Published: October 27, 2005 10:24 am      

Parish seeks peace, unity

CLINTON — “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace...”

They are eight simple words.

But they carry great meaning in Clinton’s Jesus Christ Prince of Peace Parish, whose members are being encouraged to recite daily the Peace Prayer to live up to the name of their parish as they work to unify parish members and the community in which they live.

Working toward unity and a shared future is nothing new for Clinton Catholics, who 15 years ago began merging the city’s five parishes into one and now are working toward the construction of a church on Clinton’s Mill Creek Parkway.

A dedication ceremony took place on the 23.17 acres of land earlier this year. Architect meetings are under way and the parish hopes to hire a general contractor in the next few months to design the facility. The hope is to break ground in spring 2007.

But moving toward the consolidation under one roof has not been an easy one.

“We had to make some tough decisions,” said the Rev. Tony Herold, who has been ministering in the parish since 1999.

For instance, while four of the five churches are still in use — St. Mary’s is the largest church and used year round for Masses, St. Ireaneus and St. Boniface are used for Mass from June through September and for weddings and funerals as needed and Sacred Heart, located next door to the parish’s school system, is open for daily Mass and used on weekends for Life Teen Masses — St. Patrick’s and its rectory were demolished and the land is being listed with a Realtor for sale.

The future of the remaining churches has caused a lot of passion to surface on the part of preservationists and those who have many memories at their churches.

“When buildings come down there are memories there. There is some pain involved in that,” Herold said.

But church officials said the decision to consolidate is affirmed as the years pass.

Dave Schnier, parish business administrator, pointed out the cost of maintaining the buildings, especially with increased utility costs, doesn’t make good sense, the buildings were built before handicap accessibility requirements were mandated and the lack of air conditioning is hard on elderly parishioners.

He says the new church will better reflect the church and the parish’s mission today.

“We have a pastoral assistant who visits homebound and elderly people who are unable to get into church,” he said. “We know we have parishioners who want to worship who can’t because of stairs, because of special needs.”

Herold agrees.

“All of us, and all our church, we want to be as welcoming as possible,” he said. “The wisdom of what we’re doing is coming out. We need to reach out to our brothers and sisters in the community who feel alienated.”

He also is reaching out to those who may have some ideas on what to do with the remaining buildings, specifically St. Boniface, St. Ireaneus and St. Mary’s. He said the parish does not want to demolish those buildings and would consider selling them to someone as long as the future use is neither profane nor offensive.

He pointed out the church is more than brick and mortar, it’s about reaching out to others and sharing the news of Jesus Christ.

For example, Prince of Peace has adopted a parish in Peru and Clinton pilgrims have traveled there to assist them. The local congregation also has provided financial assistance to the Peru parish.

Also, new programs are being utilized, especially in the area of youth ministry. A new youth minister has joined the parish and dozens of youths are attending the National Catholic Youth Conference. Family sessions also are growing in the church and there are Bible study groups, Vacation Bible School, Generations of Faith events and a book club on the calendar of learning opportunities.

It’s all about leading people as they worship as one.

“We’re all doing this together for the glory of God,” Herold said.