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Fr. Bourgeois' Letter to the Bishop Regarding Reconfiguration

Church of the Blessed Sacrament
Cenacle Plaza, Johnson City, New York 13790
Telephone: (607) 797-5151

Dear Bishop Moynihan,

We at Blessed Sacrament Church in Johnson City do not believe the people or the diocese are best served by the closure of Blessed Sacrament as presented by the first four preferred options created at
our meetings. Our reasons follow.

First, we believe that the reconfiguration process should consider the distribution of churches and people throughout the entire Triple Cities: Binghamton's population of 45.5k is served by ten churches (Sts. Andrew, Mary, John, Thomas, Patrick, Cyril & Methodius, Catherine, Paul and Holy Trinity) while Johnson City's population of 15k is served by only two churches (St. James and Blessed Sacrament) and Endicott's 12.6k people are served by five (Sts. Ambrose, Casimir, Joseph, Anthony and Our Lady of Good Counsel). St. James is, by its own description, at virtual capacity. Would Broome County be best served by reconfiguring in Johnson City or elsewhere?

Secondly, the Diocese and Blessed Sacrament Church are still now in the process of restoring the more than $1 million damage caused by the June 28 flood. Closing the parish before the paint has had time to dry would hardly seem like a good stewardship practice on part of the Diocese.

Thirdly, if Blessed Sacrament must be involved in reconfiguration, we would recommend the continuation of a dialogue with St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Vestal since Blessed Sacrament's second largest block of registered parishioners are from Vestal. Additionally, a merger or sharing of services with St. Thomas Aquinas might also be considered since for the past two years the Confirmation programs have shared activities and that has proved very favorable.

In Blessed Sacrament's 60 year history, the parishioners have consistently been the highest per capita givers in Broome County and have always been faithful to their parish. Many original founding members are still here worshipping and faithfully serving the community, the Diocese and the Universal Church.

In retrospect, after hearing from other PCA's, I am saddened to see that, by comparison, we seem to have approached our charge from a strictly arithmetical point of view: how to reduce the number of priests by 50%. Other pastors I have spoken to seem to have given the situation a more theological, spiritual and pastoral perspective. We continue to pray diligently for vocations and trust that God will indeed hear our prayers.

Respectfully,



Rev. Donald Bourgeois, pastor

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