St. Patrick Catholic Parish - Stephensville, WI

Along with updated Guidance from CDC and Outagamie county this past week, the Green Bay Diocese and our Parish are going to be easing off of Covid restrictions.

Insead of every parish in the Diocese using the same precautions, parishes now have more freedom to decide locally how to ease off of restrictions. 

My observations in the community are that:

• Vaccines are widely and readily available.
• Many people have a general increasing comfort level with being around others.
• With rising temperatures, I intend to open the windows in church on Sundays to provide for a greater airflow through the church.
• While certainly not perfect, the relevant statistics for covid in Outagamie county have been generally steady or improving for weeks and months. 
• Relevant statistics per the Diocese of Green Bay COVID-19 Dashboard as of May 12 in Outagamie County:
• Over the last month the number of cases of Covid has declined from about 200 to 90 per 100,000 people
• Over the last month, the amount of weekly positive tests has hovered around 10%
• There have been less than 5 deaths in the county every week since February

The biggest change is that the Green Bay Diocese now highly encourages face coverings but is no longer expecting parishioners to wear them.

I have consulted with parish leadership, several in the medical field, and neighboring pastors, and intend to make these changes beginning this upcoming Sunday May 23:

Regarding sections of the church, we will have half of the church available for those with face coverings and half available for those without face coverings. 

I am not a fan of creating artificial division, however I want to be cognizant of those with risks, conditions, or preferences to be apart from those who do not have face coverings. I hope we can have a culture where anybody in church doesn’t receive any  pressure or judgment for where they sit. Also, the guidance from the diocese indicated that easing off restrictions should be gradual, so maintaining separate seating areas is a gradual step to grow the area available for those who choose to not wear face coverings without creating a free-for-all. 

Regarding pews, we will have all of the pews open for families to choose where to sit and maintain several feet of distance from other families. 

I will continue to wear a face covering for distributing communion. 

These are similar steps to what neighboring parishes are implementing. 

I acknowledge that this plan leaves a lot for individuals to decide themselves, relying on everyone using their own common sense. 

This is another step towards normalcy, but certainly not all the way there yet. I hope in the coming weeks and months to be able to take more steps. However, should there be exposure or outbreaks in the community we need to be open to reassessing. 

We want to promote health and well-being, so anyone who is not feeling well or experiencing any Covid symptoms should stay home. WFRV local TV channel 5 continues to air Sunday Mass with Bishop Ricken at 10:30 AM.

-Fr. Michael