Dover Advisory Task Force 05 November 2008 Meeting Summary

The Dover Advisory Task Force (DATF), held its fourth meeting on Wednesday, November 5, 2008.  We began by welcoming Paul Turgeon, who is replacing Dan Gabriel on the DATF, as well as two guests.  

Fr Michael Kerper, the Pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, and Mr. Paul Hogan, the Transitional Team Chair person of Corpus Christi Parish, recently formed from the three parish communities of Portsmouth were the guests for the evening.  Fr Kerper and Mr Kayne spent the majority of the meeting providing the DATF with the areas of success and areas of greatest struggle in the merger process, in an attempt to help us anticipate and perhaps avoid some of the same conflicts that could or may arise.

Fr Kerper shared a powerful insight to the spirituality of who we are as “The Body of Christ” and the death and resurrection experience of a parish merger.  He identified that the process called them, and us, to have a greater faith in God.  This Pascal Mystery is at the heart of the Christian message, and that as Church, we are faced, perhaps for the first time in our lived experience, with living the truth of this death and resurrection cycle that has played out over and over again throughout the history of the Church.

Mr Kayne presented a keen insight into the mechanics of how the task of merger, of facilities, personnel, ministries and activities took place.  He shared some of the tools they used, as a transition team and as a community, to evaluate each of these previously mentioned areas.

Some of the areas of greatest struggle in their experience included: meshing of staffs; Mass times and locations; daily Mass schedule; meshing ministries and having people think of themselves as ONE parish.

Fr Kerper and Mr Kayne concluded the by offering their future assistance in whatever way they can. 

We will be keeping you informed as to the ongoing work of the DATF as it progresses. 

Questions may be forwarded directly to the committee at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Respectfully submitted through the collaborative effort of the Dover Advisory Task Force.
DATF Chair:  Fr Marc Gagne.  DATF members:  Fr. Fritz Cerullo, O.S.A., Mr. Michael Kazmierczak, Ms. Doris Boutin-Cyr, Mr. Paul Butler, Mr. Marc Hebert, Dr. Gerald Daley, Ms. Gail Chasse, Ms. Ileana Hoeing, Mr. Paul Turgeon.