As you know, we have “counted heads” at every Mass, at each church, for the past several weeks.  The numbers have been extremely important in helping the Task Force to  consider what the requirements are in creating a Mass schedule where we are able to  accommodate the size of the community that gathers each week, while trying to minimize the impact upon the idea of having to change Mass times.  The numbers presented below reflect that attendance, and gives insight into possible growth needs.  These are real numbers, reflecting real people, and real seating capacity needs:

* numbers estimated from following weekends, as numbers were not available.

From this data the Task Force worked extremely hard to come up with all possible scenarios for a weekend Mass Schedule.  The factors that influenced the final decision included:  a.) the number of people attending each time;  b.) the seating capacity of each church; c.) the overall accessibility and condition of each church; d.) creating a schedule that one priest is able cover on any given weekend; and finally e.) responsible financial stewardship of the merging Catholic Dover parishes, especially in light of these economic times.

A schedule has been developed.  Presented first at the four parish councils at their combined meeting on April 14th for their discussion and review, it has also been shared with random small groups of parishioners at the different parishes as well as individual parishioners.  Finally it was presented for discussion at this week’s Liturgy Workgroup meeting, the first workgroup that has been convened as a working group to help facilitate the merging of ministries, programs and functions of the community.

This was extremely difficult.   There was no way to not impact a large number of people, and in some cases, the whole community.  The schedule becomes effective May 30/31,  and is one that we believe will impact the overall community with the least amount of negative factors.  Most people will be able to attend either the same, or slightly adjusted Mass time on Saturday or Sunday that they currently are in the habit of attending.

 The new Mass schedule, for the Catholic Community
of Dover and Barrington, effective
Pentecost Weekend, May 30th & 31st will be:

THE PARISH OF…….:

There has been a lot of interest in the naming process of the parish, and the names from which we have been asked to choose.  The majority of which has been very positive.  A few individuals have felt they would like to have at least one other choice, but overall, the response has been a growing excitement in the naming process.  Once again, the name choices are provided to us by the Bishop, and the names that were given are:

1.) The Parish of the Assumption; 
2.) The Parish of the Incarnation; 
3.) The Parish of the Divine Word

The weekend of May 16 & 17th we will invite everyone to participate in the selection of our name.  If you will be away that weekend, and would still live to voice your choice, please contact Fr Marc at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  We hope you will take the opportunity to share in the naming of our parish community under one of the three name choices provided to us.

 In reply to some questions and comments:

First of all thank you to those who have engaged the conversation regarding the naming of the parish with your questions and comments.  I’ve responded, when possible directly to individuals who have provided me with either their name and address or their email address.  Others have left me with no opportunity to respond, so thought I’d generically address some of the questions that might be common ones here.

Where’s the name “Catholic”?  Publications, signage, advertisements can all contain additional information about the parish and it’s identity.  But the canonical name of St Mary is St Mary Parish;  St Joseph is St Joseph Parish, and so on.  The canonical name of the new parish doesn’t include the name Catholic because that is assumed, just as the denomination is not mentioned in the official name of the Churches or Synagogues of other Religious denominations.

 How about Parish of the Xxxxx, A Catholic Faith Community”  once again, in any of our publications, signage and other ways in which we talk about ourselves can electively choose to have a “bi-line” of our own choosing, but the official name of the parish wouldn’t include such a “tag”.

 UPCOMING NEW MASS SCHEDULE:

 As you are aware, we have been “counting heads” at every Mass, at each church, for the past several weeks.  The numbers have been extremely important in helping the Task Force to  consider what the requirements would be to create a Mass schedule will be able to  accommodate the community that gather’s each week for Mass.  The numbers reflect the current attendance, and gives some insight into the possibility of future growth needs.  The actual numbers of attendees at Mass each weekend are listed on the following table:

* numbers estimated from following weekends, as numbers were not available.

It is from this data that the Task Force has been working to determine a weekend Mass Schedule.  Factors that are influencing the discussion include:  a.) the number of people currently attending;  b.) the seating capacity of each churches; c.) the overall condition of each church; d.) developing a schedule one priest can cover on any particular weekend; e.) responsible financial stewardship, especially in light of these economic times.

 An initial schedule has been developed which was presented to the four parish councils at their combined meeting on April 14th, for their discussion and review.  The Task Force has taken their feedback and the feedback of random small groups and individual parishioners back to their discussion for further review.

 The Task force hopes to have a finalized Weekend and Weekday Mass schedule to announce within the next week.

