As Into the Deep progresses, St. Cletus Parish is seeing beauty and grace in the unity of their five church communities.

St. Cletus Parish consists of St. Joseph Church in Edgerton, St. Paul Church in Evansville, St. Augustine Church in Footville, Holy Mother of Consolation Church in Oregon, and St. Ann Church in Stoughton.

St. Ann School in Stoughton is also part of the parish.

“To be perfectly honest, when the idea of Into the Deep came on, it was a little terrifying.”

Larry Thelen is the director of liturgy and music for St. Cletus Parish.

He was an employee of Holy Mother of Consolation Parish before the merger, and had been there since 2002.

“Nobody likes to have their whole world picked up and then just splashed onto the table . . . But I think with a lot of prayer, I became an early adopter of change. I felt like, ‘[I] don’t know what this is gonna look like, but it’s gonna be good, whatever it is.’ I think that’s kind of where faith plays a big part in it . . . And I have to say that I feel like that’s been validated.”

One of the first ways the parish has come together is precisely through the liturgy.

Various parish-wide liturgies, such as Easter Vigil, Confirmation, the Baccalaureate Mass, and, most recently this year, First Communion, have provided opportunities for the parish to pray together.

Thelen began reaching out to the other communities early on in the merger process, but as he was the only full-time music director among the five locations at the time, he knew there might be concern that he would end up dominating all the music ministries.

“I set about dispelling that, because I wanted everybody to understand that this is me having the time available, wanting to find out what kind of assistance could be provided if needed. All the churches had very strong music ministries . . . I’m there to help with any kind of questions that they have or communications from Fr. David [Wanish, pastor of St. Cletus Parish].”

Thelen supports their already established ministries, for instance by helping a church find a substitute accompanist while theirs is traveling.

He’s also able to teach music part-time at St. Ann School, and has started to coordinate the purchasing of worship supplies across all five churches.

‘Mass on the Grass’

Another liturgical event the community has celebrated is the “Mass on the Grass,” an outdoor Mass that rotates between church locations.

The event was held in 2024 at Holy Mother of Consolation Church, although weather unfortunately forced it indoors.

Last year’s Mass was successfully held outside at St. Augustine Church in Footville, which has a beautiful lawn with a huge willow tree.

“I think it was one of those things that was different enough from people’s experience that it drew interest from all the churches,” said Thelen.

“We made efforts to make sure that musicians and singers and people in various liturgical roles from other churches were all invited to participate.”

After the Mass, food and games allow the faithful to enjoy the day.

This year’s Mass is planned for St. Joseph Church in Edgerton.

“Again, the host [church] is taking the lead on all the planning, liturgical planning . . . but again similar format, food and games and that afterwards.”

An outdoor Mass also has an evangelization aspect, particularly at this location.

“This year at St. Joseph it’s really public,” said Father Wanish.

“There’s a circular street, city street, that goes all the way around . . . so I’m hoping a lot of people notice our outdoor Mass, and it’s going to raise their curiosity: ‘What is that?’, ‘What do those Catholics do over there?’ So that’ll be a special benefit of having it at Edgerton this year.”

Locations and logistics

“All the staff here have been very good about expanding their vision beyond whatever parish it was where they started,” said Father Wanish.

“Now their vision includes all five.”

One such staff member is Bryan Richardson, director of facilities.

“I run between all five,” said Richardson.

“They all know how to get ahold of me. There’s a person at each facility . . . that I can call to find out what’s going on, who do they normally use . . . so that we can keep a continuity with what’s going on in their places.”

At the same time, he’s able to coordinate the major contractors that do cover all five locations, such as for heat and air conditioning.

The geography of the five churches isn’t initially intuitive.

“We got Footville, as part of our community, when it’s [like] two miles from Janesville,” said Richardson.

“But it actually works out really well. These are all great churches; everybody works well together. There is a little bit of distance between them when you’re trying to get from one to another. When you look at it on a map, it isn’t like a nice little circle with all our churches in one; it’s kinda like here, and here, and here, and here. But it does work.”

Young people ‘Shine’

One way that facilities have been put to better use since Into the Deep started was through a renovation. The former rectory at Holy Mother of Consolation Church has become a youth ministry center.

The building had previously been arranged as a rectory for multiple priests.

“It was kinda set up like a Motel 6, one hallway down the middle, there [were] bedrooms and bathrooms and some offices,” said Richardson.

That design wasn’t serving the parish’s new situation well, and the building had other issues that made a renovation pressing.

The parish came up with a creative solution: they turned the space into their youth center.

Taking out some walls, as well as adding fresh paint and new flooring, created a larger space for teens to hang out and play games.

They kept the kitchen and some of the smaller rooms for small groups.

They installed a new sound system to allow for videos, etc.

The space now gets regular use with youth ministry meetings, and will be packed for the upcoming “Shine” event.

Shine is the parish’s local mission trip for middle schoolers, which is designed to include service projects across all five locations.

“Our faith formation and youth ministry have been really helpful in bringing about that greater awareness that we are now five churches coming together,” said Father Wanish.

Sharing the Faith

Another part of the parish’s life is Go Make Disciples.

They have small groups meeting at different locations across the parish, hoping to support what Father Wanish called “personal evangelization”: the kind of sharing of Faith that happens with family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.

“They meet in these small support groups,” said Father Wanish.

“They can say, ‘Hey, I was at my family reunion, and while I was putting potatoes on my plate, this is the conversation that I had with the person next to me.’ And when we share stories like that, I think we give ideas and give a little bit of encouragement to each other.”

The parish hosts larger events a few times a year, bringing members of the small groups together and often having an inspiring speaker.

The parish also makes an effort to be aware of evangelization as they pray the Mass – intercessions, hymns, and the homily often address the call to make disciples.

The parish’s OCIA numbers have increased, and the number of Baptisms in the parish this year is up from previous years.

‘The same message, different voices’

“It’s a big shift, when probably all your life you were used to saying, ‘This is my parish,’ and you look at one building,” said Father Wanish.

“It’s a big shift from that, and saying now my parish is these five.”

Father Wanish is grateful for his parishioners’ willingness to make that mental shift.

“I appreciate the openness of people to have a different view of ‘what is my parish?’”

One thing he thinks helps is the priest rotation.

“They don’t see any one of us most of the time; they see each of us a third of the time.”

For Thelen, that’s an unexpected bonus of Into the Deep.

Thelen remembers the days when many parishes had one or two associate priests.

“We grew up with a variety of messengers. The same message, but different voices.”

As priests were spread thin over the years, that became uncommon, but Into the Deep has brought it back.

“You don’t realize how much you miss that until it comes back again.”

Reflecting on the journey, Father Wanish is grateful to his fellow priests and the staff.

“They’ve been supportive, and they’ve been excited and appreciating the new arrangement.”

Father Wanish serves alongside parochial vicars Fr. Randy Budnar and Fr. Bala Kasipogu.

Father Wanish likewise expressed his gratitude to Deacon Mark Priniski, the parish’s permanent deacon, who serves at all five church locations regularly.

St. Cletus Parish had its canonical merger in September 2025, and has completed its civil merger, with the financial merger still to come.

The full benefits of Into the Deep will continue decades in the future, but these early fruits indicate that grace, goodwill, and creativity can bring five church communities into one family of faith.