St. Casimir in Lansing to close June 30, 2020

The Parish Council of St. Casimir in Lansing has voted to close the parish on June 30, 2020. Please keep parishioners in your prayers in the days and weeks to come. St. Casimir, pray for them.

“Ideally, I think this message should be delivered in person. Not by letter, Facebook, website, or rumor. When a parish closes it is a death, and the news of it should be given by another person who can receive our tears, anger, and questions,” said St. Casimir Parish Administrator, Fr. Karl Pung, in an online letter to parishioners, April 15.

“Unfortunately, right now the circumstances in our society do not allow for that kind of personal communication. It is coming to you in a rather cold, impersonal manner. I am sorry for that. I hope this does not impede you from taking the next steps and reaching out to someone, talking, and even beginning the grieving process.”

St. Casimir Parish was founded in Lansing in 1921 to serve a growing Polish immigrant community. In recent years, however, the parish’s spending has not kept pace with its declining population with only about 380 souls attending Holy Mass each Sunday.

“Over the last 100 years our parish has been through its ups and downs,” writes Fr. Pung.

“Through it all, the Lord has always had a plan for us. Now we have come to the end of those plans. With declining priest numbers and changing demographics we are no longer able to sustain a healthy, vibrant parish life that will meet the spiritual needs of its people.”

“On April 14, the Parish Council voted to close our parish effective June 30, 2020. We have completed our mission.”

Fr. Pung’s letter is reproduced in full below:

Dear St. Casimir Parish,

On September 21, 1921 our parish was founded to serve the needs of the local community here in Lansing. Over the last 100 years our parish has been through its ups and downs. Through it all, the Lord has always had a plan for us. Now we have come to the end of those plans. With declining priest numbers and changing demographics we are no longer able to sustain a healthy, vibrant parish life that will meet the spiritual needs of its people. On April 14, the Parish Council voted to close our parish effective June 30, 2020. We have completed our mission.

The vote on Parish Council was 7 to 3 to close on June 30. Of the three, only one was for staying open as long as possible. I think, however, that there was universal agreement that if our current pandemic continues into the summer that we would move our ending date so that we can have closure, grieving, and celebrating as a whole parish. We will reopen our doors as soon as possible to celebrate all that God has done through her. Our final Mass date and time have not been set.

Ideally, I think this message should be delivered in person. Not by letter, Facebook, website, or rumor. When a parish closes it is a death, and the news of it should be given by another person who can receive our tears, anger, and questions. Unfortunately right now the circumstances in our society do not allow for that kind of personal communication. It is coming to you in a rather cold, impersonal manner. I am sorry for that. I hope this does not impede you from taking the next steps and reaching out to someone, talking, and even beginning the grieving process.

Why now? A lot of things have come together including losing our extra priest, the Covid 19 pandemic, changing demographics, and expectations about what it means to be a parish. A lot of discussion and prayer has gone into this decision. I have been struck at how deeply charitable everyone has been to each other, especially given the deep personal connections each person has to the parish. This may sound awkward to hear, but they really were graced meetings and conversations.

We will have our First Communions, Confirmations, and Christian Initiations when our public officials declare it safe enough to gather together again. These sacraments may be done in small groups which could be before we are able to assemble as a whole parish.

There are many other questions about: What happens to the sacred and not so sacred belongings of the parish? How will we connect with St. Casimir Parishioners after we close? What is going to happen to the buildings? Will we have a voice in the Realigning Resources to Mission process? These and many other questions will be handled in future communications. For now I just wanted to deliver the hard sad news about closing. As time progresses the latest updates will be posted on our parish website: www.stcas.org under the ‘Parish Status’ tab.

Let us keep each other in prayer. The Lord has plans for us individually that are yet to be revealed.

In Christ,

Fr. Karl Pung