Church to Remain Open Through the Easter Season!

This weekend Bishop Zubik announced that St. John Vianney church will remain open until April 3, 2016. This is the Sunday after Easter.

Although our group of parishioners has presented an alternate plan to Bishop Zubik and his staff, he made the decision to close our church.

After hearing his decision, the group of parishioners will respond to his decree as the first step to start the official appeal process. More than 20 churches have been reopened as a result of this appeal process that can lead to the Vatican.

The response to the bishop will include a modified plan that will keep the church open at no cost to the diocese by allowing the St. George Church Preservation Society to support the operation and restoration of the church. This type of arrangement has been successfully implemented for over 60 catholic churches in other dioceses around the country.

A GoFundMe.com fundraising campaign called Save St. George Church has been set up at: www.gofundme.com/savestgeorgechurch

A notable issue mentioned in the decree is that the parish, (not the church) is $3 million in debt. This debt is not owed to an external bank. It is owed to the Parish Deposit and Loan Trust Fund Program which is under the control of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

At a closed pastoral council meeting on August 31, 2015, a diocesan representative presented a proposal that indicated: “That the non-performing loans of the parish be written off against the reserves in the Parish Deposit and Loan Trust Fund Program.”

In a positive development, the Diocese shared their most recent evaluation of the church building by their engineering consultant, CSD Engineers and Florida Consultants. During September and October of 2015, five experts conducted a thorough inspection of the church building. This evaluation did not reveal severe or critical structural issues. This report also reviewed and prioritized the need for repairs in various areas of the building resulting from the years of deferred maintenance.

The significant cost of the restoration can be reduced using value engineering and then spreading the costs out over a number of years with a phased approach. Our consultations with Mariani & Richards, Bryn Enterprises and other contractors have confirmed the feasibility of this process of restoration.

Since the work can be done in stages, a pledge campaign and fund-raising from our audience of supporters can be structured over a period of time in order to raise the funds as needed.

Remember, “Nothing is impossible with God!”

Please check back for more information as we continue on the mission to keep our church alive!