Whereas canon 374 §2 of the Code of Canon Law provides that several neighboring parishes can be joined together in special groups known as “Vicariates Forane,” or Deaneries, for the purpose of fostering pastoral care under a priest appointed by the Diocesan Bishop as the Dean (cf. canons 553-555); and
Whereas changing demographics, especially in the rural territories of the diocese, encourage the reconfiguration of existing Deaneries for pastoral effectiveness; and
Whereas after having consulted the Deans and other members of the Presbyteral Council at their regular meeting on 9 February 2021 on the reconfiguration of Deaneries (cf. canon 50);
I hereby DECREE as Diocesan Bishop that the following new Deaneries shall be established, effective 1 July 2021:
•The North Deanery shall include the following parishes: St. Mary Parish, Milan; Mission of St. Mary, Unionville; Immaculate Conception Parish, Brookfield; St. Bonaventure Parish, Marceline; Mary Immaculate Parish, Kirksville; Mission of St. Rose of Lima, Novinger; Immaculate Conception Parish, Macon; Mission of Sacred Heart, Bevier; St. Mary Parish, Shelbina; St. Patrick Parish, Clarence; St. Joseph Parish, Edina; St. Aloysius Parish, Baring; St. John Parish, Memphis; St. Michael Parish, Kahoka; Shrine of St. Patrick Parish, St. Patrick; St. Joseph Parish, Canton; Queen of Peace Parish, Ewing; Holy Family Parish, Hannibal; St. Joseph Parish, Palmyra.
•The Central Deanery shall include the following parishes: St. Boniface Parish, Brunswick; St. Joseph Parish, Salisbury; St. Mary of the Angels Parish, Wien; Mission of St. Joseph, Hurricane Branch; St. Raphael Parish, Indian Grove; St. Peter Parish, Marshall; St. Joseph Parish, Slater; Mission of Holy Family, Sweet Springs; St. Pius X Parish, Moberly; St. Joseph Parish, Fayette; St. Mary Parish, Glasgow; Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Columbia; Sacred Heart Parish, Columbia; St. Thomas More Newman Center Parish, Columbia; Holy Rosary Parish, Monroe City; St. Stephen Parish, Indian Creek; Mission of St. Frances Cabrini, Paris; Holy Spirit Parish, Centralia; St. Brendan Parish, Mexico; St. Joseph Parish, Martinsburg; St. Joseph Parish, Fulton; St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Mokane; St. William Parish, Perry; St. Joseph Parish, Louisiana; Mission of Queen of Peace, Clarksville; St. Clement Parish, St. Clement; Immaculate Conception Parish, Montgomery City; St. Patrick Parish, Jonesburg; Church of the Resurrection Parish, Wellsville; Sacred Heart Parish, Vandalia; Mission of St. John, Laddonia; Church of the Risen Savior Parish, Rhineland.
•The Southwest Deanery shall include the following parishes: St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Pettis County; St. Ann Parish, Warsaw; Mission of Ss. Peter and Paul, Cole Camp; St. Bernadette Parish, Hermitage; St. Patrick Parish, Laurie; Mission of St. Philip Benizi, Versailles; Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, Boonville; St. Joseph Parish, Pilot Grove; St. Andrew Parish, Tipton; Annunciation Parish, California; St. Anthony Parish, Camdenton; Sacred Heart Parish, Eldon; Our Lady of Snows Parish, Mary’s Home; Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Lake Ozark; St. Lawrence Parish, St. Elizabeth; St. Anthony of Padua Parish, St. Anthony.
