Preserve Saint Remy Parish

02/10/2026

Encouraging update for our neighbors to the northeast 👍🏼

After 18 months of conversations, consultations, and a few confrontations, I have decided on a couple of changes that I believe will positively affect how this Family of Parishes functions, and they both involve decentralization. The first item is regarding Parish Pastoral Councils and the Unified Pastoral Council. Fifteen years of pastoring stand alone parishes and nearly six years of pastoring multiple parishes, has led me to the conclusion that most circumstances that require consultation occur at the parish level and not at the Family of Parishes level. Therefore, Parish Pastoral Councils will be re-established at the parish level. St. Michael, Holy Angels, and Sacred Heart will each have 6 members, 3 men and 3 women. The terms will last 3 years, with those rotating off after serving 3 years. Each year there will be 2 newly elected members and 4 members will remain. This ensures continuity as well as freshness each year. Current representatives to the Unified Pastoral Council from Sts. Peter & Paul recommended to have 4 members instead of 6. Each Parish Pastoral Council, along with a member from Finance Council and a member from the Buildings and Grounds Committee, will meet with me 3 times a year. Unified Pastoral Council meetings will occur twice a year and consist of the 3rd year members of the four Parish Pastoral Councils. Nominations and elections of Parish Pastoral Council members will soon be communicated to all parishes.

The other change involves the parish offices. While some things are more efficient at the Family level, e.g. bookkeeping, payroll, scheduling of weddings, funerals, baptisms, and priests, etc., other things can happen more conveniently for parishioners at the parish level, e.g. Mass intentions, signed and sealed sponsor forms, liturgical ministries scheduling, etc. The target date for re-opening the offices at St. Michael /Sts. Peter & Paul and Sacred Heart is July 1st of this year. As the date approaches, more detailed information will be communicated on what items will be handled at the parish level and what items will be handled at the Family level.

These last 3-1/2 years of Beacons of Light have not been easy for any of us, parishioner and priest alike. However, it has forced us to look at our preconceived ideas and biases, our values and beliefs, our hopes and dreams. We will come through this stronger as a community of believers who allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, encourage us, and empower us to truly live as disciples of Jesus Christ, who sends us out into the world as apostles to preach, teach, heal, cast out demons, and raise the dead. All done in His Name!

May God bless us in His mercy,
Fr. John W. Tonkin

"Make this proclamation: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons." Matthew 10:7-8

06/22/2025

**PLEASE READ**
(This information was presented as a bulletin insert the past two weekends. However we know that many parishioners have not taken the bulletin during that time, so here are six important updates for those who may have missed it.)

ST. REMY PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE – June 2025

Dear Parishioners,

It has been about three years since "Beacons of Light" began. We have been working deliberately to ensure both the long-term and short-term well-being of the St. Remy Parish, despite the conditions. We appreciate your patience.

Here are key updates:

1. Communion Rail & Sanctuary Floor
Our new Communion Rail is being built by King Richard's. Posters in the back of church show the design. The church will be closed for a short time so that the sanctuary steps can be made ready for the rail, at which time the sanctuary floor will be replaced with large, polished porcelain tile, resembling marble. Therefore, weekday Masses the week of July 14 will take place at St. Remy Hall. This may or may not be the case for Masses the weekend of July 19-20, depending on the rate of progress for this project. The rail itself will arrive around November. This project is fully funded by a group of many private donors—no parish funds are being used. We are excited to invite more reverence for the Eucharist and glory to our Lord with this communion rail restoration project.

2. Future Parish Center & Church Capacity
We are in early design stages for a new Parish Center proposal. We have surveyed the potential location with Choice One Engineering and worked with several contractors on initial sketches. Thanks to a generous soul who covered this cost, no Church funds have been spent on this initial phase. A full proposal with all the details will be shared with the parishioners when it is ready.
We also began looking into expanding the church 3 years ago. Our church capacity is 240 by Diocesan standards, yet we average 290 per Mass – a cozy fit! Preliminary estimates showed that expanding our church southward by about 60 feet could cost around $15 million. More details are being gathered.
There are other facets of this plan being discussed to renovate the entire “St. Remy Campus” (including the old nun’s house, the garages, the rectory, etc.). Rest assured that no matter what ideas are explored, creating/maintaining space for an expansion of St. Remy Church is a non-negotiable piece of any proposal that will be brought forth.

