All Things New: 2nd Draft Models

From the very beginning of All Things New, we have been asking the question, “Which communities does it make most sense to have come together in light of demographic shifts, evangelization and social outreach efforts, resources, and priest availability?”

Over the past year, the Archdiocese of St. Louis has received feedback from 70,000 parishioners across the Archdiocese through the Disciple Maker Index (DMI) Survey, hosted nearly 350 Listening Sessions at 178 parishes, surveyed 18,000 parish school parents, administrators, teachers, staff, donors, community partners, and volunteers, compiled sacramental, financial and demographic statistics for every parish and school, met with community, civic and business organizations, held focus groups, and had conversations at the deanery and parish levels, both in groups and one on one.

The Archdiocese has continued to ask you, our parishioners, what our parishes, ministries, and institutions need to look like in order to effectively share the faith in a way that is suitable and sustainable for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.

Using that information, the All Things New planning committee, which consists of clergy and laity, has refined the first set of draft models shared in the Fall. The second draft models reflect the input received across the Archdiocese from the priests, deacons, religious, key parish leaders, and the lay faithful. The models show the Archdiocese being reshaped from 178 individual parish pastorates into 88 pastorates in order to best serve the lay faithful. A pastorate is a community that is under the pastoral care of one pastor and pastoral team.

In some cases, an individual parish may remain as its own pastorate but may have to adapt some of its ministries and Mass times due to priest availability. In other cases, it may be that two or more parishes remain financially independent of each other but will become a new pastorate sharing one pastor and pastoral team. Finally, in some cases, it may be that parishes merge their resources together and become a new pastorate under one pastor and pastoral team. Only after we have discerned which communities ought to come together as a new pastorate can we begin the case-by-case examination of which structure is most prudent for each existing parish.  No matter the chosen structure, some worship sites may no longer be used in the future.

The planning committee has analyzed each pastorate to ensure each one has the resources to sustain a new territory and model.

Click here to see the second draft models and to learn more about the All Things New process.

We are asking you to provide any feedback you may have on the second draft models to your pastor or Key Parish Leaders by Wednesday, February 15.  There is a survey form below.

This will be the last set of draft models, and the final portion of feedback gathered in order to enable the Archbishop to make a well-informed, discerned decision for the spiritual well-being of the Archdiocese, looking at the extensive feedback of the people and the needs of the Archdiocese. This decision will be announced on May 28, 2023, by Archbishop Rozanski.

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All Souls ||divi||400
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All Souls is located in Overland in the neighborhood just west of Woodson and south of Midland.

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St. Jude is located on Warson south of Page

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Our Lady of the Presentation is located just off Brown Road just south of St. Charles Rock Road.

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St. Rita is on Page at North and South

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St. Ann is on Natural Bridge Rd.

In this draft model, St. Ann is together with:

  • St. Rita,
  • Our Lady of the Presentation
  • All Souls
  • St. Jude

This proposed pastorate will have 1,717 registered families and a weekly Mass attendance based on measurements this October of 1,612

 

Other Neighboring Parishes:

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta will be in a pastorate with Sacred Heart in Florissant and St. Rose Phillippine Duchesne

 Christ the King will be in a pastorate with Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Joseph in Clayton, St. Roch, and All Saints.

Holy Name of Jesus will be together with St. Angela Merici and St. Norbert

St. Martin de Porres, St. Ferdinand, and St. Sabina will be together as well.

 

Where did this come from?

You can read the feedback from the parishes here:

For Region 1 (North County)

For Region 7 (Our new region) 

None of the original 42 proposed models were left unchanged. There was an extensive period of listening.

 

February 2023

Draft Models Released

February - April

Models are Refined

April - May

Archbishop Considers the complete draft

Pentecost (May 28th)

Announcement of Final Plan

Fall 2023

New Pastors Arrive in Pastorates

Our (Draft) New Community

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All Souls-Overland

From the Parish Workbook.