•The Southeast Deanery shall include the following parishes: St. Joseph Parish, Westphalia; St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Folk; Sacred Heart Parish, Rich Fountain; Holy Family Parish, Freeburg; St. Cecilia Parish, Meta; St. Aloysius Parish, Argyle; St. George Parish, Linn; Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, Frankenstein; St. Louis of France Parish, Bonnots Mill; Immaculate Conception Parish, Loose Creek; Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish, Chamois; Visitation Parish, Vienna; Holy Guardian Angels Parish, Brinktown; St. Alexander Parish, Belle; St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, St. Robert; St. Jude Parish, Richland; St. Cornelius Parish, Crocker; St. Theresa Parish, Dixon; St. Patrick Parish, Rolla; Immaculate Conception Parish, St. James; St. Anthony Parish, Rosati; St. George Parish, Hermann; Assumption Parish, Morrison; Immaculate Conception Parish, Owensville; Holy Cross Parish, Cuba; St. Francis Caracciolo Parish, Bourbon; St. Michael Parish, Steelville.
•The See City Deanery shall include the following parishes: Cathedral of St. Joseph Parish, Jefferson City; St. Peter Parish, Jefferson City; Immaculate Conception Parish, Jefferson City; St. Martin Parish, St. Martins; St. Michael Parish, Russellville; St. Andrew Parish, Holts Summit; St. Stanislaus Parish, Wardsville; St. Margaret of Antioch Parish, Osage Bend; St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, St. Thomas; St. Francis Xavier Parish, Taos.
Whenever pastors, administrators or moderators of pastoral life have responsibility for more than one parish, all parishes under their responsibility shall pertain to the Deanery in which the parish priest has official primary residence.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
Given at the Chancery in Jefferson City, Missouri,
on the 9th of March in the Year of St. Joseph, 2021.
Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, S.T.D.
Bishop of Jefferson City
Mrs. Constance Schepers
Chancellor
SCROLL THE ARROWS on the photo to see a map of the new deaneries.
The work of the Church can be likened to a great mediaeval cathedral.
Dozens of soaring, vaulted arches point toward heaven, while acres of stained glass windows allow sunlight to fill the interior by day and candlelight to radiate across the landscape by night.
The altar of sacrifice has the place of highest honor.
An interlocking web of piers and buttresses holds everything together without obstructing the light.
These hidden but essential structural elements are like the apparatus of the diocese — the bishop, his advisors and collaborators, in full communion with the Church throughout the world, providing support, direction and connection to every parish.
The buttresses in the Jefferson City diocese will become stronger, more resilient and more responsive under a reorganization of the regional groupings of parishes, known as deaneries.
The number of deaneries will change from eight to five on July 1.
This reorganization of deaneries is a response to changing needs and resources in the diocese. The intent is to help parishes interact more effectively with each other and receive better administrative support from the bishop and his staff.
It’s part of a larger effort to help parishes carry-out their parish pastoral plans and the diocese’s recently promulgated three-year pastoral plan, “A Steward’s Way.”
“I’m not here to reinvent the wheel,” Bishop McKnight stated. “Holy Mother Church, in her wisdom, has already developed some very effective structures for diocesan governance. What we’re trying to do is make the best use of these structures in order to carry-out our mission.”
The deaneries
The five new deaneries include:
In cases in which a pastor is assigned to parishes in two deaneries, each of those parishes will be considered part of the deanery in which he resides.
The bishop’s decree includes a list of parishes in each deanery.
Some consultative bodies of the diocese, including the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC), are primarily composed of representatives from each of the deaneries.
The bishop appoints a pastor from each deanery to serve as a dean, whose primary role is to provide support to the faithful and clergy of his assigned deanery and to serve as the liaison between the deanery and the bishop.
Deans meet regularly with the priests within the deanery and meet with the bishop on matters of policy and the carrying-out of the Church’s mission locally.
Along with the deanery representatives of the DPC, the deans will be working with lay leadership, deacons and priests to support and enhance the work of each parish.
Being able to work within a standard of care, the deans and the DPC representatives will be able to help parishes be nimble and flexible in meeting the needs of their communities.
One of the goals is to mediate disputes and solve problems as locally as possible.
“Whenever people have a concern about something in their parish, they should approach their pastor first,” said Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, vicar general of the diocese. “From there, they can contact their dean to find out if he can be of assistance. The next step would be to contact the vicar general’s office in the Chancery.”