3. Sunday Mass Time Change (Effective July 6th)
Sunday Masses will return to 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The 4:30 PM Saturday Vigil Mass time remains the same. While our previous schedule (8:30 AM & 10:30 AM) saw an overall increase of 27 more people per weekend, it created a significant imbalance, as shown by the following figures:
• Prior averages: 9:00 AM (300 attendees), 11:00 AM (290 attendees)
• After the change: 8:30 AM (262 attendees), 10:30 AM (363 attendees).
[as a reminder, St. Remy's Diocesan capacity is 240]
Simply put, the later Sunday Mass has become severely overcrowded. While we know some people desire an earlier Mass, the overcrowding at the 10:30 AM Mass is a more urgent concern. Additionally, the survey data suggested that moving the principal Mass (“High Mass”) would not alleviate this congestion and may even exacerbate the problem. We appreciate your patience while we work through this change.
[Additional comments:
a. The reduction from 3 Sunday Masses to 2 Sunday Masses was enforced by the Archdiocese via Beacons of Light. Parish Council would love to bring back a third Sunday Mass to St. Remy, but for the foreseeable future these are the cards we have been dealt. Pray for priestly vocations.
b. As St. Remy Parish Council, our purpose is to optimize our recommendations to our Pastor for the maximum benefit of St. Remy Parish specifically.]

4. St. Joseph Village Center Purchase
The Parish is buying the St. Joseph Village Center, primarily for religious education classroom space. It also serves our youth group, faith groups, and older community members and functions as a “church basement type of space”, since our basement is extremely small. It is essential for our parish’s current needs, and the property can be sold in the future if the Parish Center is built and we ultimately find that we no longer need it. This property will be purchased with parish funds.

5. New Permanent Hymnals and Prayer Books
As part of our effort to coordinate with the parishes in NW-5, Father Reutter has begun to work with the musicians of our parishes on common musical standards for the sacred liturgy and increased training for our much-appreciated parish volunteers. As part of this effort, Fr. Ned has chosen a common hymnal which all our parishes will begin using this coming Advent season. This hymnal will have the Scripture readings for the three-year Mass cycle of Sundays, eliminating the need to continue to spend money each year on disposable missalettes. Regarding the prayer books in the back of the hymnals, “Friends of St. Remy” and the office staff are working on compiling a hardbound version of the prayer book that will replace the worn paper copies in the pews. It is likely that we will also make these available to purchase for those who would like to use the prayer book at home.

6. Publishing Parish Council Minutes
Some parishioners have requested to receive the Parish Council meeting minutes in order to stay better informed. While the parish has not done this in the past, we will be placing copies of those minutes in the back of church after their next meeting this fall.

We thank you for your prayers, understanding, and support as we navigate these important projects on behalf of the wonderful people from St. Remy. If you have questions or wish to share input on anything, please do not hesitate to contact any of us.

In Christ,

St. Remy Parish Council
Paul Fullenkamp (Pres), Joel Meyer (VP), Aaron Condon, Amy Traxler, Beth Francis, Bethany Grillot, Chris Ball, Heather Borchers, Jeff Simon, Katie Sapp, Steven Schulze, Tracy Schulze

*Note*
• Kyle Siegrist, Maria Smith, Deb Timmerman, and Craig Borchers are joining Parish Council July 1.
• Paul Fullenkamp, Tracy Schulze, Chris Ball, and Amy Traxler are leaving Parish Council July 1.

02/20/2024

Be sure to watch the 6-minute video news story in this article. Part 2 will air tonight at 6pm.

The pushback has begun against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's plan to consolidate 208 parishes into 57 parish families. One dispute made it to the Vatican.

02/01/2024

Please take a couple minutes to read this article!!

It is essentially our mission statement & outlines WHY this moment is so important. Read this, share it, sign your mandates, talk to your pastor, family, friends, coworkers, & anyone else who will listen, and as always pray, pray, pray.

Thank you Joe Schmiesing for so eloquently stating the importance of the parish.

The spiritual life of the ordinary Catholic in America is fed by the ordinary Catholic parish in America. What nourishes the life of that parish?

