Convener
October 2008

In August, Bishop Galante announced the names of the Priest Conveners who will lead merging parishes through the reconfiguration process. Father Ernest Soprano has been named the Priest Convener for the merger of St. John of God (North Cape May) and St. Raymond (Villas). Priest Conveners are not replacing pastors, but will be working with current pastors, administrators and Core Teams made up of leadership from the parishes that will merge in order to create the new parish.

The existing pastors and administrators remain in place and parish life continues under their care until the new parish is established formally by decree. When the diocese announced the reconfiguration in April, it indicated that the formation of the new parishes could take 12-24 months, depending on the parish.

Core Team members have been selected from a pool of nominated parishioners. Over the last several weeks, Father Soprano and current parish pastors have met to review the nominees, their leadership and experience, their capacity for assuming the responsibilities, their attitude toward change, and their receptivity to the work ahead. Father Soprano then interviewed the nominees and, in consultation with parish pastors, chose the Core Team.

The Core Team is composed of four members from each merging parish, in addition to the Priest Convener.  The Core Team members are:

Preface   |   Convener   |   Core Team   |   Core Team Minutes