The parishes of Our Lady, Star of the Sea and Holy Trinity, both in Long Branch, have set out the welcome mat for their Long Branch neighbors and soon-to-be fellow parishioners from the faith community of St. John the Baptist.

On July 1, the three parishes will officially merge into a single faith community under the new name of Christ the King Parish. But safety concerns about St. John the Baptist Church, a former garment factory that has served the Hispanic and Portuguese parish since the late ‘70s, prompted moving the Masses that were celebrated there to the other two Long Branch churches in late-May.

More than 500 St. John parishioners attended one of the two Spanish and two Portuguese Masses held in Our Lady, Star of the Sea and Holy Trinity Churches May 30 and 31. Clergy and parish leaders were encouraged by the first-time turnout, especially given the recently publicized difficulties that some have had with the transition to a new church.

Those who did come to either Our Lady, Star of the Sea or Holy Trinity Churches learned that the faith community who worship there are going out of their way to extend a message of welcome. From the banners posted outside the two churches, to the welcome address delivered by parish administrator Frank Muzzi, it was clear that St. John parishioners were being offered a new spiritual home in the two churches.

Muzzi was speaking on behalf of Father Daniel Peirano, administrator of the three Long Branch parishes who had been commissioned by Bishop John M. Smith to interview and assess seminary candidates in Colombia. In a prepared statement, Muzzi acknowledged that the change to different churches was not one that came easily.

He said, “We understand your feelings of the loss of your beloved St. John the Baptist Church.” Referring to the welcome signs that hung outside the churches, he stated, “What we would like you to know is the words are sincere and come from our hearts. We welcome you – we welcome your children – and we welcome your culture.”

The merger was announced in a November letter from Bishop Smith to the members of the three parishes. Merging the three was one of the recommendations that resulted from the Monmouth Central Deanery Study, which had culminated its 10-month-long study a few months earlier. The study team included delegates from all of the parishes of the deanery under discussion.

As directed by the bishop, the merged parish would have a new name and Our Lady, Star of the Sea Church would be its principal worship site. Holy Trinity Church will serve as the secondary site, and the facilities there will also be used for parish administrative purposes.

The bishop had requested thatan implementation team be formed with representation from all three Long Branch parishes to help work through the many details of merger. That team met for more than six months, and its members will now form the finance council of Christ the King.

One of the questions that had recently been raised was the status of the plan to erect a new church and the donations that had been made for that purpose. The diocese had advised the parish in 2006 that the campaign to build a new church and raise funds for the project was to be put on hold, in that not nearly enough had been raised. Parish administrators recently sent letters to 440 St. John parishioners giving them a choice of having their money returned or to redirect it into building the ministerial resources of Christ the King Parish.

In his 2008 letter, Bishop Smith had stated, “These changes will certainly require all of us to work together in a spirit of faith . . . I ask that you join together with optimism, confidence, expectation and dependence on the presence of Christ who is always with us, so that our Catholic life in Long Branch will be vibrant well into the future.”

Father Sam Sirianni, native son of Holy Trinity Parish and former pastor of the three faith communities, expressed his confidence that like the many other mergers where multi-cultural communities have come together, Long Branch will be no different. He also points to recent history in which the people of these three parishes have already come together successfully.

Father Sirianni explained, “Although Holy Trinity was established to care for Italians and Americans of Italian descent; the parish has been diverse throughout the years. Due to Holy Trinity School, which closed in 2006, families from a variety of ethnic backgrounds have worshiped in Holy Trinity. Many families from Star of the Sea and St. John the Baptist sent their children to Holy Trinity School. Today, the community of Holy Trinity includes families from the Caribbean, Africa, Portugal, Brazil, and Central and South America.”

He added, “The families that make up Holy Trinity remember their own families’ story of coming to this country as immigrants. For themselves, their parents and grandparents, the struggle to adapt to a new land is not foreign. I remember telling one of our Spanish-speaking seminarians who was going to proclaim the Readings at Mass for the first time in English, to not be afraid because everyone in the assembly has a relative that speaks with an accent. I promised that they would understand him and appreciate his effort. After Mass the people surrounded the seminarian and told him what a good job he did in the Mass.”