WAUKESHA, Wis. — The Catholic Community of Waukesha announced that its four parishes—St. William, St. Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John Neumann—will merge into one parish next summer.
Father Matthew Widder, Pastor of Catholic Community of Waukesha, said merging the four parishes into one will streamline finances and administrative tasks. As of July 1st, 2025, the four churches will operate with a single budget, rather than four separate budgets.
Widder said each church will stay open and continue offering their own worship services/masses. That was a big concern for many in the community.
“As you can imagine, there’s a sense of, ‘what does this mean?’ Some fear that, ‘my church is going to close,’ but that’s not any part of what is happening,” said Widder.
When it comes to donations, once the merger is complete, the four churches will operate with a single accounting system. Weekly parish donations will go into a general fund used for all four churches.
That general fund will be managed by a new finance council, which will be made up of parishioners selected from all four churches. However, funds that were previously tied to certain campaigns and endowments will continue to be used for their intended purpose.
Widder said as part of the merger, the new parish will be renamed. Parishioner input will be gathered, and Archbishop Jerome Listecki - who already approved the merger - will have the final say on the new parish name.
Waukesha Catholic, the community’s Catholic school serving kindergarten through 8th grade, will also take on that new parish name. However, the school will still operate as a separate entity. Widder said the day-to-day operations of the school or classroom instruction will not change.
“One of the main changes is that Waukesha Catholic and the Catholic Community of Waukesha will be replaced by a new common name,” said Widder.
Nancy Knapp serves as Secretary of the Pastoral Council, which oversees the four churches.
“When I’ve needed strength, I’ve turned to my church and also the members of my church,” said Knapp, who’s been a member of the Catholic Community of Waukesha for more than 40 years.
She admitted that initially she was skeptical about the merging of the four parishes, but after learning more, she now fully believes it will be a unifying force.
“We will all be able to realize we are together and the people at St. Joseph, St. William, St. John Neumann, and St. Mary’s, will all be praying together for a common goal, and that is the creation of a new parish which will be for the Catholic community. A guiding light for the community,” Knapp said.
