St. Kilian Congregation

Solemnity of the Ascension and Pentecost 2024
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle - May 14, 2024

Letter to the Parishioners of St. Kilian, St. John and St. Matthew
Regarding the new structure of our Pastoral Unit
 

Dear Parishioner,
Praise be to Jesus Christ!  Forever and ever!

As a follow up to the letter that was sent out on December 08, 2023, we are writing to provide you with the important updates.  As you are aware, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is undergoing a large scale of restructuring starting with Racine and Dodge County area parishes in order to utilize resources in a better way and to make parishes stronger more than ever.  As a result of that effort, the parishes of St. Kilian (Hartford), St. John (Rubicon) and St. Matthew (Neosho) will be soon working together under the leadership of one pastor, Father Britto Suresh, who is currently the administrator of St. Kilian & St. John.  Fr. Justin Lopina, the current pastor of St. Matthew (Neosho) and Sacred Heart (Horicon) will be moving to St. Joseph Church, Wauwatosa in his next assignment which is effective June 18, 2024.

As we look forward to the collaboration of our three parishes into a larger faith community, decisions have to be made for the betterment of all.  Some choices are easy, others more difficult.  For many months now, the trustees and the chairs of the Pastoral Councils and Finance Councils from all of our three parishes along with me have been meeting with Archdiocese representation to discuss how best to move forward.  After several months of discussions and listening sessions, some preliminary decisions have already been made based on data gathered from each parish including Mass attendance, recommendations from the Archdiocese, Canon Law and prayerful consideration of how to best meet the community's needs.

Following is a summary of theose decisions and action plans:

First, Canon Law.  Canon Law provides good order to the Church and defines how it is to function.  Canon 905 states the following:  "A priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist more than once a day except in cases where the law permits him to celebrate or concelebrate more than once on the same day.  If there is a shortage of priests, the local ordinary can allow priests to celebrate twice a day for a just cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three times on Sundays and holy days of obligation." (this number includes one possible Saturday evening or anticipation Mass).  The reason for the limits is simple.  It is the human tendency to become less reverent and less prepared when Masses are frequent.  Over time, when wearied, many of our priests will tend to be more hurried, less engaged and less focused.  Fatigue takes its toll.  As a wider church, we have been using a special exception allowing priests to say more than that for may decades.  Our Archdiocese wants to bring things back closer in line with the ideal and wants each priest to say only 3 Masses in a weekend.

In addition to that, a decline in church attendance over the years to the point where we routinely have roughly a 1/3 of all registered parishioners actually attending Mass in person.  Our buildings are made to hold many more people than we currently have attending each Mass.  Between the three churches, there are currently five weekend Masses.  Deciding the future Mass schedule has been the most difficult decision the leadership team has had to face.  Knowing we need to get to three weekend Masses, we primarily used attendance data to drive where the Masses would be with some compromises on timing to best meet the needs of the majority.

Beginning June 18, 2024, the Mass schedule will be as follows:

Saturday evening     4:30 pm at St. Kilian

Sunday morning       8:00 am at St. John
                                     10:00 am at St. Kilian

Monday evening       7:00 pm at St. John (with Christian Formation Students - see the bulletin)

Tuesday morning      8:00 am at St. Matthew

Thursday morning    10:30 am at Assisted Living (there are 4 different Assisted Living Homes in Hartford)

Friday morning          8:20 am at St. Kilian (with school children)

We realize this new schedule will not make everyone happy, but each church had to make some concessions.  St. Matthew does not have the capacity to host a weekend Mass for the increased number of attendees that may come from St. John and St. Kilian.  The Saturday evening Mass at St. John is the least attended of the two current evening times, and will be discontinued.  Sunday morning Mass at St. John is moving to 8:00 am to accommodate the current schedule for St. Matthew.  Sunday morning Mass at St. Kilian is moving later to also allow me/priest celebrant more time between Masses to speak with parishioners before going to St. Kilian.  The Tuesday morning Mass currently taking place at St. Kilian will now be at St. Matthew, which also currently has a Tuesday Mass, so that St. Matthew can continue to have a Mass.

Other Administrational Changes:

Again, in the interest of coming together as one worship community and sharing our resources more efficiently, there will be one combined Pastoral Council with representation from all three parishes.  Each parish will have their own Finance Councils but all three groups will meet on the same night in the same building so the pastor can be present in all as it is required by law.

All three parishes will be using the same financial software to make reporting to the Archdiocese easier.  This only requires St. John to change software since the other churches are already using the Archdiocese-recommended software.

Each parish will keep their own separate finances.  All money given to one parish remains with that parish, in particular, any funds raised as part of the Love One Another Campaign will be used solely for the individual parish goals identified.  Parishioners can continue to give money to their parish electroncially or by using envelopes.  Envelopes can be mailed in or given in the collection at any of the parishes and that money will go to the parish name on the envelope.  For example, St. John envelopes given at a St. Kiian Mass will still go to St. John, not St. Kilian, and vice versa.  Loose money or checks with no identifying outer envelope or designation will be used at the church where collected.

There are still many decisions yet to be made.  We are taking our time to make sure we are supporting each other and setting a model for growing stronger together.  One community united by Christ.

If you have further questions, we encourage you to reach out to your parish trustees or council members.

In Christ,

Fr. Britto Suresh, Pastor

The Trustees and the Chairs of Pastoral Council and Finance Councils of St. Kilian, St. John, and St. Matthew Catholic Congregations

Office of Missionary Planning and Leadership, Archdiocese of Milwaukee
 

St. Kilian Congregation Mission Statement

To pray, serve, and love together in Christ.

St. Kilian Congregation Vision Statement

We, as members of the Catholic Congregation of St. Kilian, share in the mission of the universal Church. We acknowledge God as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As family and community of faith, we are joined to the People of God in mind and heart. Through Scripture, Sacramental Celebrations, and Service, we are given the strength and guidance to further the ministry of Jesus Christ in the world today.

United in faith, hope, and love, our baptism joins us to the great work of Redemption of the Risen Savior. We seek to be faithful to Christ’s vision and victory: changing darkness into light and hatred into love by our commitment to the Works of Mercy and our Savior’s commands. We stand with the poor and the powerless, the neglected and forgotten, and the victims of violence and prejudice, as guardians of the human rights of all people.

We seek to be good stewards of all creation, including protection of our Mother Earth and the equitable distribution, conservation, and regulation of the earth’s resources for the generations to come.

Through the gifts that we’ve been given, we pray for a generous and mindful spirit of thanksgiving, as we return these blessings in service to God and others. Each day we seek to build up the universal Church, which is the Body of Christ.