Bishop Talley Establishes New Deanery Structure for the Diocese of Memphis, by Amy Hall
Memphis, TN, July 28 — Earlier this week Bishop David P. Talley announced the establishment of a new Deanery structure. This new structure was created to assist in regional planning and decision making, and improve relationships between parishes.
By design, each Deanery takes into account the diversity of pastoral situations in a given region, improves the efficiency and collaboration of organized pastoral initiatives and better provides for the needs of a particular area of the diocese. The Deanery structure also fosters collaboration among parishes in order to share talent and resources.
In establishing the Deaneries, an effort was made to group them in relative proximity to allow easy access to the appointed dean and to allow deeper inter-parish partnership.
The Deaneries are broken down into four territories:
Northern Deanery which will encompass the following parishes/missions:
- Immaculate Conception/Union City
- St. Jude/Martin, Holy Cross/Paris
- Holy Angels/Dyersburg
- St. Matthew/Milan
- Sacred Heart/Humboldt
- Holy Family Mission/Huntington
- St. Mary/Camden
- Ave Maria/Ripley
- St. Alphonsus/Covington
South Eastern Deanery which will encompass the following parishes/missions:
- St. John/Brownsville
- Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission/Bells
- St. Mary/Jackson
- St. Andrew/Lexington
- St. Regina/Parsons
- St. Mary/Savannah
- St. Philip/Somerville
- St. Mary/Bolivar
- St. Jude/Selmer
- Our Lady of the Lake/Pickwick
Central Deanery which will encompass the following parishes/missions:
- St. William
- Nativity
- St. James
- Ascension
- St. Michael
- St. Louis
- St. Ann/Bartlett
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help
- Holy Spirit
- Holy Rosary
- Church of the Incarnation
- St. Brigid
- Catholic Church of the Resurrection
Western Deanery which will encompass the following parishes/missions:
- Our Lady of Sorrows
- St. Therese
- Blessed Sacrament
- Sacred Heart
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
- St. Mary’s/Downtown
- St. Peters
- St. Augustine
- St. Patrick
- St. Anne
- St. John
- St. Joseph
- St. Paul
Priests throughout our diocese were asked to nominate one to three pastors in the proposed Deaneries who could serve as Dean. With extraordinary participation from our priests, a large tabulation of votes was sent to Bishop Talley who, after reviewing the nominations, appointed the four new Deans. The new Deans are Father Stephen Kenny, V.F. of the Western Deanery, Father Keith Stewart, V.F. of the Central Deanery, Father Joey Kaump, V.F.of the North Central Deanery and Father David Graham V.F. of the Southeastern Deanery.
As part of this new structure, Bishop Talley will reconstitute the membership of the Presbyteral Council, a “senate” of clergy whose role is to advise the bishop in matters pertaining to the governance and spiritual good of the People of God of the local Church. Each of the Deans listed above will be ex officio members of this council.
The Deanery structure is a great step forward for the Diocese of Memphis and is designed to foster greater fraternal support among clergy, regional planning and accountability.
This structure will enable parishes to serve the faithful of our diocese more effectively and, due to the presence of a Dean, provide fraternal and spiritual support for the priests, especially the newly-ordained, newly-appointed pastors, the elderly and those who may be ill, or in need of special assistance.
For a detailed map of the parishes in each Deanery please visit our website HERE.
