Behind the Kinston Covenant
By Msgr. Thomas P. Hadden
The May issue of NC Catholics carried an article on the history of the church in Kinston. It mentioned the Covenant of the Catholic Community, which took place during my pastorate there. There is more to the story.
In 1983 I had been Rector of the Cathedral for ten years. One night in early December around 9 pm, Bishop Gossman came by for a visit. I got the impression that he had not come for a nightcap. He told me that there was a need for greater unity between Atonement Parish and Holy Trinity Parish in Kinston, and that this required a change in pastors. His advisors had nominated me for the job.
I demurred, but the bishop told me to pray about it and come to see him in a few days. I did that. His mind had not changed and I said I would go. After all, as a priest of the diocese I had promised "reverence and obedience" to the bishop.
At that time the Sisters of Mercy of Marion, Pa., were ministering in Kinston. The Sisters told me about a covenant that the various Congregations of their Order were confecting to unite themselves into one group. It seemed like a promising model for our community, so we invited the Sisters who had worked on this covenant to meet with the leadership of both churches. We then discussed this with the parishioners, and drew up a Kinston Catholic Community Covenant.
As part of the covenant we formed one parish council.We asked the parishioners who served the liturgical needs of each church to let us know if they were willing to serve in the other church. There was an adequate response.
At the annual community social we gathered for prayer and placed the covenant on a lectern. Then we asked the people who felt they could sign it to do so during the social time. At each succeeding community gathering we made this covenant available for those who wished to sign.
Sister Maria Di Bello, R.S.M., our Pastoral Associate, made a special commitment to promote this covenant, and she carried out that commitment through my pastorate, as well as those of then Frs. John Williams and Jerry Sherba. The covenant came to a fuller realization when the community planned a new church under the leadership of Fr. Sherba. So this coming together was helped by the Sisters of Mercy and by Sister Maria, who promoted and taught the meaning of the covenant through the tenure of three pastors. To them a debt of deep gratitude is due.