As an ongoing effort to secure the future of the faith in greater Asbury Park gathers momentum, more than 150 members of the four area parishes gathered Sept. 12 to share prayers, fellowship and each others’ stories at the Renaissance banquet hall, Ocean.

The occasion, themed ‘Our Future Together’ and described as a celebration of both the long and meaningful history of the Catholic Church in coastal Monmouth County and the beginning of a new vision for the coming decades, came after months of consultation among pastors and priests seeking ways to better serve the community. It lays a foundation for the next phase of consultation which should begin in the fall.

Present were clergy and parish leaders from Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Providence and St. Peter Claver which have been meeting for four years by mutual agreement at Holy Spirit Church in downtown Asbury Park along with the sizeable Haitian community, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel located on Pine Street.

Putting a perspective on the evening was a presentation by Terry A. Ginther, director of the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning, which supported the pastors’ consultation.

Ginther outlined the realities that emerged during the process which clarified the need for change and pointed the way toward more consolidation than already exists. She shared some insight as to how this process, steered by the parishioners themselves, may move forward from this point on.

Asking those present to journey with her in recognizing “where we have been, where we are now and where we are going,” Ginther offered a power point overview that included shrinking parish finances, demographics and clergy numbers even as it highlighted the creative, dynamic and faithful ways the parishes continue to serve members and the community at large.

“You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you have been,” Ginther said, offering a brief historical overview of the parishes founded between 1881 and 1981. Change, she noted, has been a constant with succeeding waves of immigrants and the cataclysmic events of the 20th and early 21st centuries shaping the structure of the Church in the Asbury area.

Throughout the changing times, she said, the Church “continually searches for the best way to spread the Gospel message in every time with the resources it is given. God,” she said, “doesn’t want us to bury” our talents or hoard our treasure.

These days, though, she noted, the resources are stretched very thin in Greater Asbury. Finances are shrinking and figures displayed showed how weekend Mass attendance has dipped over the past two decades in all parishes. Holy Spirit’s attendance for instance, dropped from 642 in 1990 to 550 in 2000. Today, 350 attend weekend Mass, a loss of 45 percent.

In Our Lady of Mount Carmel, attendance fell from 2,800 to 800 over the same time frame while St. Peter Claver dropped by 54 percent, from 175 weekly attendance to 80. Our Lady of Providence showed the smallest decline, dropping 8 percent, from 435 to 400.

Though aware that attendance had been dropping, the figures took people in the room by surprise. Denise Hawkins, a long-time member of St. Peter Claver Parish, said it was important that “everyone is here to hear the statistics,” she said. “The numbers are staggering.”

Ginther encouraged those in the room to consider the “logical, purposeful unfolding” of Bishop John M. Smith’s decade-long initiative to consider how resources are used in order to secure the future vibrancy of parish life in the Church of Trenton.

She urged them to get on board and to be active participants as the process continues.

Over the next few weeks, pastors will be meeting to agree on the size and make up of the study group, which will be known as the Interparish Pastoral Commission, and establish a calendar of sessions which are expected to begin in the fall and continue into 2011.

The calendar will include dates for the study group to meet and will also schedule opportunities for the pastors and parish representatives to share information with and listen to members of the parish as the study continues, Ginther added.

“It is a process and there will be lots of opportunities to be involved. It is important to be informed,” she said. “It is important that you don’t absent yourselves from this process. Challenge yourselves. Become involved and be very participatory.”

Father William McLaughlin, pastor of Holy Spirit and St. Peter Claver Parishes, sounded the same note, telling the gathered parishioners, “I want you to know that 20 years ago, if a bishop wanted to (change parish structures), he would do so and that would be that.”

The bishop, he said, has asked for everyone’s best advice. “You have the opportunity to discern and have a lot to say about this process. You’ll be able to come together, to talk, to listen and share inspiration. I am so happy to be part of this and so proud that this is the way we are doing it.”