Lenawee / Hillsdale Vicariate Parish Configurations
This vicariate had 10 parishes that will be reduced to nine worship sites, with six priests, one pastoral coordinator and a sacramental minister serving the faithful. The following are the new communities based on the changes made from this planning process:

Worship sites:
St. Joseph Church, Adrian
St. Mary of Good Counsel Church, Adrian
St. Alphonsus Church, Deerfield
Sacred Heart Church, Hudson
St. Mary on the Lake Church, Manitou Beach
St. Elizabeth Church, Tecumseh
St. Anthony Church, Hillsdale
St. Dominic Chapel, Clinton
St. Peter Church, Blissfield

• St. Joseph, Adrian, will cluster with St. Mary of Good Counsel, Adrian, when the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are no longer able to staff St. Mary. Two priests serve St. Mary – one of whom will become the canonical pastor.

• St. Peter, Blissfield, will cluster with St. Alphonsus, Deerfield, when the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales are no longer able to staff St. Alphonsus. St. Alphonsus is served by one priest who will be the canonical pastor.

• Sacred Heart, Hudson, is served by one priest. He will serve as the canonical pastor of St. Mary on the Lake, Manitou Beach, which is currently served by a pastoral coordinator and sacramental minister.

• St. Elizabeth, Tecumseh, is served by one priest who will have the responsibility for the administration of St. Dominic Chapel, Clinton, formerly St. Dominic Church. The date of St. Dominic’s change in status from a church to chapel will be determined by the vicar.

• St. Anthony, Hillsdale, will remain an individual parish community served by one priest.

Parish, Vicariate and Ministry Improvements

In the Lenawee/Hillsdale Vicariate, Mass attendance has declined by nearly 10 percent and there are currently no priests at the retirement stage.

 The Lenawee/Hillsdale Vicariate will make the following improvements as set forth by the bishop:

• The vicariate will begin recruiting new leadership for migrant ministry within itself.

• Due to the future of the parishes within the vicariate, these parishes will begin planning together to effectively share resources and programs, while maintaining their own identity, physical site, pastoral councils and financial responsibilities.

• Parishes will carefully monitor attendance at weekend liturgies. If attendance at a specific Mass is consistently less than half of the seating capacity of the church, the parish will reduce the number of Masses and reconfigure the Mass times according to parish and regional needs.

• Each parish bulletin will include the Mass times of neighboring parishes to better serve the needs of the area Catholics.

• The vicariate will form a Vicariate Pastoral Council. This council will ensure that the clustering plan is implemented and oversee the entire mission of the vicariate in its response to the sacramental, pastoral and leadership needs of the communities.

• Calendars of faith formation programs will be prepared and distributed to each of the 10 parishes, allowing individuals and families to attend a parish whose faith formation schedule fits their needs.

• Catholic Charities of Lenawee is struggling, due to finances. All parishes share financial responsibility of this agency and need to accept responsibility for such.