Letter from Pastor Father Arturo Announcement on the Future of the Immaculate Conception Church September 20, 2019 The first thing I want to do is to thank God for the Parish of Immaculate Conception. For over one hundred and fifty years millions met Jesus Christ in their own lives, the lives of their children, grandchildren, etc. The imprint of the wonderful work God has done has spread far and wide. Immaculate Mary continues her interventions for us. Along with Saint Michael in our now blended parish, the spirit of the Immaculate Conception Parish remains in our hearts. The actual building is deteriorating. The treasures inside are in danger of being ruined. The heating system does not function (replacement cost of over $80,000). The paint is falling in chips from the wall and ceiling. Estimates to paint are in the thousands, and the paint falling is almost certain to be lead paint. This makes habitation of the church a health hazard. The drain pipes have fallen. Estimates for a new roof are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The rectory has just had repairs due the leaking of that roof and it will also require a new roof. The total low estimate is over a half million dollars just to allow us to get the doors to be opened. This does not include maintenance, taxes, etc. The combined real number of people from both Saint Michael and Immaculate Conception parishes attending St. Michaels on any Sunday is 40 for the 9:30 Mass and 40 for 11:30 Mass. The number of registered parishioners is a bit higher, but real attendance is 80 people. The average weekly collection for both parishes is under $1,000. The above concrete facts have led us to the conclusion that something needs to be done before Immaculate Conception church starts to collapse and the beautiful organ, and other irreplaceable treasures are destroyed beyond repair. We have concluded that it is not feasible to use Immaculate Conception church for worship and the process called relegation must begin. Relegation is a process where the church, which is a sacred space, must be relegated to a non-sacred space. This must be done so that the space could be used for another use. Never can the space be used for a sordid use--such as rent or sell it to someone who would do abortions, sell anything contrary to church teaching, perform service against the teaching of the church. Some things can never be relegated as no longer sacred--such as the altar, tabernacle, etc. Part of the process, called suppression, has already occurred, when both parishes became one bread one body. Since 2011 Immaculate Conception has been a worship site and the heating system has not worked for close to two years. Now we need to begin moving the treasures to safety and decide what comes next with the space. In the back of the church is a complete description of what the relegation process involves. Copies can be mailed or emailed to anyone by request. We will keep you updated as the process proceeds. I thank God for all of you. I pray that our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Michael, the defender, watch over you. God bless you.
Father Arturo