Saint Frances Cabrini Parish:
Praised be Jesus Christ! A short time ago the Pastoral Council of the parish met to consider the question of how to map out the next steps for our faith community in the light of the opportunities and challenges of our given moment.
Some opportunities: more effective use of resources as we continue to partner with our neighboring parishes; the rise of a new generation who are hungry for God even if they do not always admit it; a history of parish talent to tap into.
Some challenges: a shrinking and aging pool of committed volunteers; new cultural threats to safety; 15 years of deferred maintenance on the Cabrini campus while we have tried to pay down a mortgage; a growing list of repairs; uncertainty about long-term parish plans for the West Bend and Newburg parish cluster.
What does the Pastoral Council want to do? We want to encourage a parish family conversation about what our priorities are here, about what we need to address in our facilities, about our prayer, and about our finances.
With that in mind we have planned some fall listening sessions, which the whole parish is invited to, with the aim of creating a safe, lasting, and prayerful campus environment. We want to make sure our energies and ministries are focused and effective. We want to raise awareness of the challenges and the opportunities that are before us and allow for the parish family to help set our future direction.
One issue, among many, that the Council agreed needs to be talked about in our upcoming parish meetings is the configuration and design of our worship space at Cabrini. It has been 15 years since we have updated the interior surfaces, and done major work on our lighting. The baptismal font needs some repairing and updating. In fact, there are several ways that the space was left unfinished 15 years ago in the last renovation, due to lack of funds at the time, that it is important to complete now.
The vast majority of the potential interior church work would indeed be a finishing or completing (or preservation of) the last renovation, with one large exception that would be something of a reversal: the time has come to intentionally and publicly discuss, as a community, the placement of our tabernacle in the worship space.
In the seven years that I have been here, I have witnessed a slow change of attitude in the parish about the location of our tabernacle, and I feel that the volume of the voices that want it put back in the sanctuary has grown loud enough that the issue deserves a hearing. The case for this is further strengthened by the subtle shift in the liturgical documents governing the placement of tabernacles that has taken place since our last renovation.
Beyond the worship space, it’s clear that our school building is in need of repairs that are essential to safety, health, and structural longevity that cannot be pushed off much longer.
The Pastoral Council wants as many voices in this conversation as possible. We all want a campus that is safe, lasting, and prayerful. Will you join us this fall for our listening sessions?
Blessings,
Father Nathan