An Honest, Comprehensive Look at Our Parish

Dear Parishioners,

I begin my weekly letter to you with a serious tone because I need to address objectively the over-all situation at St. Thomas More Parish. I also need to put matters here in the context of our diocese and local deanery (group of parishes joined in a particular area).

First, I acknowledge how I have truly grown more in love with you, the people of St. Thomas More Parish, over my past six years as pastor. Honestly, it was not easy being assigned here following the combined retirement of one pastor and then by the unexpected, sudden death of his successor. It was also the time of COVID-19 with its difficulties and societal irregularities. Fortunately, time has helped to heal some of those situations.

On an incredibly positive side, I am grateful for the cultural and ethnic diversity found here as well as the prayerful and cooperative spirit I find in so very many of you! Historically, St. Thomas More has been an intimate parish, and our people enjoy the closeness and camaraderie this small size brings.

However, with a weekly congregation of approximately 300 per week attending the current three weekend Masses, I have found it challenging as pastor to pull together the necessary participants for more large-scale activities or programs. We just do not seem to have the numbers to attempt new or varied things repeatedly!

For example, our First Holy Communion class this year is three, we had no one in the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) preparing to become Catholic, and I have had about six weddings total over the past six years. Parish funerals exceed baptisms annually, our religious education program instructs only about 40 students, and our Confirmation ceremonies are small enough to be held during an ordinary Sunday Mass (without any overcrowding) rather than in a separate ceremony as at most parishes. So far this year, I have had only one infant baptism. I could go on listing similar statistics, but I think these sufficiently illustrate my point.

Now when we consider the priest situation in the diocese, only one priest is scheduled for ordination this May (with eight seminarians currently being trained in various seminaries). Three pastors are retiring this year. There are 62 parishes serving almost one half million Catholics with the number of active diocesan clergy declining annually.

With the above in mind, Msgr. Louis Marucci, the Episcopal Vicar for the Renewal of Structures and our Dean, has been leading a discernment session with a group of our parishioners and me to discuss our parish situation. In the “spirit of Synodality,” through an experience of prayer and planning, Msgr. Marucci continues to facilitate this planning session to discuss ideas and to initiate a conversation on the various possibilities, pathways, and collaborative efforts we might undertake to serve the Catholic families of St. Thomas More Parish, our deanery, and the entire diocese.

If I can be blunt, the status quo will not continue here at our parish, and various changes are currently being considered. We will know more in the coming weeks.

Please pray as decisions are made for the best possible outcome for us as a parish, the good of the entire Diocese of Camden and our local deanery.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor