[StBernard] Church's

[Westley Annis]

It can be very difficult to make these heart wrenching decisions. Churches
are run like a business more often than not, but that is sometimes necessary
to keep the church as a whole viable. 
However, each church body has many members, and they all have a purpose.
There is always one with a business mind, without whom the whole thing would
go belly up. Then there are those, (like me) who lean more toward 'presence
will bring the people' , who wish to go out to those who are there, no
matter how few, and do what is needed, and the rest will come.
 
You hear it said that 'if the schools and stores etc are there, the people
will come back, and the churches can respond by coming back. Well, I prefer
to have the church come back for the ones already there, be part of the
rebuilding, and then be already established when the people come back. The
church should be one of the bodies there, like schools and stores.
Jesus went not only into towns, but to mountains and into deserts, and
people followed where he went. He did not wait for people to build a city to
then go there. 
He told his disciples to go NOT into each city, but INTO the WORLD, and that
includes places less inhabited.
Enough, I step off my soap box before I start unsolicited preaching.
My point is I do understand the business sense decision. Having seven
catholic parishes would probably spell financial death as it could not be
sustained. I would, however, have liked to see some plan and assurance of an
outreach post or something, assuring people that they wont be left out, as
some can not make it to Chalmette for services. Maybe that will still come. 
(I am not catholic but belong to the same God). This is certainly a time
where churches can work together for the common good of all.
 

Gaby