Parishes in Pepperell, Groton to merge

And then there were 291.

The Archdiocese of Boston, which had 357 parishes back in 2002, is consolidating another pair of parishes tomorrow. Sacred Heart‐St. James (left) in Groton and Saint Joseph (right) in Pepperell will merge, forming a new parish, Our Lady of Grace. But this transition, unlike some in the past, appears to be largely peaceful. The churches, located about 8 miles apart, have shared a pastor for three years, and for the time being the new parish will hold Masses in the existing buildings, so the changes for worshipers in the short-term are relatively minor -- a consolidation of the offices, and a slight reduction in the Mass schedule. Over the long term the community hopes to construct a new parish campus, with church, rectory, and parish center, on the town line, that would replace the existing buildings.

The congregations are relatively small for Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston -- each parish currently has about 750 families, and average weekend Mass attendance runs between 500 and 600 at each church. The Groton parish is itself the result of a previous merger, in 2003, and is now trying to sell one of its church buildings and parish halls. The new parish will include not only Groton and Pepperell, but also Dunstable.

This afternoon I spoke with the Rev. Paul L. Ring, pastor of the parishes. Here's what he had to say:

Q: Is this related to the archdiocesan reconfiguration that began in 2004?
A: What happened was, back a number of years ago, during the reconfiguration, when we sat down as a cluster, it was given to us to figure out which parishes would be closed within the cluster. The cluster asked the archdiocese for a different tack, and so the archdiocese asked them to come up with a plan.

Q: How did you come up with the new name?
A: People were asked to submit names, and we came up with three that we submitted to the cardinal, and he chose. "Our Lady of Grace" comes about because a number of our people have a deep affinity for the Blessed Mother, so a number of "Our Lady" appellations were chosen. And we felt grace was needed in abundance to get through this process. Also, Lydia Longley, credited as the first American nun, was a resident of Groton, and she belonged to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, which is French for Our Lady, so that was another rationale.

Q: How are people reacting to the merger?
A: By and large the folks are happy about this, because it gives us a future. I've been encouraging folks to understand that this was the best course of action, not only for the survival of our two communities, but to build the ministries and the kingdom here in the Nashoba Valley.

(Parish photos courtesy of the Archdiocese of Boston.)