After careful consideration, the Booster Club decided not to host its annual spring festival this year. There were a number of conflicts and a suitable date could not be determined. For those who normally attend the festival, we encourage you to spend time with family and friends at Fr. Reilly’s Golden Jubilee celebration May 31st.

As I sit and compose this letter on the day after Thanksgiving, I cannot help but reflect on the past year. In December 2006, we received the news confirming the decision by the Archdiocese of Louisville that our beloved parish was to be combined with St. Cecilia and St. Anthony into a new parish to serve the greater Portland neighborhood. To help formulate a plan for merger, a core team was formed of three representatives from each parish (none of whom were on a parish council or finance committee). This team is meeting monthly along with the two pastors (Fr. Burke from St. Cecilia and Our Lady and Fr. Poff from St. Anthony) and Sister Justina who was appointed facilitator by the archdiocese.

Proposed plans are to be presented to the separate parish and finance councils for consideration, implementation and/or modification. That process has been ongoing for the past calendar year. Recommendations for consideration have been shared with the councils at their regular meetings. 2008 will prove to be a pivotal year as we begin to combine our councils in preparation for the merged parish to come. Decisions regarding the future of the worship spaces and facilities of the three parishes will be among the most difficult and gut-wrenching decisions as we move forward with the merger.

Earlier this year, a decision was made by Fr. Burke to preside at all weekend Masses at Our Lady and St. Cecilia. To do so, it was imperative there be only one Mass at each church on the weekend. Since alternating Mass locations every other weekend would be confusing, it was decided that the Saturday Mass would be celebrated at 4:30pm at Our Lady with Sunday liturgy at 11am at St. Cecilia. Since this decision was implemented, there has been a significant downturn in the collection revenue at Our Lady.

I suspect that this decreased revenue is the result of two possible decisions on the part of parishioners. The first is that they decided to leave Our Lady now rather than await the outcome of the merger. The other possibility is that some wish to attend Mass on Sunday and, rather than attend at St. Cecilia, they left to find another parish.

Many ‘destination parishioners’ (those who drive from outside parish boundaries and pass other churches enroute) at all three parishes expressed the sentiment that 'if they close our church, we will not attend Mass at one of the other churches'. Some expressed that sentiment because they have a visceral connection to their parish going back to their youth. They drive cross town because they prefer to celebrate Mass at the church in which they were raised or to which they have a family connection. Since only some of you live within the traditional geographical confines of the three parishes, the potential pool of parishioners in the merged parish is shrinking with these defections and will continue to shrink if 'destination parishioners' continue to go elsewhere.

My concern at this time is that this decline in attendance and revenue makes the closure of Our Lady a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ever shrinking attendance and revenue will make it difficult for the core team and, in turn, the parish councils to decide that the church facility which currently has the lowest attendance and weekly income should become the worship space chosen for the merged parish. This would be disappointing since Our Lady has a favorable location and is steeped in Portland, Louisville, and archdiocesan history.

You, the friends and parishioners of Our Lady, can help get Our Lady fair consideration as the location for the new parish by returning to the church, if you can, for Saturday Mass at least a few times per month. Please give generously to the collection at least what you were giving before. We who care so much about our beautiful church and parish family want to do everything possible to give it equal consideration in the future.

A continuously shrinking attendance and collection could easily be perceived as capitulation to inevitable closure. If that is not what you desire, please continue to support us by your attendance as well as with your generous financial support. Thank you.

The Archdiocese Ministry Institute offers courses on a variety of topics that can increase your knowledge of the Catholic faith and help you with liturgical roles you may perform at your parish.

Topics include Church history, sacraments, foundational theology, personal spirituality and formation for serving in parish ministry. It utilizes a variety of approaches: academic instruction, prayer, skill development, dialogue, small and large group dynamics.

To learn more, see the course catalog on the Archdiocese website. We encourage everyone to consider these valuable resources. While there is a cost, please do not allow that to discourage you as the parish may underwrite part or all of the cost if you are interested.

The CJ printed a short article on Thanksgiving featuring the digital organ that was installed as it relates to the original Pilcher organ in the loft.

We are looking for a new home for the old electronic organ (Baldwin) currently located in the back of church. It was originally installed in 1965. It still functions and may be suitable for a small community organization or in a chapel. We will accept donations, but the instrument is free to whomever can remove it. Anyone interested should contact Charles or 426-9858. Thanks!

The main source of revenue for this organization comes from poor boxes in the back of church. Although not seen, requests come in daily for assistance. In July the parish received 128 requests. We helped 144 families so far this year in the following ways:

• Gas & electric payments of $1,379.
• Water bill payments of $241.
• Food assistance of $390.
• Shoes & medicine after fire loss of $95.
A number of families wanted rent assistance but we could not cover the rent bills which ranged from $350 to $550 and referred them to other agencies.

Please help us to assist those in our neighborhood by dropping coins, bills or checks in one of the boxes. Without your help we may be forced to close our conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society due to lack of funds. Thank you!

Occassionally groups of students and tourists visit the Portland area to tour various historical sites. These tours are sometimes organized or coordinated with the Portland Museum and feature a stop outside our church.

Previously visitors had to be content with walking around the outside the church. The Lady’s Club would like to solicit volunteers (men and women) to serve as docents and researchers. A docent is someone who conducts groups through a museum or art gallery or in our case through a historical church.

If you are willing to assist, please call the rectory and leave your name and phone number. You will be contacted to attend an organizational meeting this summer to prepare a script for those who volunteer to be docents. This involves research on parish history and various artifacts. Docents would then use these guidelines for tours.

As part of the recent archdiocesan planning process, the parish council conducted a survey of parishoners and visitors asking the following: What is special about Our Lady? What does Our Lady do for me? This survey was used by the parish council to compile a report for the archdiocese planning committee. Read the survey results.