And That Was the Good News!

Apr 29

Before I joined the friars I taught high school for three years. I would tell the students that there is no such thing as a dumb question. As it turns out, there actually are, but that’s for another time. I wanted the students to know that they could ask any questions they wanted. The Socratic Method relies on questioning commonly held beliefs to seek answers that are consistent with everything else we believe so to bring us closer to the truth.

One problem with asking too many questions is you might not get the answer you want. I knew the parish buildings were showing signs that they needed repair. What I did not know was the extent of the repair they would need. So, I asked questions…

Last weekend I updated you on the Brant Beach Church and the need to shore up the support beam under the main lobby. We have been working on that and it does look like the front entrance will be opened again before Memorial Day weekend as will the balcony and the last three rows of pews in the main nave.

Unfortunately, that is the good news. The bad news is the engineers from KSI Professional Engineers informed me last Thursday that their preliminary findings in the Surf City Church are not good. Actually, they are quite bad. Many of the support beams under the Surf City Church are in a “severe state of deterioration.” They informed us that we cannot use about 60% of the church proper nor the balcony in the Surf City Church Hall. Unlike Brant Beach, because the deterioration of the beams is so extensive, they are not offering us a temporary fix and recommend that we move immediately to the repair stage. As you can imagine, this will not be an easy or quick fix and I am sorry to say that we will not be able to open the Surf City Church for this summer season. We will be able to use the Surf City Church Hall and will offer Mass there but only during the Memorial Day Weekend and the peak of the season in July and August. This, however, will only accommodate a much smaller crowd. The Pastoral Staff met on Tuesday to create a revised Summer Mass Schedule [page 3] that we believe will help us through this time of repair work in the Surf City Church.

Beginning May 5, 2024, we will have a 10:00 AM Mass IN BEACH HAVEN. We ask the people that would normally attend Mass in Surf City during the month of May to please continue to come to Brant Beach. This schedule will shift the Beach Haven parishioners and those south of Brant Beach to attend Mass in Beach Haven and allow the Surf City parishioners to come to Brant Beach.
On Memorial Day weekend, May 25/26, we will offer the typical Memorial Day weekend Mass schedule in all four churches, HOWEVER, Mass in Surf City will only be in the church hall.
During the month of June, we will be adding an 8:30 AM Mass in Beach Haven, again to help alleviate the crowd in the Brant Beach Church. NO Masses will be offered in Surf City Church during the month of June.
In the months of July and August, we will once again offer the typical summer Mass schedule in all four churches, HOWEVER, Mass in Surf City will only be in the church hall with limited capacity.

Check All Mass Schedule

Over the past few years our ushers have been very attentive and collecting the Mass count at all of the Masses. Looking at that data and the number of seats available in each church we believe that this schedule can accommodate all the people coming to Mass during this summer. It may not, however, be in the church you normally attend during the summer months. The churches, especially Brant Beach, will be crowded, but that is never a bad thing.

I thank you for your patience and understanding as many schedules, routines, and patterns are going to be disrupted this summer.

The great news is that by asking questions we can be proactive and address these major concerns before anything catastrophic could ever happen.

This parish community has been through far worse. I do not doubt that together, we will get through these challenges as well and be a stronger community because of it.

Thank you for your goodness.