With the ordination of Glenn Baaten, Fr Ortiz-Guzman has been able to retire as Administrator of St Augustine of Canterbury, Carlsbad---something he has been trying to do for about two years. Facebook pictures of Fr Baaten's first celebration at St Augustine's last Sunday show fewer than ten people in attendance, by my count, so it is not surprising that the group had to wait for a local candidate with a day job, although Fr Baaten's position at Santiago Retreat Center seems to be at least partly crowd-funded.My correspondent has found the following OCSP parishes or groups with staffing issues:Fr Scheiblhofer at St Barnabas, Omaha is also planning to retire shortly, and the parish has been fortunate to be assigned Fr Jason Catania as his associate and eventual replacement. As Fr Catania is single, Fr Scheiblhofer and his wife can remain in parish housing while Fr Catania lives in the rectory of a diocesan parish where he is also assisting. So there are creative solutions to deal with the challenge of replacing retiring pastors who have been able to support themselves with retirement income from their previous ecclesiastical employers with a new generation of priests who require a livelihood. But as we see in Kitchener, ON and Rochester, NY, these solutions are not always available.
Now Fr Liias is retiring from St Gregory the Great, Stoneham MA. Fr Liias is a retired TEC clergyman who did not rely on the congregation for housing and primary support. How will a congregation of perhaps thirty replace him? This will be a problem for most OCSP groups in the near future, including many far smaller than St Gregory's. Of course chaplaincies and other diocesan employment can supplement the stipends these groups can offer, but when we look at existing groups where this is the case we see a certain fragility which perhaps reflects the difficulty of ministering to a group, working another pastoral job, and maintaining a family.
- Groups currently "in hiatus": St Edmund's, Kitchener; St Anselm's, Rochester
- Groups currently ministered to by a local diocesan priest: St Bede's, Edmonton; St Timothy's, Catonsville; Christ the King, Tyendinaga; St Gregory the Great, Mobile (the latter two have a monthly celebration)
- Groups administered by a priest of secular retirement age: Christ the King, Towson; BlJHN, Victoria; Our Lady of Walsingham, Vancouver; Good Shepherd, Oshawa; St Thomas More, Toronto; Our Lady of the Sign/St Bede, Fredericton/Halifax; St Michael, Denison; Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Savannah; St Barnabas, Omaha; St Gregory, Stoneham; St James, St Augustine
