Archdiocese Proposes Parish Grouping for St. Joseph, St. Francis of Assisi in Medford
St. Joseph Church in Medford Square and St. Francis of Assisi in North Medford would operate under one pastoral staff under a current proposal.
The Archdiocese of Boston has released a plan to consolidate a total of 290 parishes into 125 collaborative parishes. Under the current proposal, St. Joseph Church in Medford Square and St. Francis of Assisi in North Medford would operate under one pastoral staff. Medford's third catholic church, St. Raphael, would remain its own parish. A combination of dropping attendance, finances and a shortage of priests led to the new plan, according to a recent report by WBUR. “We made this proposal looking at the fact that this is already happening, it’s going to continue to happen,” Monsignor William Fay, co-chair of the Archdiocesan Planning Commission, told WBUR. “The alternative will be that we look at the merging of parishes and closing some …
Mary
11:55 am on Thursday, February 2, 2012
Beats having either one of them close.! I grew up and went to school in St. Francis Parish. My parish up here in York, Maine has become part of a 3-parish collaborative, and it works. Each church/parish seems to have retained its own personality/programs. I was a member of St. Joseph's Parish at one time, too. I can remember when either church was overflowing with parishioners at any given Sunday… more ›