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HARTINGTON - If a journey begins with a single step, some Catholic churches may find themselves out of breath and nearing the finish line.
The Archdiocese of Omaha’s reorganization called Journey of Faith began more than a year ago to address the declining number of priests, falling participation in the faith, and shifting trends in both rural and urban areas.
As a result, about 1,300 Catholic parishioners in the area who regularly attend Mass, may find themselves in a different church at a different time with a different priest this weekend as some of the final, major Journey of Faith changes are being implemented.
Seven area parishes have now been grouped together to form what is now known as the Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes, the name chosen to reflect the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Those churches in the new parish family include St. Jane Frances de Chantal in Randolph; St. Michael in Coleridge; Holy Trinity in Hartington; St. Peter in Newcastle; St. Mary of the Seven Dolors in Osmond; St. Joseph in Ponca; and St. Paul in Plainview.
The Rev. Owen Korte, Hartington, and the Rev. Kevin Vogel, Randolph, will be overseeing the newly formed parish group and will be rotating every week among those churches.
“We can be stronger with the support of each other rather than just being on our own. That’s more of the Biblical kind of model anyway when Jesus sent out the apostles in twos,” Vogel said. “We’re both your priests.”
New Mass times will be Saturdays at 6 p.m. at Holy Trinity, Hartington, and St. Paul, Plainview; Sundays at 8 a.m. at St. Joseph, Ponca, and St. Frances, Randolph; and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at Holy Trinity, Hartington, and St. Mary’s, Osmond.
There will no longer be weekend Masses at St. Peter, Newcastle, or St. Michael, Coleridge. However, all churches will continue to have some weekday Masses as well as funeral and wedding services.
“No parishes are closing. A lot of people interpret not having a Sunday Mass as the church being closed but that’s not correct. The parishes remain individual parishes,” Vogel said. “It’s just that the locations for Sunday Mass have to be limited based on the number of priests that we have to do them. We can’t be in every location all at once.”
The main office for the Holy Spirit Catholic Parishes will be at Holy Trinity, Hartington, but other church offices will remain open. Some church offices may reduce hours and services over time as necessary as the transition occurs, Vogel said.
While minor adjustments may be made in daily Mass schedules in the future, no other major changes are planned, he said.
“The reality is that the faith didn’t change. The truths that God gave to us, none of that changes,” Vogel said. “It’s not as though God has left us, he is still here.”
The Journey of Faith is specific to the Archdiocese of Omaha but the issues that led to the reorganization are spread across the United States, Vogel said, with other Christian church denominations facing similar challenges of lack of clergy and a decrease in church participation.
The Journey of Faith goal is for each parish family to become a “missional community” of outwardly sharing faith with others. It will also be important for parents to look inwardly and evaluate if they are open to God’s vocational calling on their children, Vogel said.
“When your’e facing decline . . . the tendency is to turn in and want to just keep things the way they are and protect it against all the changes that are going on,” he said. “That actually plays into the decline rather than we go out and how can we serve those people around us? It doesn’t mean you have to do it in a weird way like, ‘Hello stranger, let me tell you about Jesus.’ It’s much more natural in your daily life. Who do you interact with? And just be yourself, but allow faith to influence how you live and how you act and in those moments where religion comes up, don’t be afraid to share.”
