Letter in September 29th Bulletin of St. Isabel Catholic Church by the ex-temporary Administrator and Finance Council regarding Annual Report
Surely it is not our intention to be critical, for at first glance the letter in the bulletin of September 29th, 2019, intended to accompany the Annual Report, appears to be just what a parishioner wants to hear. The parish is happy, the people are generous, the staff is enlarged, and the Finance Council will “continue to monitor income and expenses appropriately to ensure fiscally sound decisions.” All is well with the parish of St. Isabel.
The real problem with this letter, and with the last three years, is that all is not well with the parish of St. Isabel, and the refusal of the parish staff and the Bishop of the Diocese to admit that it faces serious problems will continue to divide the parish and cause indefinite upset. We realize that for many, newcomers especially, the egregious injustice done to Fr. Christopher is of little consequence, but to a significantly large number of people, a large group of people quietly ignored in the Finance Committee’s letter, the lack of justice for Fr. Christopher remains a huge roadblock to the proper restoration of St. Isabel Parish never alluded to by the Finance Committee. The hundreds of people driven away over the last three years were not only a source of additional income, they were, in fact the backbone of St. Isabel, and for the Finance Committee and staff to pretend they don’t even exist, which they have attempted to do throughout the past three years, spreads the injustice unfairly beyond one person.
You certainly are expected to put a good spin on the present state of affairs at St. Isabel, but to pretend that everything is rosy at St. Isabel does not help any part of the parish to get closer to the peace everyone so genuinely desires. It is remarkable that with the contributions so definitively down, that a full-time Faith Formation Director was hired (a job previously done part time by Mrs. Scheer), that expensive surveillance was installed, that a new altar was built and a new tabernacle purchased. It is curious that the staff helping to make the parish so “strong and vibrant,” seems unable to provide the parish with up-to-date reports of the weekly collections. It is hard to appreciate that “good stewards” would spend so much money and be unable to provide timely offertory reporting.
We are not unhappy that your ministry fair welcomed over twenty new volunteers, but have you kept track of all those you have driven away or “let go” because it was determined they were not on Fr. Gates team? I doubt it, and that is precisely what is at the heart of the problem.
PFJ is delighted that the parish is doing so well financially (at least in your public letter), but until you and the Diocese admit to the very real issues that presently afflict St. Isabel parish, there will be no progress made towards anything bearing a faint resemblance of what the parish once was.
parishionersforjustice.com 
When will truth be the norm??
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It remains a sore spot for us in our giving as well as in our feelings for the church in general—that Fr. Senk has been treated so shabbily for no reasons whatsoever! He has been punished for accusations that are not proven or true! How does he fight hat?
It remains a sore spot in our attending liturgy!! Does anyone in the hierarchy even care about that??
Our whole Faith education has been about love and caring and truth and doing the right things and we have tried to do that despite not always finding it! We write our letters and give our thoughts but no one really listens or seems to care!
We suspect that is how Father Senk has also been treated !
Nothing changes.
What do you expect us to feel or think or do??
Someone asked today ” What is your earliest memory of praying?”
When I saw my grandfather get up early every day and go to Mass and ask us if we wanted to go along with him to Mass—he would take us ! Even before my first Holy Communion I would go with him and watch him pray and wondered what he was saying to God…he obviously believed in the church as did my Catholic /Christian ancestors —I wonder if they would go today knowing that the Church is not all that it pretends to be! It says one thing but doesn’t always live by those words! ” Love God-Love others!”
I have not found it in this case! FATHER IS BEING PUNISHED FOR SOMETHING HE DIDN’T DO!
Stop pretending members of the hierarchy have not received gifts from parishioners and that everything is fine! Our priest and friend Fr Senk still is not been treated right — are we supposed to just go on as if no one has been hurt by this ?? If he was your friend would you just walk away ? Forget it??? I am loyal to my freidns and stand with those who are down trodden as Fr. Has been!
Do we look the other way and pretend the church we love treated Fr Christopher Senk with justice???t?? ?? I cannot do that!
I also would like our Church to stop hiding its dishonest dealings that hurt peoples reputations and treat people the way Jesus taught us to treat them! We know Jesus spoke the truth all the time! Even when it was hard for him to do it!
The church example isn’t doing such a good job ‘living the Gospel’ in this particular case! !
We have also suffered along with this good priest by not having Fr.. Senk returned to his full priesthood—just knowing he isn’t celebrating liturgy and saying Mass and giving the words of scripture and homilies—every day– makes us very sad! The people have been cheated.
I hate to think our hierarchy are ‘conniving’ leaders! How are we supposed to tell our kids and grandkids to go to church if we believe it isn’t what Jesus meant it to be!
PLEASE!
Give him back his rightful place among the many good remaining clergymen who so deserve it!
I agree with Nancy– the truthfulness of our church can set us ALL free!
Every last penny and every last person IS important —WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO SHORTCHANGE THOSE WHO NEED OUR LOVE AND SACRIFICES/
AS STILL HANGING IN THERE AND STILL FAITH FILLED CATHOLICS, WE DO NEED TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! Be HONEST ALL THINGS! GOD BLESS FR. CHRISTOPHER WITH PEACE AND HAPPINESS— FOR HE REALLY DESERVES THAT!
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