By Kim Mulford
Courier-Post
August 17, 2008
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080817/NEWS01/808170347/1006
CAMDEN — About 20 parishioners from St. Bartholomew Church in Camden say they were slowly accepting Bishop Joseph Galante's plan to merge their historically black congregation with St. Joan of Arc in Fairview until some of them visited Mass at the mostly white and Hispanic church in late April.
Rather than nurturing a new relationship between the two churches, the parishioners said the worship service exposed wounds carved long ago.
Some said St. Joan congregants did not drink from the communal cup during the Eucharist. And during the sign of the peace, a point in the service when Catholics typically greet one another, some visitors from St. Bartholomew said they received a cold shoulder.
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| Parishioners of St. Bartholomew's Church feel they were given the cold shoulder at St. Joan of Arc |
"People would not even turn to us and acknowledge that we were even there," said Charlene A. Morris, a 62-year member of St. Bartholomew and a Bellmawr resident. "There was no recognition."
Now concerned about losing their parish's cultural identity and sense of fellowship, some St. Bartholomew parishioners are asking Galante to reconsider his plan. In response to a priest shortage, Galante announced April 3 a reorganization of the diocese that would trim the number of parishes from 124 to 66, mostly through mergers. Under that plan, St. Bartholomew would merge with St. Joan; St. Joan would become the worship site. The new parish would then cluster or share a priest with Sacred Heart Church in Camden. This month, the diocese is set to appoint priest conveners to oversee each parish merger.
In a June 23 letter responding to St. Bartholomew parishioners, Galante said both churches would remain open as worship sites, rather than just St. Joan as originally stated. And the newly formed parish would remain "established for the life and faith of the Black Catholic community of the Diocese of Camden."
But that response has not soothed some members of St. Bartholomew.
The merger between St. Bartholomew and St. Joan is an example of how difficult it can be to bring two churches of different races together, even in 2008, experts say.
Across the country, more churches are becoming multi-ethnic and multicultural, said Kathleen Garces-Foley, associate professor of religious studies at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., who studied multicultural churches.
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| Father Gerard Marable, pastor of St. Bartholomew delivers his homily Saturday at St. Joan. Some St. Joan parishioners says hard feelings stem from a misunderstanding. |
"This forced merger is the hardest, I think, because people don't have a sense of power or ownership in the decision to be in a diverse church," she said.
Andrew Walton, diocese spokesman, said planning committees from both churches recommended the merger.
"The joining together of parish communities does not happen automatically or overnight, but over time. . . ," Walton said. "Bishop Galante has listened to the people of these parishes and has heard their concerns. He anticipates being able to address their concerns to their satisfaction in the near future."
For their part, St. Joan parishioners contacted for this story expressed shock and sadness by the opposition.
A survey of St. Joan parishioners taken in February found more than 70 percent preferred a merger with St. Bartholomew over any other parish, according to Steve Pipito, chairman of the planning committee at St. Joan.
"St. Joan has opened its doors to anyone and everyone," Pipito said. "Our parish transcends our ethnic or cultural differences and celebrates the commonality: our Catholic heritage."
Rife with problems
After months of joint effort, planning committees from both parishes recommended the merger to the diocese, Pipito wrote in a lengthy e-mail.
According to Rhoda Trinity, the planning committee chairwoman from St. Bartholomew, it was agreed to preserve the cultural identify of St. Bartholomew.
The committees recommended the combined parish should have: an "Afro-centric theme," a black pastor or a pastor trained to deal with racial and multicultural issues, a Gospel-style Mass on Sunday morning, expanded community outreach in both neighborhoods and a Spanish Mass to be held at a later time in the day.
When Galante confirmed the reconfiguration in early April, the response from St. Joan parishioners was overwhelmingly supportive, Pipito said.
"I honestly believed that nearly all parishioners of both parishes were in agreement with this merger," Pipito said. "It came as quite a shock to me when I learned otherwise."
Trinity, a Camden native who now lives in Washington Township, said the planning process was thorough and that the diocese listened to the laity's concerns. But she has also heard the objections from her fellow parishioners.
"I think it's because they don't want to lose where they are, their building," Trinity said. "
Since the announcement, the merger process between the two parishes has been rife with problems, parishioners from both congregations say.
On June 12, the newly organized Concerned Parishioners of St. Bartholomew sent a letter to Galante, asking him to reconsider his intentions. The letter pointed out the church's history as a black parish, its service to the surrounding neighborhood and its numerous ministries as evidence that it is a vibrant parish.
In addition, the parishioners said they believed some information used in the planning process was flawed, including attendance figures and financial data. If absolutely necessary, the members stated, the parishioners were prepared to cluster or share a priest with St. Joan, so that St. Bartholomew's history, identity and church can be preserved.
"We understand the diocese has to make changes in order to meet the needs of all in the diocese," the letter stated. "But no one church should be singled out as being more unessential than another. And by no means should one church be singled out to be sacrificed to save another."
In a June 23 letter, Galante responded that there had been some miscommunication regarding the proposed merger. He said both churches would remain open as worship sites and both would retain their own names.
"As you write, St. Bartholomew's was established and has maintained its mission to serve the black Catholic community within a specific portion of the Diocese of Camden," Galante wrote. "I assure you that the proposed merger intends to not only acknowledge, embrace and endorse this mission, but also to strengthen this mission into the future."
Walton said it was the bishop's intention from the beginning that St. Bartholomew would remain open "because of its historical value as an African-American church."
Walton said the April 3 announcement referred to keeping St. Joan open as the seat of the parish. On April 4, Galante called Father Gerard Marable of St. Bartholomew to clarify that the Kaighn Avenue church would also remain open as a worship site.