  • All Souls was established in 1908 and grew to be a large parish. In fact between 1946 and 1982, the parish averaged 150 baptisms per year. However, neighborhoods changed and in 2002, the parish school closed and merged with Holy Trinity school.
  • Holy Trinity school closed in 2019 and in 2020 its territory became part of All Souls. Of 1200 Holy Trinity households, less than half reregistered at another parish. Perhaps 175-200 went to All Souls. Others to Our Lady of Guadalupe or Our Lady of the Presentation, while school families went to Holy Spirit.
  • All Souls area has one of the highest percentages of Hispanics in the archdiocese and a significant Hispanic ministry at the parish. The parish has 625 households. The parish church was completed in 1952 and seats 700.
  • An increasingly diverse neighborhood with a growing Hispanic population.
  • Parish had been declining until the last couple of years with the addition of Hispanic ministry at the parish and the closing of Holy Trinity parish
  • Parish reserves are growing as parish is managing expenses. Offertory got a boost with the closing of Holy Trinity.
  • An increasing diverse area:
    • 13% of the population is Hispanic, one of the highest in the archdiocese.
    • Percent white population has decreased from 91% in 1990 to 51% in 2020.
    • 46% of households are renters.
  • Median household income is $46,000 which is below the archdiocesan average of $60,700.
  • 8% of the resident population is Catholic which is well below the archdiocesan average of 18%.

Our Lady of the Presentation

From the Parish Workbook.

  • Our Lady of the Presentation parish was opened in 1915. But as with all the “collar” communities surrounding the City of St. Louis, the housing stock became too small for many families and the parish began to decline. The Overland area has become a destination for Hispanics because of the affordable housing. The Presentation territory has one of the highest concentrations of Hispanics in the diocese. The parish school closed in 2009 with 91 students.
  • When neighboring Holy Trinity parish closed in 2020, its territory was attached to All Souls parish. However, Our Lady of the Presentation gained about 40 households from Holy Trinity.
  • The parish has about 420 households. The parish church was completed in 1948 and seats 450.
  • An increasing diverse area with growing number of Hispanics, however Hispanic ministry is at All Souls or Our Lady of Guadalupe.
  • Parish membership has been declining, with declining baptisms and children in religious formation. Mass attendance has rebounded to pre-COVID levels.
  • Offertory has been increasing and cash flow has been improving in recent years.
  • Population in the area has been slowly declining over the past few decades.
  • Parish area is becoming increasing diverse.
  • Percent white population has decreased from 92% in 1990 to 52% in 2020.
  • Hispanic population has grown to 11%, one of the highest in the diocese.
  • 42% of households are renters.
  • Median household income is $50,800 which is lower than the archdiocesan average of $60,700.
  • 9% of the resident population is Catholic which is well below the archdiocesan average of 18%.
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St. Jude

From the Parish Workbook.

  • St. Jude parish was established in 1953 and was poised to become a large parish. But just 8 years later, when the parish had grown to 700 households and 550 students in the school, significant territory was ceded to form St. Blaise parish (1961) and St. Richard parish (1963). St. Jude parish never recovered and began immediately declining and the school closed in 1974, having gone from 392 students five years prior to 176 in the year it closed.
  • The parish territory is split in half by Lindbergh Boulevard. The parish has almost no parishioners west of Lindbergh – nearly all belonging to nearby Holy Spirit parish. The eastern half of the parish has a heavy concentration of Hispanics who have joined other parishes.
  • The parish has 195 households. The original parish church dedicated in 1954 and seats 250.
  • An increasingly diverse neighborhood with growing Hispanic presence and most Catholics in the neighborhood not belonging to St. Jude parish. West of Lindbergh to Holy Spirit and east of Lindbergh to parishes with Hispanic ministry.
  • Stable and strong Mass attendance; few children in the parish as measured by baptisms and children in religious formation.
  • Offertory has been stable and reserves have been growing.
  • An increasing diverse area, population and households have been growing but it is mostly rental units.
  • The portion of the parish territory east of Lindbergh has a high concentration of Hispanics with the overall area being 11% Hispanic.
  • Percent white population has decreased from 91% in 1990 to 58% in 2020.
  • 39% of households are renters
  • Median household income is $55,800 which is below the archdiocesan average of $60,700.
  • 13% of the resident population is Catholic which is below the archdiocesan average of 18%.

St. Rita

From the Parish Workbook.

