NAME YOUR PARISH

As St. Michael and St. Patrick parishes merge to become ONE new parish, we need to choose a name for our new parish.   We are  inviting EVERYONE in our faith community to become involved in this process!

First Step:  Collecting suggestions for the name of our new parish.   Note - our parish school will also be known by this new name.

Guidelines for submitting a name for consideration.   The submitted name should be:

 1) the name of the Trinity, 

2) the name of Christ, invoked under a mystery of his life or under his name already used in the Mass,

3) the name of the Holy Spirit, 

4) the name of Mary, under a title already found in the Mass,

5) the name of the Angels,

6) the name of a canonized Saint in the Roman Martyrology.

*The nominated name cannot be the name of one of our two existing parishes, and should not be too similar to the name of other diocesan parishes or soon-to-be parishes in the Diocese.

Suggested resources to use in the submission process:

Catholic Online (website)     American Catholic (website)      Saints Online (website)

our parish libraries - saint section

Diocese of Madison website - current parishes and those in process of merging who have identified a name.

Each individual, household, parish school or religious education class may submit ONE name.

(Click here for submission form)

Your submission is to include:

1.   the nominated name of the parish

2.  a suggested feast day

3. a reason or rationalization for this suggestion

4.  OPTIONAL:  a design for a parish logo using the name or a symbol of the suggested name

ENTRY Forms are to be returned BY MARCH 1, 2012 to the RED collection boxes at all church entrances or to St. Michael-St. Patrick Parish Office - 521 Fair Street, Lodi 53555 (ATTENTION: Parish Merger Name Selection Committee)

Second step: all nominations will be collated, tallied and reviewed by the appointed sub-committee of the Trusting in the Spirit Implementation Committee under the direction of the Pastoral Council, in keeping with the established diocesan guidelines for naming a parish.   Eight to ten names will be moved forward to the third step of the selection process by March 15, 2012.    

Third step: the 8-10 names selected and approved  by the Naming Sub-Committee will be placed on a ballot (with feast day and rationale/description).    ALL parishioners will have the opportunity to vote on the names selected the weekend of March 17-18, 2012  thru NOON on Monday, March 19.  

Fourth step:   The Naming Sub-Committee will count the ballots and submit the top FOUR names to the pastor and the pastoral council for consideration and approval at the Tuesday, March 20th Pastoral Council Meeting.    The Pastoral Council with the pastor's approval submits THREE names to the diocesan Implementation Commission on Wednesday, March 21st to forward to the Bishop for selection.

The name selected by the Bishop becomes the official, legal name of our new Parish and the name of our parish school.  The Church buildings themselves retain their current consecrated names as the location of our parish worship sites.    For example, our merged parish may be called "Queen of the Angels" parish with 8:00 a.m. Sunday Mass celebrated at St. Michael's Church, Dane and 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass celebrated at St. Patrick's Church, Lodi.

1	All Saints	11	St. Joseph
1	Blessed Sacrament	1	St. Jude
1	Cathedral	1	St. Lawrence O'Toole
1	Christ the King	1	St. Lawrence
1	Congregation of Sts Mary & Paul	1	St. Luke
1	Corpus Christi	1	St. Maria Goretti
1	Divine Mercy	1	St. Martin of Tours
1	Good Shpherd	3	St. Mary Help of Christians
1	Holy Cross	1	St. Mary Magdalene
2	Holy Family	1	St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
1	Holy Ghost	1	St. Mary of the Lake
1	Holy Mother of Consolation	1	St. Mary of the Most Holy Rosary
1	Holy Redeemer	1	St. Mary of the Nativity
1	Holy Rosary	6	St. Mary
3	Immaculate Conception	1	St. Matthew
1	Immaculate Heart of Mary	3	St. Michael
1	Nativity of Mary	1	St. Norbert
1	Our Lady of Assumption	1	St. Olaf
1	Our Lady of Hope	8	St. Patrick
1	Our Lady of the Lake	2	St. Paul
1	Our Lady Queen of Peace	3	St. Peter
1	Sacred Heart	1	St. Philomena
1	Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary	1	St. Pius X
1	Ss. Andrew and Thomas	2	St. Rose of Lima
1	Ss. Anthony and Philip	1	St. Stephen
1	St. Albert the Great	1	St. Thomas Aquinas
1	St. Andrew	1	St. Thomas
1	St. Ann	2	St. Thomas the Apostle
2	St. Augustine	1	St. Victor
1	St. Bernadette	1	St. William
3	St. Bernard
1	St. Boniface		MERGING PARISHES TO BE NAMED
1	St. Cecilia		Holy Trinity (Patch Grove, Bloomington, Gen Haven)
1	St. Charles Borromeo		St. Clare of Assisi (Brodhead, Monroe)
1	St. Christopher		Good Shepherd (Madison - St. Joseph & St. James)
1	St. Clement
1	St. Dennis
1	St. Francis de Sales
1	St. Francis of Assisi
2	St. Francis Xavier
1	St. Henry
1	St. Ignatius
2	St. James
1	St. Jerome
1	St. John Nepomucene
1	St. John
4	St. John the Baptist
1	St. John the Evangelist
1	St. John Vianney

 

TRUSTING IN THE SPIRIT

DIOCESE OF MADISON GUIDELINES:  NEW NAME SELECTION PROCESS

JANUARY 2011

 

WHY ARE PARISHES GIVEN NAMES?

