St James Closing

[Anne Steiner]

This makes me so sad. I am not a member of St. James, but it sits at the top of my street like a jewel. I know the 'Church' is not a building, but I can't imagine it being anything else. Loft Condos? A resturant? Another demoninations building? Torn down? uggh...the thought sickens me.....So I'll pray as hard as I can, for our friends at St. James.

[David Lay]

Last June, Jennie & I got married at St. Wendelin, a church in Ohio City that is also closing. St. Wendelin, along with St. James, have a long history in her family.

The Diocese also closed St. Augustine Academy where she attended high school.

It's almost as if a large chunk of our Catholic identity is now gone.

[c. dawson]

I saw this happen in Pennsylvania about a decade or so ago, when I was working there with the National Park Service. In that case, the local diocese closed churches that were often the ONLY churches in these small towns. It was heartbreaking ... but also interesting to see that some of these parishes didn't give up without a fight. In one case I know, the entire parish pretty much up and quit the Catholic church, bought a nearby building in the new town, and invited the Polish National Church to come in, and they set up a new parish. Naturally, the local diocese excommunicated them all, as one cannot defy the hierarchy of the church, but the locals didn't care. Their parish was their community, and they saw no reason why some distant bishop should decide their fate. And frankly, the Polish National Church follows Roman Catholic rites for the most part ... but there's a key difference; they believe the parish owns the church building they are in, and they believe that priests can marry. http://www.pncc.org/

I do find it odd that to even have St. James created in the first place, Lakewood catholics had to petition the Bishop to set up a new parish. Once he accepted, the locals had to raise ALL the money, and have the church built, without any financial help from the diocese. In some cases of these churches slated to be closed, the parishoners built much of the churches THEMSELVES. Meanwhile, in the end, the diocese owns the church and the land, and can close and demolish the church anytime they feel like it. Of course, this was a big problem among the Polish, who felt if they paid all their money to build a church, then they should own it as well ... thus the splitting off and starting the Polish National Church.

I hope St. James does not go away ... it's a landmark in Lakewood, the anchor of our neighobrhood, and should be preserved. I hope another congregation can some day afford to buy it and keep it as a house of worship, though I'm not optimistic. The Diocese will likely never sell the building to anyone but another faith's congregation. The Diocese of Pittsburgh mistakenly sold a closed church to a developer, who turned it into a brewpub, and the PR hit from that was pretty major. So I don't envision St. James being turned into condos like the protestant church in Cleveland Heights. Unfortunately I think over the next decade, most of these closed churches will just be demolished, and some of the most beautiful architecture in Cleveland will be lost for all time.

And the saddest thing for the diocese is that ultimately, I think their actions this weekend will spur many more people to leave the Catholic church.

[David Anderson]

Does anyone know how the closing of St. James impacts the St. James child care center which, I believe, operates across the street to the north?

[Jim O'Bryan]

The Diocese also closed St. Augustine Academy where she attended high school.

David

I think the Diocese just found another group within the church to pay more money for renting the property.

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[ryan costa]

it is sad to hear it is closing. The Churches help fill the community needs of spiritual people.

About 40 or 50 years ago many more people made enough money to move to the ex-urbs and eventually become republicans.

A friend of mine blamed the Vatican II for the explosion in child molestation charges against the Roman Catholic Church. I did not see the correlation. The Anglicans don't have this problem to anything approaching the degree the roman catholics have. I suspect it is because the Anglican Clergy do not have to be men with a deep calling to not have romance or fun with women. I suspect Vatican II merely made it more difficult for priests to get away with child molesting.

[John Guscott]

For those of you on Facebook, we started a group where people can reminisce and post pictures of their memories of St. James.

My mother and her siblings all went to school at SJS, my parents were married there, all of my siblings and I went to SJS, and I was also married there, so I have a lot of memories of that parish.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/grou ... 677&ref=mf

I can't imagine what they can do with the property now. It's a prime location for redevelopment, but what a shame to tear it down for that. Maybe in 10-15 years when the RCC has to downsize again in Lakewood, the diocese can move all the other parishes here?

Bleak thought, but, what if?

[ryan costa]

the old urban churches are generally much more impressive than can be built today. than are built today. either sell it to some other denomination or to some millionaire who wants it to be their private castle.

[Bill Call]

I can't imagine what they can do with the property now. It's a prime location for redevelopment, but what a shame to tear it down for that. Maybe in 10-15 years when the RCC has to downsize again in Lakewood, the diocese can move all the other parishes here?

Bleak thought, but, what if?

Don't be so pessimistic.

