St. Anthony Roman Catholic Church in the Gatchell section of Sudbury will be open for many, many years to come.
If there are any doubts about that a conversation with parish council chair Rita Verrilli serves to clear up any confusion.
Verrilli says the number of volunteers on parish committees is up, Sunday collection has increased and there is now even a full complement of altar servers.
The congregation is also buoyed by Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe's pledge to work very, very hard to find St. Anthony its own priest.
"We are not closing, we are so determined, we're stronger then ever," said Verrilli.
Things haven't always been so rosy.
For four years now the church has shared clergy and resources with St. Clement and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
A special committee studying the situation suggested in mid-October the three parishes merge into one parish, at one of the sites.
The congregation at St. Anthony initially voted in favour of the proposal, but Verrilli said the mood changed when it was learned Our Lady of Perpetual Help had already been picked as the site of the new parish without any input from an advisory group that was to be set up.
A second vote held at St. Anthony in early January saw the merger proposal turned down by 76 per cent of those who cast ballots.
Verrilli says the congregation will have to dig a little deeper in its pockets to pay for its own priest. The three West End churches shared the salary of Rev. Father John Caswell who was given pastoral responsibility for the three West End churches in September.
"It lays on our shoulders to make this work...even though we haven't chosen to be a part of the merger, it's not a negative choice, it's just a different choice," said the parish council chair.
Verrilli gave the congregation a pep talk at mass Feb. 3 and called a meeting for the following Tuesday to give people a chance to sign up for committee work.
There will also be a concerted effort to bring more young people back to the church and Verrilli said the only way to do that is by setting an example.
