Dear Parishioners of St. Matthias Parish,
Father Orapankal has informed you that he will be stepping down as your Pastor this summer. Bishop Checchio is grateful for Father’s service here at St. Matthias for more than the past 6 years and also for the support you have given him.
Bishop Checchio and the Priest Personnel Board will now take up the matter of choosing a suitable priest to succeed Father Orapankal. Pastors are appointed by the bishop to lead local parish communities and to provide for their pastoral care. They share in the bishop’s ministry of teaching, sanctifying, and governing. With the bishop’s mandate, and with the assistance and support of other clergy and the lay faithful, the pastor has full responsibility for shepherding the local church community.
To facilitate this appointment, Bishop Checchio has initiated a consultation process to elicit input from your entire parish community, including the staff, ministry leaders, and all parishioners, to determine what the people of St. Matthias hope for in its new Pastor. This consultation process includes meetings with both parish staff and interested parishioners.
The meetings for parishioners will be held on Monday, March 3rd, at 1:00 PM and Monday, March 10th, at 7:00 PM in your parish church. These general meetings will be facilitated by Rev. Msgr. John Fell, Vicar for Clergy for the Diocese. They will welcome staff and ministry leaders of your parish community and all parishioners—everyone is invited and encouraged to participate.
During these guided listening sessions, information will be gathered from parishioners that will assist the Bishop and Priest Personnel Board to better understand the parish’s current status and needs. Please understand that these sessions are for information gathering only and that the data collected from parishioners at these meetings will be one factor among several that the Priest Personnel Board will consider in recommending candidates and the Bishop will consider in ultimately choosing your next pastor. This consultation is not to solicit the names of individual priests, and these will not be discussed.
For any parishioners who might be unable to attend in person, there is also an option to be heard by emailing Msgr. Fell at jfell@diometuchen.org by March 12. If you choose this option, please reflect on the following points:
- the nature and current status of St. Matthias Parish and its ministries, programs, facilities, etc.,
- the qualities you feel would be most needed by the new pastor,
- the most salient features of the parish that the new pastor should be aware of,
- what you are most proud of at your parish, and
- the most pressing needs that you think the new pastor must be able to address in the short term.
All parishioners are asked to join in prayer that the Holy Spirit may guide and illumine this process and are invited and encouraged to participate in person or by email to help the diocese more fully understand the status and needs of the entire St. Matthias Parish Family.
Thank you so much for your kind assistance in this important matter.
Rev. Msgr. John Fell