Unites communities of Marshall, Sun Prairie, and Waterloo
SUN PRAIRIE — The first parish merger as a result of the Diocese of Madison’s Into the Deep initiative has been decreed.
As of June 8, Epiphany of the Lord Parish is established in the diocese.
It includes Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Sun Prairie and St. Albert the Great Church in Sun Prairie, along with St. Mary of the Nativity Church in Marshall and St. Joseph Church in Waterloo. The latter two formerly made up Holy Family Parish.
The Mass to install Fr. Vince Brewer as the pastor of the new parish will be celebrated on Sunday, July 7, at 11 a.m., at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church, 221 Columbus St., Sun Prairie.
In addition to the installation of a new pastor, during which Father Brewer will give a profession of faith and oath of fidelity in front of the congregation, introductions of the new pastoral council, finance council, and trustees will be made.
Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison will be the principal celebrant.
“I am grateful to the Lord and enthused for our diocese, as Epiphany of the Lord Parish is inaugurated as our first parish merger in the Into the Deep process,” said Bishop Hying.
“Many thanks to Fr. Vince Brewer and [parochial vicars] Fr. William Vernon and Fr. Michael Johnson, as well as the staff, leadership, and lay faithful.”
To the parish community, the bishop added, “Your faith, dedication, and commitment will serve as inspiration and encouragement for all of us to love the Lord more generously and to live the Gospel more profoundly. I offer my prayers and blessings to all of you!”
Part of the process
The formerly-named Epiphany of the Lord Pastorate was chosen as the first to be merged partly because all the parishes of the pastorate were already working with the diocese and its centralized business model.
“They were a pilot,” said Fr. Tait Schroeder, newly appointed vicar general for the diocese and Into the Deep director of implementation.
“We’re learning from this merger,” he added, noting what is going well with the merger and what may need to be tweaked in future ones.
Father Schroeder also commented that “Father Vince and his staff have been very diligent in working toward [the merger].”
With Bishop Hying enacting the canonical part of the process, the next step is to “create a new parish civil corporation,” according to Father Schroeder.
The articles of incorporation will be established at both the county and state level.
Next steps
With “Phase Two” of Into the Deep started on July 1, the Diocese of Madison is emphasizing to its parishioners that not all of the mergers can and will happen at the same time.
Father Schroeder said that other pastorates in the diocese are “ready to go” to become parishes.
There is a plan for the next year and “it’s going to happen successively” and “in waves”.
There is a “realistic goal” to have one merger per month for the next year, but everything will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
“We set a very aggressive schedule,” Father Schroeder said, “especially for the mergers.”
But dealing with legal and financial considerations means that “we want to move steadily, but it can’t all be at one time.”
Going forward, Father Schroeder wanted to thank all of the priests, parish staff members, and different groups in the parishes that are “eager and wanting to help facilitate what they can in this process”.
“The command to cast out Into the Deep is ultimately the Lord’s command,” he added.