I pray this note finds you happy, healthy, and holy. It was 7 years ago Easter Sunday when I was installed as pastor of our wonderful parish. As I continue to discern what I am called to do as pastor, I have found it helpful to reflect on our parish’s history. Our parish used to be a small rural church in the town of Merna and was destroyed by a tornado in the early 1980’s. Our ordinary at that time was Bishop O’Rourke. He saw that Bloomington/Normal was growing east, and made the controversial decision to rebuild St. Patrick Church outside of the town of Merna closer to Bloomington/Normal. The parish at that time had around 50 families and the new church that was constructed was considered much larger than what was needed, but those making decisions had the foresight to look ahead. Good pastors coupled with the growth east of Bloomington/Normal provided a “perfect storm” of sorts, and it didn’t take long for the church to be full and the need for Masses to be added.

In the years that followed there were two major building projects that met the needs of the growing parish. The first project added a nursery, parish offices, and rooms that could be used by parish groups and religious education. The second added a few more offices, a meeting room, a larger nursery, a choir room, a chapel, the gathering space, a much larger church, and much needed storage. Today St. Patrick Church of Merna is one the biggest, if not the biggest, parish in the Diocese of Peoria. Bishop O’Rourke had the foresight and wisdom to look ahead and it has served this parish and its many parishioners over the years very well.

We are blessed to be at a growing and vibrant parish and yet God still has much more he wants to do in and through St. Pat's. I see Bishop Lou having that same courage to look to the future of our entire diocese with the Growing Disciples initiative. And though difficult decisions will be made, they will lead to more vibrant parishes. As pastor, I feel called and am guided by the Bishop's vision for our future to make prudent decisions now that continue to facilitate future growth of our parish as we look ahead. 

Though this may not have been discussed publicly, there is a major avenue for growth that previous pastors Fr. Greg and Fr. Jerry both considered. Traditionally, a rectory is built near or next to the church. Have you ever wondered where our rectory is located? The current “rectory” is one side of a condo with limited space located catty-corner to the church in the neighborhood behind us. A traditional rectory has never been built on the church’s property. In hindsight, we see the wisdom of this inaction because of how much the parish has grown over the years.

Today, our parish is used to having two priests and more recently a seminarian. Looking to the future though, a larger rectory could open up possibilities for even more clergy at our parish. For example, there are a handful of parishes smaller than ours with a second parochial vicar which also serves a nearby high school. Furthermore, I think our parish would be a wonderful place for a retired priest to live and serve. I have discussed this need of our parish with Bishop Lou and he supports this project and sees the value of the opportunities this would give to our parish.

It could be noted of all the parishes in our diocese that he could assign seminarians, our Bishop has been regularly ensuring seminarians are at our parish. 

In a time in which parishes around our diocese are worried whether they will stay open, we are blessed to be at parish with a bright and hopeful future. I ask for your prayers and support as we look to the future and discern what exciting opportunities we are called to pursue. In the coming months, I will share more information about this potential project with you.

In Christ,

Fr. Schultz