Pastor: Church Can Stay if Preservationists Find the Money

SEA ISLE CITY – St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 4308 Landis Ave., has been a center for Sea Isle City’s Catholic community since the resort began as a tiny fishing village. With a much larger, newer building erected next door, a proposal to raze the old building has divided the close-knit faith community.
Residents fighting to save the 135-year-old church building gathered Sept. 21 at the city’s community meeting room inside the welcome center. Organizers of the effort sounded ready to play hardball.
Michael McHale said the group has filed a formal complaint with the state Attorney General’s Office alleging consumer fraud on the part of the local diocese. 
He alleges that the church sought donations for the new building with the promise that the old church would be maintained. The efforts brought in millions of dollars.
“In the state of New Jersey, there’s a consumer fraud law. You know, the bait-and-switch,” McHale said. “We asked them to give a determination. What do they think, is this legal or illegal? What can we do? We’re asking for the state to step in and tell us what we can do.”
That happened just before the meeting, McHale said. It’s the latest development in a year-long dispute over the future of the building and parish.
“When we heard back in August of last year that the church was going to be torn down, a group of people met and decided we had to fight. The church meant so much to the community,” said Tom Henry, one of the organizers of the pro-preservation group.
McHale, a former mayor and Sea Isle City Council member, has been one of the most visible advocates for preserving the old church. They were joined by Andrew Bednarek and Michael Boyle at the front of the hall.
“Everything that you do helps preserve and protect this sacred structure from being demolished or from falling into further disrepair,” Bednarek said, thanking those involved in the preservation effort through donations, advocacy and writing letters.
Those advocating preserving the church have appealed to the church hierarchy, asking the building be saved. So far, officials with the archdiocese have said decisions about buildings are up to the local parishes.
The group also wants to have the building included in state and federal registers of historic places. They reached out to preservation groups.
About 80 people attended the meeting. Many described their deep connection to the old church, citing the sacraments they have taken there, including baptism, first communion, weddings and the funerals of their family members.
Father Joseph Perreault sought to strike a conciliatory tone Sept. 23. The pastor said the old church could stay if its supporters were able to raise enough money to address the issues with the building and cover the cost of future maintenance.
“There is a small group that obviously has some very strong feelings about the matter. I can’t say they represent the entire parish,” Perreault said. “We’re attempting to respond to their concerns.”
He indicated that the efforts have not been very successful.
He’s asked that donations be made to the parish, clearly designated as being for the restoration of the former church. So far, he said, only about $1,500 has come in, far less than what would be required to fund the work.
The group seeking to save the church is also raising money. At the meeting, Henry said they’ve brought in more than $50,000 through the ongoing effort.
“We’re getting the money. We’re trying to spend it as prudently as possible. We’re starting to find out that lawyers are expensive,” Henry said.
Perreault suggested those funds should be turned over to the parish. If, in the end, the church is not saved, he said, the money would be returned.
The dispute has cut deeply into the town’s Catholic community. At the meeting, preservationists mentioned anger over blue lawn signs that can be found around town, supporting the restoration of the old church. One can be found a few houses away from the new church, planted in a small patch of grass in front of a screened-in porch.
Matching cards handed out at the meeting include the address of a website –saveourhistoricstjosephschurch.org – and an appeal for funding, along with the warning not to include the name St. Joseph Church on the checks, citing “legal reasons.”
McHale began the meeting with a prayer for help saving the old church.
“We want to work with the parish,” he said.
McHale said he found out the day before that their organization’s application for tax-exempt status was accepted.
“We’re legal,” Bednarek said at the meeting.
According to Perreault, the new church was an unequivocal necessity.
The new church was dedicated in 2011, built at a cost of about $7 million. The former church could hold 225 people. The new one fits 1,300, with more amenities.
Masses on the summer weekends draw more than 1,000 people. For a time, masses were celebrated in several places around the island, but there are no longer enough priests available for that to be feasible.
He said the parish needed a single place where worshipers could gather in one place.
Both McHale and Henry said they formerly served on the parish council. They said they helped raise money for the new church, and well understand the need, but their fundraising efforts always included the caveat that the old building would remain in some capacity. Many donors insisted on that, they said.
At the meeting, Boyle argued that the new church’s zoning approval was as an addition to the old church, to which it remains connected. He said they remain technically one building.
Last summer, Perreault told the Herald that the proposed demolition was part of an overall revitalization effort to allow the parish to meet the needs of the community now and into the future. Under that plan, the site would become a new, modern spiritual life center.
In previous interviews, Perreault has stated the old church needs extensive work before it would be safe to use.
“If this group would wish to keep the church, they would need to raise the necessary funds for its repair and maintenance. Our parish is not in a position to honor our legitimate debt to the diocese for the building of the new church to fund the needed renovations and upkeep,” Perreault said. He said the parish council, the finance committee, and others want to settle the issue and beginning in February began to modify plans for the parish. “We collectively see that as meeting this smaller group more than halfway.”
McHale said his group wants to reach an agreement as well, but suggested parish officials have not cooperated, including preventing a mold expert the group had hired from entering the building.
“When we asked him about a compromise, he did not have one. When we stated that this could end up in court, he said ‘that’s what usually happens in these situations,’ and that we would be hearing something,” McHale said.
Henry had stated that parish officials were welcome at the meeting. Perreault said he was not invited, but added that he could not have come because he was officiating at a funeral that morning.
He said there is no timetable for demolishing the old section of the church building. From the start, he said, the effort was part of a long-term plan projected over five to 10 years.
To contact Bill Barlow, email bbarlow@cmcherald.com.