Two Elk Grove Catholic churches to merge, but neither will close
Two Elk Grove Village Catholic churches will merge under a unified administrative structure, while both church buildings remain open for weekend Masses, under a plan that averts a possible closure of one of the parishes.
Archdiocese of Chicago officials and leaders at both churches - Queen of the Rosary and St. Julian Eymard - have spent the last eight months evaluating ways to pool resources amid a decline in Mass attendance and shortage of priests.
Among the options on the table was to close one of the churches and invite parishioners to the other, though officials said the least-likely scenario would have been to shutter Queen of the Rosary because it has an adjoining school.
The decision announced to parishioners during a meeting Wednesday night was to unite the churches under a new still-to-be-determined parish name, while preserving the names of the individual churches at what would be considered campus locations.
That means combining ministries and parish and finance councils. The parish will have one pastor, one set of financial books, one website and one weekly bulletin.
It also means a likely reduction in the number of weekend Masses, officials say.
Queen of the Rosary School would keep its name. It's unclear if the religious education program housed at St. Julian would be combined with Queen of the Rosary's program.
"I think there was both sadness and joy," the Rev. Brian Kean, pastor of St. Julian, said of the meeting when Cardinal Blase Cupich's decision was announced. "That previous parishes in which (parishioners) spent their time would be going away for a new parish, but also joy in the possibility for renewing our parish and better utilizing our resources to bring Christ into the world."
The archdiocese plans to monitor the operations of the combined parish over the next three years to determine if the new arrangement makes sense, or if a new structure needs to come about, Kean said.
The pastor said neither church is struggling - both have weekly Mass attendance of more than 800 and are financially sound with no outstanding debts - but officials are "trying to look to the future."
"It's the priest shortage that's facing us, and attendance has declined from 10 to 20 years ago," Kean said.
"We want to be ready to address the situation and turn around and call more people to faith than we currently have, especially millennials."
A committee will come up with a list of possible names for the new parish and send the ideas to Cupich, who will make the final decision.
The cardinal also will appoint the parish pastor, who could be one of the two current pastors or someone new.
The changes officially take effect July 1.