It would be a crime to tear down the church. Worse than a crime it would be a mistake.

The Church could be a regional (Lakewood?) Church. If the church was partnered with a meeting center, party center, community center, paid parking lot it could be a money maker. Would people pay to get married there?

Some of the most attractive buildings in Lakewood are its church's. While they might have limited life as a Church a little imagination and investment could give them new life. It would be a shame to see the finest structures in the City torn down leaving only those ugly store front apartment buildings.

[William George]

I went to a meeting of the parishioners last night. Here are some answers to your questions.

Mayor Ed showed up. He had a hand delivered letter sent to the Bishop. In the letter, he urged the Bishop to change his mind. He told them how much of a negative impact it would have in our city. He had an economic feasability study completed and mentioned the results in his letter. He supported us 120% - Thank you Mayor!!!!!

The Mayor also dispelled any rumors about this being connected with the SS office. No relation, totally seperate transaction.

The Bishop was wishy washy in a generic letter he sent to all Catholics in closing churchs. It was hog wash. No specifics on why they picked St James.

The roof was not a reason, or so Father Weigand was told. In the past, parisioners have paid for all repairs with fund raisers. 7 years ago, we raised over $1MM for building repairs/improvements.

Father Weigan will be appealing the decision. Many many people had things to say last night that will be communicated to the Bishop.

St James is a vitale force behind LCA. If it goes, look for LCA attendance to decrease. Also, it does not seem that St James is a money loser. It may have dwindled in parishioners, but the ones left are still active and vitale and the church can support itself. I won't get into numbers, but from what was said last night, the church remits appoximately 10% of it's annual collections to the diocese. It is believed that the Bishop is trying to consolidate to create stronger churchs. But this method may backfire on him. He may feel that with the same number of people going to fewer buildings, remitance to the Diocese will increase as overall expenses decrease.

Apparently, there is a law in Ohio that says all property remains under the control of the Bishop.

As far as child care, it all depends on what the Bishop has in mind for the property. As Mayor Ed mentioned in his letter, the cost to dismantel St James will be prohibitive to any potential investor/developer.

There is so much history behind the 102 year old church. I'm sure many of you have read about the marble and other materials used in building St James. This is a historic building.

I was baptized there in 1964. My kids were baptized there as well, along with my wife. I was married there. My dad was a lay minister for 30 years there and served as the president of the Holy Names society for 10+ years. It has made me sick. I can't imagine it being gone. I may consider leaving the Catholic religion as a final straw to many failures I've seen. I'm just very disapointed. We were all encouraged to write letters to the Bishop. Mine went out this morning.

I suppose we could win the appeal, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Thanks for all the kind words.

[David Lay]

I went to a meeting of the parishioners last night. Here are some answers to your questions.

Mayor Ed showed up. He had a hand delivered letter sent to the Bishop. In the letter, he urged the Bishop to change his mind. He told them how much of a negative impact it would have in our city. He had an economic feasability study completed and mentioned the results in his letter. He supported us 120% - Thank you Mayor!!!!!

Seconded. Thank you, Mayor Fitzgerald.

[Bill Call]

He had an economic feasability study completed and mentioned the results in his letter.

Can you tell us the conclusions of the feasability study?

[Mike Deneen]

I still don't understand the logic of this plan.

If this plan goes through, there will be three Catholic churches in Lakewood, all of which are east of Warren Avenue. From a logistical standpoint, that seems a bad model for any organization. I highly doubt that Lakewood's Catholic population is skewed toward the eastern end of town.

The diocese has targeted many of the larger, architecturally iconic churches (St. James, St. Colman, St. Ignatius). I presumed that was because these buildings are too expensive to maintain.

These buildings will become white elephants. The cost of tearing down these giant structures will be prohibitive, and its hard to imagine any alternative use for these buildings.

[William George]

Basically, the conclusion said: of all the Catholic Churches in Lakewood, the St James site would be the least likely desirable for economic development. A potential buyer would be apprehensive to purchase it since demolition costs would be exhorbinant. If the Bishops intention is to gain revenue from the sale of properties, he should think twice about trying to sell St James.

Hopefully, the Bishop does not already have a buyer.

I wish no disrespect or unfortune to any other parish. I just strongly feel the building and property are the best ones in Lakewood and deserve saving. There are several older buildings on the list. Coincidence?

[ryan costa]

they will have to sell or lease the church buildings they deactivate to other congregations.

Reverend Moon has a lot of money. So does the vineyard congregation. The Anglicans are nearly the same as Catholics: but they might now have much money.