But bishop's reassurances have not soothed members of the St. Bartholomew group, said Dawnn Briddell Horton of Winslow Township. They want to redo the planning process and examine financial records and data.
Some parishioners have said it is not financially feasible to keep both churches open. One church will eventually close, Horton said. They worry it will be St. Bartholomew, located in the Bergen Square section.
"We're being set up for failure," said Victor Green of Lawnside, a member of St. Bartholomew for 53 years and a former seminarian.
Some St. Bartholomew parishioners are also concerned how their arrival will affect the parishioners of St. Joan. They don't believe it is right to impose their way of worship on another congregation. With services comparable to historically black Protestant churches, St. Bartholomew worships in a way unfamiliar to some other Catholics, they said.
Its Mass stretches beyond the traditional hour and parishioners sing old spirituals.
"What's being asked of us is to go to someone else's house and attempt to have our way," Horton said.
For Pipito of St. Joan, the different style of worship service is not an issue..
"I think most St. Joan parishioners are looking forward to the infusion of life expected to come with the St. Bart's parishioners," Pipito said. "St. Bart's celebrations are very lively and their congregation is vibrant. We want our new merged parish to be vibrant, and thriving, and together we can enrich the lives of people in both communities."
Seeds from the past
The problems facing the merger of St. Bartholomew and St. Joan are likely rooted in history.
St. Bartholomew, a parish of 379 families, was established as a mission church in 1940 to give black Catholics in Camden a welcoming place to worship.
Before the church was built on Kaighn Avenue, Rachel Loveland Fisher, a 70-year-old resident of Cherry Hill, recalls standing at the back of churches in Camden as a young child because black parishioners were not allowed to sit in the pews.
"They refused my granddad, who used to be a slave," Fisher said. "I remember they wouldn't let him sit down, and if it was really crowded, they would make us go outside. They put us out on the steps."
"You weren't accepted," Fisher said. "The diocese soon realized blacks needed a church where they could worship, where they could feel comfortable."
In the 1940s, segregation was rampant in Camden -- even in churches, said regional historian Paul W. Schopp.
St. Bartholomew congregants also remember the history of Fairview, where St. Joan is situated.
It was once an exclusively white enclave, Schopp said. The bridge between Fairview and Morgan Village, where black families lived, was barricaded to keep people from crossing over.
It has since been named "The Fairview-Morgan Village Peace and Reconciliation Bridge" by the Bridge of Peace Community Church, a multicultural Lutheran church that stands beside it on the Fairview side. The neighborhood is 45 percent black, 38 percent white and 23 percent Hispanic (which can be any race), according the U.S. Census figures.
Though St. Joan was almost exclusively white 20 years ago, the 88-year-old parish is now a multi-ethnic congregation of about 435 families, including parishioners from African and Latin-American countries.
"St. Bart's celebrations are very lively and their congregation is vibrant," Pipito said. "We want our new merged parish to be vibrant, and thriving, and together we can enrich the lives of people in both communities."
Bridging the gap
What happened at that April Mass at St. Joan is subject to various interpretations.
It could have been the result of cultural differences, or racism or racial paranoia, said James Loewen, a Washington, D.C.-based sociologist and expert in race relations.
People sometimes act timidly around those of other races, he said, and that can lead to misperceptions.
"Given America's racial past, both sides have ample opportunity for misunderstanding," said Loewen, author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "Sundown Towns."
It may have been a case of misunderstanding, according to Trinity, who attended the same Mass and said she was welcomed.
"I didn't feel unwanted," said Trinity of St. Bartholomew. "If you go looking for negative, you're going to feel negative."
As for the St. Joan congregants who did not drink from the communal cup, Walton, the diocese spokesman, said that is not unusual.
"It's not required, and often parishioners, for any number of reasons, do not take the cup," Walton said. "That's true in every parish."
When Pena first joined St. Joan's 3 1/2 years ago, she also noticed few parishioners who attended Saturday Mass take the cup. She also noted St. Joan parishioners acknowledge only the people closest in proximity to them.
"I remember being surprised about this, coming from the Hispanic culture where you recognize as many people in the church as possible, even if it takes a long time," Pena said. "I am not defending these behaviors. I have simply accepted them as part of the culture at St. Joan's English-speaking Masses."
St. Bartholomew pastor Marable said he expects the congregations will come through the merger stronger and better. In the meantime, parishioners throughout the diocese are at different stages of dealing with feelings of anger, denial, acceptance and bargaining.
"Part of our Christian challenge is to work our way through those kinds of feelings so that we arrive at the stage of acceptance, re-engagement and bear witness to the good news, having gone through this experience," said Marable, who Saturday celebrated Mass at St. Joan for the vacationing Father Ken Hallahan. "I believe we have the faith and the hope and the love to see ourselves through this, with the power of the Holy Spirit."
Trinity said she, too, is optimistic the two congregations can merge. Sh said parishioners have to give it a chance and trust that it will work out. There are many details that need to be handled, she said, including financial issues, transportation and the naming of the new parish. But she believes the two congregations are stronger together than apart.
Walton, the diocese spokesman, said every merger is challenging in its own way.,
"It is always hard for parishioners, and even for pastors, because they value the good that they have now," Walton said. "Understandably, they do not want to lose what's distinctive about the parish and the special gifts of that parish. But these things are not lost in a merger."
Some St. Bartholomew parishioners are not so sure.
"We can relate spiritually better in our own cultural setting," said Reggie Hurdle of Sharon Hill, Pa., who has attended St. Bartholomew since 1945. "It's deeply embedded in our blood."
Reach Kim Mulford at (856) 251-3342 or kmulford@courierpostonline.com
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