Every church to be dedicated must have a titular. This may be: the Blessed Trinity; our Lord Jesus Christ

invoked according to a mystery of his life or a title already accepted in the liturgy; the Holy Spirit; the Blessed Virgin Mary, likewise invoked according to some appellation already accepted in the liturgy; one of the angels; or, finally, a saint inscribed in the Roman Martyrology or in a duly approved appendix. A blessed may not be a titular without an indult of the Apostolic See. A church should have one titular only, unless it is a question of saints who are listed together in the calendar. (Dedication of a Church, no. 4)

 

HOW ARE PARISHES GIVEN NAMES?

Parish communities take the name of a saint in order to recognize the saint as their patron, that is, a special protector or intercessor. Saints are known for the holy way they lived their lives and how they contributed to the Reign of God on earth. A saint may be chosen because he or she represents a certain cultural or ethnic perspective. For instance, St. Maximilian Kolbe is a relatively new canonized Polish saint and might be one Polish people might want to have as their patron or protector. Maximilian gave up his life in 1941 in the prison camp at Auschwitz so that another man, a father and husband, might live. St. Josephine Bahkita, a newly canonized African saint, might be one saint that people of African descent might want to name their parish. Josephine was kidnapped as a slave. Later she entered a convent and became a vowed religious woman. She was canonized in 2000. Hispanic parishioners might want to consider Our Lady of Guadalupe or Our Lady of Providencia as a patron saint for their newly merged parish. All titles of persons in the Trinity and of Mary are appropriate names for parish communities as well as all names of canonized saints, those who are beatified or named “blessed,” as well as the archangels such as Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

 

WHO WILL CHOOSE THE NAME OF THE PATRON SAINT FOR OUR NEW PARISH COMMUNITY?

Bishop Morlino will name the new parish community. However, he has asked for two or three suggestions to be sent to the Implementation Commission, with rationale included for each suggestion and an order of priority from the parishes that are merging. The Commission will forward all of them, with a recommendation if they have one, to the Bishop for his decision.

 

WILL OUR CHURCH BUILDING HAVE A NEW NAME?

No, once a church building is dedicated, it keeps its name. When a new parish community uses the church building, the new parish name is used, rather than the church name. If a parish has more than one worship site the parish community name and the church building name may need to be used, for clear communication, especially for the times and places of Mass. For instance, if the new parish community’s name is Resurrection and there are multiple worship sites, the Mass schedule would be:

Resurrection Sunday Mass Schedule

5:00 p.m. (Sat) Mass at St. Boniface

9:00 a.m. Mass at St. Michael

10:30 p.m. Mass at St. Boniface

 

WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN GIVING SUGGESTIONS ABOUT THE NEW PARISH COMMUNITY NAME?

It is suggested that the parish councils, parish and cluster core teams, and or other leadership groups from the parishes that will merge meet to discuss the name possibilities. It may be helpful if a smaller group meets to do some research on possible names which would not preclude the larger group from adding names once they come together for discussion.

 

 

 

DO PARISHIONERS AT LARGE HAVE A SAY IN THE NAMES TO BE GIVEN TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION?

Once a list has been narrowed down to between 5 and 10 names, parishioners may be asked for their input to help further narrow the list to not more than three to be submitted to the Bishop for his selection. This is another way of helping all parishioners become aware of the changes happening in their parish communities.

 

ARE THERE ANY NAMES WE SHOULD NOT CHOOSE?

Because a new community is being created, the only name that can’t be chosen is one of the names of the merging parishes. It has been shown over and over again that the use of a merging parish name causes problems that can simply be avoided by choosing a new name. Bishop Morlino has chosen this to be the case for the Diocese of Madison. Additionally, it is better from a communication perspective not to choose a name that is already used many times in the diocese to minimize confusion. There are plenty of saints. Often a parish

community will choose a unique name that helps identify their community and their heritage, thus giving the people a great intercessor while also helping others learn about the saint.

 

CAN WE HAVE HYPHENATED NAMES SUCH AS HOLY NAME-ST. MARY?

There is no hard and fast rule about this, but often there are advantages to choose a new name for the new community of people who will form a new parish community. New beginnings often call for new names. Any hyphenated name should have some very strong association attached to it, not just the names of the previous parishes put together, which is strongly discouraged.

 

WHEN DO WE HAVE TO CHOOSE OUR SAINT’S NAME?

It is helpful to begin the process at the start of the merger process so that canonical and legal papers can be prepared with the new name of the parish community. The name of the new community can and should be something that brings everyone together, so this process can not be started too soon.

 

IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN HELP US WITH THIS PROCESS?

The Office of Planning and the Office of Worship at the diocese are more than happy to help you with this process and to answer any questions you may have.

 

DO YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR NAMES?

The suggestions contained in this document are intended to assist merging parishes select a new name. You do not need to choose a name from this list, for it is far from complete. These names represent possible church names that are not currently used in the Diocese of Madison. Another place to obtain names and a short description of saints is http://www.catholic.org/saints.

 

 

 

TRUSTING IN THE SPIRIT - DIOCESE OF MADISON

A SHORT LIST OF POSSIBLE NAMES FOR A NEW PARISH