On March 19, 2024, Archbishop Schnurr decreed that our four parishes would be merged into the Holy Face of Jesus Parish. Hopefully this didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. We have been preparing for this merger for a couple of years. First I would like to thank everyone who helped us get to this point. Parishioners have offered suggestions, our Pastoral Council has fielded questions, and our staff has helped to communicate information and offer feedback. It has been a real team effort!
Remember that the merger takes effect on July 1, 2024. There is a bit of a delay to help us get our ducks in a row. A lot of those matters are administrative, like getting a new tax ID number, changing the names with our various financial institutions, and combining our accounting software. This will go unnoticed by 99% of parishioners, so please pray for those who will be working very diligently over the next 2-3 months.
We will have some events to prepare people to be members of the Holy Face of Jesus Parish. First and foremost, we will be reflecting on the Holy Face of Jesus and how His Face shapes our identity. We will host three Holy Hours over the next three months to prayerfully prepare parishioners for this. They will be on Thursday, April 25 at Immaculate Conception, Wednesday May 22 at St. John, and Wednesday, June 19 at St. Lawrence. They will all begin at 7:00pm.
Also our communications will be revamped. We will unveil a new parish logo on May 15 at 7pm in the St. Joseph Parish Life Center. We worked with a Catholic marketing company to work on the design and I am very excited about it. The same company is working to revamp our website to reflect our merger. The new parish website will be holyfaceparish.org. It isn’t done yet, but it will be by July 1.
Finally, there will be a major celebration on Saturday, June 29 to commemorate the transition. June 29 is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which is the original Petersburg Parish. With this feast day in mind, we’ll gather that day to thank God for all the good work that He has done through the Petersburg Parishes and ask Him to bless the new Holy Face of Jesus Parish. We will begin with the 4:30pm Mass at St. Joseph Church and then move to the Parish Life Center for the celebration.
May the good Lord bless you and your family in these joyful days of Easter. It is a blessing and honor to get to serve as your pastor.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