  • St. Rita parish was established in 1916 in a growing community just north of University City. St. Rita was never a large parish, never having more than 600 households. As demographics in and around St. Rita territory began to change beginning in the 1970s, parishes all around St. Rita closed: St. Thomas More in 1999; St. Patrick and St. Catherine of Siena in 2001.
  • Small parish territory with declining population and few Catholics
  • Few baptisms and children in Catholic formation.
  • Parish has continued to deplete its reserves during the past decade.
  • The parish school closed in 1989. The parish has 80 households
  • The parish church was opened in 1953 and seats 700.
  • Population in the area has been declining for decades. The area is fairly stable racially with 23% of the population white and 65% of the population black.
  • Median household income is $38,000 which is well below the archdiocesan average of $60,700.
  • 5% of the resident population is Catholic which is well under the archdiocesan average of 18%
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St. Ann-Normandy

From the Parish Workbook.

  • St. Ann was founded in 1856 and is the mother parish for large areas of Northwest St. Louis City and much of North County.
  • The parish has an elementary school with 168 students, and the pastor of the parish is the director of the Newman Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
  • This is a parish of nearly 350 households. The parish church was dedicated in 1952 and seats 600.
  • The primarily African-American parish area neighborhood includes some middle-class and racially diverse neighborhoods where many of St. Ann parishioners live.
  • Mass attendance has declined along with the decline in parishioners. The parish is aging as baptisms and children in Catholic schools are declining and few, if any, children are in PSR.
  • Parish investment in the school is higher than the recommended range, but parish is able to control expenses and grow reserves.
  • The parish territory encompasses 16 civil jurisdiction (and parts of two others) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) and its student population.
  • Population has declined over 30% in the last three decades, and yet the racial diversity has remained relatively stable.
  • Somewhat of a transitional neighborhood as the percent households that rent is 50% and the percent single persons living alone is 43%, many of whom are UMSL students
  • The median household income is $36,700, which is well below the archdiocesan average of $60,700. This masks the fact that there are several small, more racially diverse middle-class neighborhoods within the parish boundaries
  • Only 5% of the resident population is Catholic which is well below the archdiocesan average of 18%.
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Parish Size in Square miles Catholics (2021) Families (21) Parish Children in k-8 Catholic Schools PSR students Mass Attendance in 2021 Baptisms (5 year average)  Funerals (5 year average)
All Souls (Overland) 7.88 1442 625 14 101 753 11 24
Our Lady of the Presentation (Overland) 2.85 920 419 14 1 242 9 19
St. Ann (Normandy) 6.48 790 344 52 2 204 7 18
St. Jude (Overland) 4.87 250 170 2 0 226 1 4
St. Rita (Vinita Park) 1.74 110 78 0 0 49 1 6
Total 23.82 3512 1636 82 104 1474 29 71

Frequently Asked Questions

What buildings will be used?

That hasn’t been decided yet! This will be a collaborative decision between the pastor of the pastorate and the All Things New Team.

What about the school?

We going to have school next year and are on track to grow once again. There would not seem to be any good reason for the new pastorate not to continue to have a school. Schools are not really portable to other campuses.

The necessary resources and students already exist in our community, so while our community will expand, the school will not be a burden to others. We can’t promise anything, but I think the school would have a presumption of continuing existence and thriving.

What is a Pastorate?

You may have noticed a new term here, pastorate: a pastorate means a parish or group of parishes served by one pastor. Some parishes will merge right away. Other parishes will be together as a family of parishes, with a single pastor, parish council, and staff. However, they will still technically exist separately in a few other ways.  So a pastorate could have one church or more than one, and one priest or more than one priest. The St. Louis Review Archdiocesan newspaper has an excellent explanation of the concept.

There will still be some parish mergers, but not every new pastorate will be a merger.

What happens next?

This is now the last public time for feedback. Pastors have been asked to provide feedback on these new draft models by the end of next week, February 17. There is a survey below on this page. 

The feedback will be carefully considered, and the draft model might be tweaked in some way or another. Then other recommendations will be developed; priest assignments and recommendations for buildings and social outreach for the new pastorates This will all be completed so the Archbishop can have it on his desk and in his prayers for a whole month. The Archbishop will announce the final plan on Pentecost, May 28 of this year.

At some point in the early fall, the new pastor will become the pastor of the whole pastorate, and we will begin transitioning into the new reality.

What is the name of the new pastorate?

That hasn’t been decided yet.

I have technical questions about canon law?

We might have answers, look at this page: https://stannchurch-stl.org/allthingsnew/canonical-q-and-a/