11/29/2023

~~~ MANDATE PICK-UP & DROP-OFF INFO (see photos) ~~~

** Pick-up: You can now pick up blank copies of the mandates from on top of the piano inside the St. Joseph Center (201 W Main). The building should be unlocked during daytime hours on weekdays.

** Drop-off: To the left of the main entry door outside there is a black Dropbox mounted on the wall for any completed mandates (accessible 24/7).

These public options are provided for convenience to the St. Remy parishioners (huge “Thank You” to the folks of the St. Joseph Center!). However there are other pick-up and drop-off options if this method does not work well for you, simply message this page or speak to a member of parish council for assistance.

11/19/2023

It was great to see a full church this morning, as always.

We are taking some extra time to reflect on today’s 2nd reading:

“Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you.
For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.

When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.

Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.”

11/15/2023

Thanks to all who attended our event yesterday evening!

For anyone who missed it, there will be another opportunity soon to hear the presentation from Chris Niekamp of SaveOurSteeples.org, details below:

Tues. Dec. 12 from 7:30-9:00pm

North Star Community Center
124 E Star Rd
North Star, OH 45362

11/15/2023

St. Remy Parish Mandate FAQs:

1) Who Can Sign?
- Any St. Remy parishioner who is 14 years of age or older can sign.

2) What are the requirements to be a "witness" to the signing of these mandates?
- The 2 Witnesses must be 18 years of age or older. They can be anyone 18 or older, including family members. You cannot be your own Witness.

3) Where can I get a mandate?
- You can email our Procurator at [email protected] requesting copies, or ask any member of St. Remy Parish Council for assistance.

4) What do I do with the mandates once they are signed?
- Please mail completed mandates to our Procurator (whose address is listed on the mandate) if you cannot give it to him in person.

5) What is the deadline?
- We wish we knew! Hopefully an extinctive merger decree NEVER comes and these mandates collect dust. We are getting mandates signed to be prepared in advance. So while there is no deadline... better sooner than later.

6) How many do I need to sign?
- Please sign 2 mandates for St. Remy, so that we are prepared for both our first and second appeals (if and when the first is rejected). Please also sign 1 mandate for the Archdiocese as a whole. This is an entirely mandate that will bear Mark Pettus's name and address.

7) I'm nervous about signing this mandate. Where can I learn more, or who can I talk to?
- Following this page is a great start. You can also write/talk to your Parish Council or Procurator, visit https://saveourparishes.org, write/talk to our Pastor Fr. Ned Brown, or message this page asking for guidance.
- Feeling uncomfortable about this process is probably just a sign that you are a faithful, respectful, discerning Catholic--it's a perfectly natural (and probably healthy) response! Rest assured, this appeal process was established by the Vatican itself for this very purpose. Everyone at all levels is working toward the goal of shepherding all souls to heaven, and it is our right (maybe even our duty!) to speak up to protect the best path to heaven for the souls of our parish, now and into the future. We believe preserving Saint Remy Parish is that "best path", and will respectfully speak up to defend that position if needed.

Final Note: Please use black ink when filling out your mandates.

Pray for our current priests, and for future vocations to the priesthood in our diocese.

See you at Mass on Sunday!

11/15/2023

** Why Sign Parish Mandates and a Diocesan Mandate? **

Signing a mandate allows your Procurator to appoint an Advocate (Canon Lawyer) to protect your interests as a parishioner.

The Diocesan mandate supports the active petition for the cessation of Beacons of Light en masse. Only (1) mandate is required to support this initiative.
NOTE: If you’ve already signed the Diocesan Mandate (ref: Mark Pettus), please DO NOT sign it again. Mark is managing a significant volume of mandates & he cannot have duplicates.

The (2) St. Remy mandates are proactive. If a future decree is issued to make St. Remy Parish extinct, we would have (10) days to submit a formal appeal. Having signed mandates ready in advance allows us to submit our appeals within that timeframe. The reason for (2) mandates is because one appeal will be made at the Archdiocese level, and a second appeal will likely follow to the Vatican.

** What is Our Advocate Representing Us Against? **

We may soon face an “extinctive merger”, in which all existing individual parishes within our family of parishes would permanently cease to exist. A brand new parish would be formed in its place, where one existing church building would become the
Parochial Church and the others would become Subsidiary Churches.

Everyone should understand by now that sacrifices are necessary in the face our current priest shortage. Creating families of parishes to share priests is one way to address the present issue. However, an extinction merger would eliminate the possibility of St. Remy ever returning to its status as a standalone parish with its own pastor. We wish to maintain our status as an independent canonical parish so that when our prayers for vocations are answered, St. Remy Parish will still exist and be ready to receive its own pastor. If St. Remy Parish is made extinct, it is final. We believe maintaining canonical independence allows the parishioners of St. Remy to cooperate charitably within our family of parishes today without sacrificing the best possible future. The goal is to bring all souls to heaven, today and forever, and preserving St. Remy Parish is essential to that goal for our community.

Pray for our current priests, and for future vocations to the priesthood in our diocese.

We will see you all at Mass on Sunday!