Will Old St. Joseph Church Remain?

SEA ISLE CITY – Change is a central part of life, said Rev. Joseph Perreault, pastor of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 4308 Landis Ave.
“Like any community, this parish is a living entity, and that implies change,” he said. Individuals and organizations must adapt to changing circumstances in order to survive.
The Catholic parish in the center of Sea Isle City is participating in a diocese-wide initiative called “Catholic Strong,” which hopes to raise about $50 million over the next five years to revitalize parishes throughout South Jersey.
“We’re trying to revitalize all of our parishes. The goal is to have each parish look at its present needs and what it anticipates to be its future needs,” Perreault said in a recent interview.
Clergy and parishioners at St. Joseph have met locally on the project for about five months, trying to take an honest look at what the parish needs now, and what it will need in the future.
According to Perreault, those participating sought to look at facts and anticipate the future.
“The first step in that process was to develop a case study, to see what that data set in motion for providing services to the parish and the community,” Perreault said. “It is by definition future-oriented.”
Some longtime members of the parish fear losing sight of the past. Part of the changes under consideration includes demolishing the century-old building that used to serve as the parish church to make way for a spiritual life center. 
Beloved Church
Michael McHale is a well-known figure in Sea Isle City. He’s a former mayor and served on both the former commission form of government and the new City Council.
He’s also a retired school teacher who’s come to Sea Isle City since 1950, moving to the small barrier island community in 1976.
Along with Tom Henry, another longtime resident and parish member, he helped raise money for a new church building connected to the old church. That $7-million church was dedicated in 2011, with seating for 1,300 and many more modern amenities. For comparison, the old church seated 225.
“We needed a new church, no doubt about it,” McHale said.
In the summer, there are about 1,000 people attending each of the four Masses each Sunday, with an additional Mass celebrated Saturday.
But the understanding throughout the planning for the new church was that the old church would remain, to be used for weddings, special events and other uses.
According to McHale, a vast majority of those who contributed to the new church fund wanted to see the old church preserved.
Henry was just a child when he first attended Mass at St. Joseph in 1945, when his family was summer residents. He said he attended that church each summer for decades.
“We got married in that church. Our children were baptized in that church, and two of them were also married in that church. Our grandchildren were baptized in that church,” Henry said.
He and McHale were parish trustees when the new church was under consideration. They were on the Finance Committee. From the start, he said, there was a commitment to preserve the old building. 
McHale offered newspaper clippings as proof, with stories in the Press of Atlantic City and the Catholic Star Herald quoting Perreault as saying the former church would remain in use.
When St. Joseph parish was founded in 1884, Sea Isle City was essentially a fishing village. In 1905, what was a small chapel was raised, becoming the top of the church, beginning to resemble the building there today. The front steps were added in the 1940s, according to McHale.
He said a meeting is planned at Community Lodge on JFK starting 10 a.m. Aug. 25.
“It’s our history. It’s the history of the community,” McHale said. 
Larger Initiative
To only look at the potential demolition means missing the larger picture, according to Perreault.
“They’re focusing on part of the case study,” he said. “I’m not saying that they don’t have a right to do that, but to fully appreciate what we’re attempting to do, I think you have to read the whole case study.”
The parish released a “Cause for Support” statement that identified four areas of consideration for the Catholic Strong campaign.
They include updating technology at the parish, including cameras that will allow Mass to be live-streamed to members who cannot attend due to illness or other reasons, expanding the senior ministry in the face of an aging congregation, improvements to the auditorium and the spiritual life center.
The old church is rarely used and faces serious problems, Perreault said.
“We propose to repurpose the site to create an energy-efficient, intimate Spiritual Life Center to better serve our parish community,” reads the statement.
“The new building will complement the new church and serve as a place for fellowship, gathering, and meeting.”
There is limited space available to the island parish, Perreault said.
“We’re not like some parishes that have sprawling grounds,” he said. The parish has some parking, but not enough.
He argued that that old church is rarely used. Besides, the current finance board has recommended against putting money into the building, citing structural concerns and the lack of accessibility for those using wheelchairs or with limited mobility. 
Back and Forth
In an Aug. 13 letter to Diocese of Camden Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, released to the paper, McHale alleged that Perreault failed to maintain the historic church, beyond minor repairs.
“Please understand that the reason the church was not utilized is because the church was not maintained and parishioners were denied the use of the church facility for all parish organizations,” McHale wrote.
In an interview, McHale alleged that organizations have been kept from using the old building.
“That is not accurate,” said Perreault. The former church was used for overflow during the busiest Masses of the summer. But the number of requests to use the church for weddings and other events has dropped since the new building opened.
“We haven’t had a wedding there in many years. With the exception of one coming up we don’t have any planned in the future,” he said.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Camden, under which Sea Isle City falls, said the diocese has no authority over what individual parishes do with their buildings and that he had not seen plans for the new community center.
A video created by the diocese to introduce the Catholic Strong initiative ties it to a call from Pope Francis for renewed faith and for Catholics to be active in their communities, particularly in helping the poor and marginalized.
“Funds from Catholic Strong will also enable the diocese to meet growing needs not currently supported by traditional funding sources,” states the voice-over in the video. “Helping those on the peripheries, healthcare support and addiction healing programs across southern New Jersey will empower communities, strengthen families and change the world.”
About 80 percent of the money will be returned to the parishes, according to the diocese.
St. Joseph’s plans to raise more than $1 million as part of the drive, which would mean more than $800,000 for local projects including the Spiritual Life Center. 
McHale argues that the former church could be rehabilitated for a fraction of that cost.
According to Perreault, demolition is not around the corner.
“A lot depends on the success of the drive. A project like this, nobody wants to hurry into and then say ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda.’ A combination of variables needs to come together. There is no immediate plan to do any of this,” he said.
Perreault came to Sea Isle City in 2009, and has spent 43 years as a priest, working in the Diocese of Camden throughout his career.
Discussion on what to do with the former church began three years ago and is not over yet. He promised it was not something the parish would hurry into.
“It was not an impulsive decision,” Perreault said.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.