Tuesday night, Waymart Borough Council agreed to sending a letter to the Diocese of Scranton urging that St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Waymart be kept open.
St. Mary’s Parish also includes St. Patrick’s Church along the Owego Turnpike in Canaan Township, southeast of Waymart. The parish is considered for closure or consolidation with St. Thomas More Parish in Lake Ariel. This parish is one of several in the Diocese under review and are part of the preliminary recommendations to Bishop Martino by the Diocesan Planning Commission.
The Bishop is expected to announce his decisions  in January 2009 ; implementation would be made beginning July 1, 2009.
The recommendation calls for consolidating St. Mary’s Parish with St. Thomas More Parish, with the parish site at Lake Ariel pending facility assessment results. St. Mary, Waymart would continue as a worship site pending review after two years.
Council member Jane Varcoe is on a campaign to save St. Mary’s Parish. Although personally a Methodist, she said she is urging anyone concerned to contact the Diocese to keep the Parish open and not turned into a chapel or closed altogether. “My goal is to have 200 people send letters. I already have 30 some.”
Letters are being addressed to Rev. Msgr. Vincent J. Grimalia at the Diocese and others.
Varcoe, who is president of the Waymart Area Historical Society, said that the Society has sent a letter. St.. Mary’s church dates to 1925; St. Patrick’s is much older, dating to 1805, Varcoe said. She wrote in her letter from the Historical Society, “Rev. Father John Albosta has ‘written’ pages in our history in our history by his outstanding leadership in our community and his Ecumenical message to all of us.”
In her personal letter to the Diocese, a copy which she shared with The Wayne Independent, she stated that news of the potential closing of the church or making it a “satellite sanctuary” spread disbelief and indignation throughout the community. “St. Mary’s is not a dying church and the hardship it would present to the parishioners to travel to another church would be devastating,” Varcoe wrote.
She advises those who would send a letter, to keep them short and to the point. “Emotional responses help emphasize your feelings,” she said. Other suggestions are to organize a writing “party” with friends, and to take the matter to their church or organization to have their feelings known. “Talk up the importance of St. Mary’s to the community,” she added.
The letter being sent by Borough Council emphasizes that Waymart’s population is climbing, and St. Mary’s is steadily growing as well. Also of note, alternatives for St. Mary’s parishioners including traveling as far as 15 miles to Lake Ariel, 10 miles to Honesdale or eight miles over Farview Mountain to Carbondale.
“Reverend Father John Albosta is an outstanding member of our community and helps in numerous ways to make Waymart a better place to live for our citizens,” Council’s letter states. It also notes that the local Catholic congregation is supportive of the community and has produced many leaders in local government.
“We respectfully ask for reconsideration of the status of St. Mary’s Parish,” the letter states. “Closing St. Mary’s would take the heart out of our community for hundreds of our residents.”

Letters regarding the recommended consolidations or closures may be sent to:
 Rev. Msgr. Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G
Diocese of Scranton Chancery Office
300 Wyoming Ave.
Scranton, PA 18503-1279.
They may also be e-mailed to the Monsignor at Msgr-Vincent-Grimalia@dioceseofscranton.org.