 Please watch the upcoming bulletins for further updates, news and requests for your participation.  Working together we will build upon the communities that previous generations have handed on to us.  Together we will share one faith, prayer and gift of Eucharist.
                                                                                     

                                                    - Fr Marc

- Fr Marc

The process of becoming together, more than we could ever be alone. 

The work of the Dover Area Task Force has been ongoing, with sometimes weekly meetings, to carefully bring the considerations of our four communities into the process of our parish merger.  They have been carefully looking at the many and varied elements of our current as well as future parish life.  Their discussions have included planned meetings with a consulter, spontaneous meetings with small informal groups of parishioners from each community, consultation and discussion with the pastoral and finance councils as well as casual one on one conversations with individual parishioners.  The wide and varied scope of their work and discussions have been an effort to represent and address the many small parts of our community in preparing our move toward a larger new whole.

All of this stems from the previous work of the parish cluster groups, the acceptance of that work by the Bishop and the call to merger as one.  The process, well underway with the work of the Dover Area Task Force, has become more focused with the timeline now provided by the Diocesan Long Range Planning Commission.

 The time line includes the Canonical process of Due Diligence which will begin the week following Easter.  A contracted firm will conduct a physical inventory of all parish buildings, properties, possessions and holdings.  That will be followed by a complete financial inventory of each parish’s assests.  These combined findings will be presented to the Diocesan Presbyteral Council, then to the Diocesan Finance Council.  Following their review and acceptance, all this will be presented to the Bishop for his final approval.  The anticipated completion of this process, assuming approval and acceptance at each step along the way, will result in the formal merger of the three parishes and the mission into one new parish effective July 5th, the first Sunday of July 2009.

 Meanwhile there is much to do, aspects of which invites the participation of every person.  Perhaps most significant will the choice of our new parish name.  We have been provided three choices that reflect the charisms and history of our current communities.

          1.) The Parish of the Assumption
          2.) The Parish of the Incarnation
          3.) The Parish of the Divine Word

Each of these names is an attempt to bring to the new parish a reflection of the work, history and identities of the individual merging communities.  In a few weeks, we will host an opportunity for everyone to participate in the selecting the name of our merged parish.

 As you may be aware, we have been conducting a count at every Mass in every church, to know the numbers of people who come and celebrate Eucharist.  This information has been used by the Task Force to begin developing a new weekend Mass schedule for the Dover Catholic Community.  The Task Force is considering and discussing many options.  I must tell you that I am pleased with the Task Force’s level of concern and their discernment of the affect on our community.   We know everyone will be affected, but believe that the out-come of the affect will create a stronger more vibrant worship than we already enjoy.  Once completed and having been reviewed with our parish councils, we will be sharing the new schedule with you and the date of it’s implementation.

 Watch the bulletin each week for further updates, news and requests for your participation.  Together we will establish a new community based on a foundation that is the creation of us all.  One that will continue the faith, prayer and gift of Eucharist that has been handed down to us from generations past, with ourselves being ready to hand it on to generations yet to come.

- Fr Marc 

“Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric?
Think first about the foundations of humility.
The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. “
- St. Augustine

To the Parishioners of Dover and Barrington,

Dear Friends in Christ,

As our new year begins, I wish you Christ's peace for 2009.  I pray that you may enjoy with renewed hope the grace of the newborn Lord in all you do this coming year.

The purpose of my letter is to update you on what is being done to implement the recommendation I accepted from the Dover cluster task force.  

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.

Dover Advisory Task Force 22 OCTOBER 2008 Meeting Summary

The Dover Advisory Task Force (DATF), held its third meeting on Wednesday, October 22, 2008.  

The DATF spent considerable time reviewing the proposals from the previous task force meeting, in particular, the idea of a combined daily mass, combined bulletin and combined website.  The discussion ended with, at least a portion of the task force’s membership, believing that we couldn’t proceed immediately as there needed to be more time for study and evaluation regarding all three proposals.

Dover Advisory Task Force 08 OCTOBER 2008 Meeting Summary

The Dover Advisory Task Force (DATF), held its second meeting on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. Information regarding the meetings and the work of the DATF will be provided through a published summary, made available to the parishes via the bulletins, websites and/or handouts. The minutes of the meeting will be available to anyone who wishes to read them by contacting the parish offices.

The Dover Advisory Task Force (henceforth referred to as the DATF), whose purpose is to develop a plan for the merger of the three Dover parishes, that will have a mission of the Chapel in Barrington, gathered for its first meeting on Tuesday, September 30, 2008. Present for the meeting were Bishop Francis Christian, our Auxiliary Bishop, as well as Fr Bob Gorski and Mr. Patrick McGee from the Office of Long Range Planning.