The deans
Bishop McKnight has appointed:
The new deans took their Oath of Fidelity to the Church magisterium in the presence of the bishop on April 13, in the St. Alphonsus Liguori Chapel in the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City.
Their terms will begin on July 1.
“Back to the future”
Bishop McKnight created the new deaneries upon extensive consultation with priests, parishioners and diocesan staff.
“The idea is, with fewer deaneries, there will be more coordination of meetings and ability for people to share resources across more parishes,” he said.
The size of the Catholic population and the number of priests in each new deanery is about equal, while parishes with similar needs were grouped together.
Msgr. Kurwicki, who is also pastor of St. Michael Parish in Russellville, said that in many ways, “we’re kind of going back to the future.”
Six deaneries were created when the diocese was established in 1956.
More, smaller deaneries were carved out over the years as pastors’ responsibilities grew and parish ministries proliferated.
“Communication was different back then,” Msgr. Kurwicki noted. “They always had to meet in person. For that reason and because of the geography of the diocese, it made more sense to have smaller deaneries.”
Communication technology has evolved extensively.
“We can meet virtually now,” he said. “When we meet over Zoom, people can participate and ask questions remotely in real time. That means less time spent on traveling.”
Deanery meetings will be mandatory for all active priests in each deanery. Retired priests will be welcome to attend and share their wisdom.
Msgr. Kurwicki noted that the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, composed of 39 counties in southern Missouri, recently reorganized its deaneries. Dioceses and archdioceses of all sizes in the United States are in the process of doing likewise.
“Boots on the ground”
Each of the new deaneries will have two representatives on the DPC, which advises the bishop on matters pertaining to the laity.
“The intention is for the bridge between the parishes and the diocesan Chancery offices to become shorter because of the liaison of the DPC representatives,” stated LeAnn Korsmeyer, diocesan director of parish and charitable services.
“We see them as being the ‘boots on the ground’ in the deaneries and the parishes,” she said.
In the coming months especially, the DPC will work with parishes in each deanery to help them refine and work toward implementing their parish pastoral plans in conjunction with the diocesan pastoral plan.
Further explanation of how the DPC will work under the new deanery configuration will come after several representatives have been appointed.
Working smarter
Monsignor David Cox, pastor of Mary Immaculate Parish in Kirksville and the Mission of St. Rose of Lima in Novinger, said the purpose of having deaneries in the first place is “to improve communication from the local level to the diocesan level and from the diocesan level to the local level.”
“The way it’s supposed to work, you discuss things in your deanery and your dean brings it to the Presbyteral Council,” said Msgr. Cox.
He was part of the process of reducing the number of deaneries from 10 to eight about 15 years ago.
“The idea was that the Presbyteral Council was unwieldy,” he recalled. “There were so many members, it was hard to listen to everybody.”
With even fewer deaneries, “things will be even more streamlined,” he predicted.
Father Mark Smith is pastor of St. Peter Parish in Marshall, St. Joseph Parish in Slater and the Mission of Holy Family in Sweet Springs.
He pointed out that the Latin phrase for the bishop’s liaison to a deanery is “vicar forane,” which is why deans add the letters “V.F.” to their signature in official correspondence.
It means “rural dean.”
He said a dean’s duties include convening regular meetings of the deanery’s pastors to coordinate the pastoral activity of their parishes.
The goal is to foster good ecclesial and pastoral work in a region of the diocese, he said.
He believes reducing the number of deaneries will mean having more pastors take part in these regular deanery meetings.
“This offers the possibility for a greater consultation and collaboration with parishes within the deanery,” he said.
Father Joshua Duncan, who recently became administrator of a parish for the first time, said the changes will go a long way toward laying to rest, once and for all, the “every pastor is an island” mentality.
“I’m always saying, we need to be working smarter, not harder,” said Fr. Duncan, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Glasgow and St. Joseph Parish in Fayette. “Pastors shouldn’t feel like they are reinventing the wheel every time they come to a new parish.
“The Church has sensible structures and processes that help us carry-out the work of the Church together,” he stated. “This is all about making the best use of them.”
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