Yes, today was the day we never thought would never happen, we were told through a letter from the Archbishop that St. Gertrude will be merged with St. John the Baptist Parish in Paradis into a new, yet to be named parish at the site of St. John. If you are an active member of St. Gertrude, while it is very disappointing and heartbreaking to loose our Parish that we love, that has been serving the community since 1956 as a parish and since 1901 as a Mission Parish; it is not completely a surprise. We have had declining membership, collections are down, Hurricane Ida hit us hard, and the very people the Archdiocese sent to help us completely destroyed our campus! It was impossible for a small older parish to come back from a hard hit as we received. Fr. Ray and the Viability committee met over the course of 6 months to develop a plan and a proposal which was sent to the Archdiocese. That plan along with the plan submitted by St. John's committee was used to make the decision, as well as church records of marriages, baptisms, confirmations, etc. With all that said, the decision was not in our favor. So, what now? According the the letter read from the Archbishop this weekend at the Masses, we will have until July 2024 to prepare for the closure and organize a move of our congregation to the St. John site. The new parish name will be decided by March 2024 with input from both parishes. We can cry, complain, fuss, get angry; but the decision is made. Now is the time for us to show our faith in ONE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. We will be getting a new pastor, neither Fr. Ray or Fr. Joseph will remain. We will begin anew! We must work together as people of God to strengthen the Catholic Faith in our community. If we are not growing, we are dying. There is NO St. Gertrude, there is NO St. John the Baptist, there is a NEW church, a people of God, working on bring Salvation to our Community! Let's hope you are up to the challenge!