Op Ed: Why Dismantle a Thriving Neighborhood Church?

Contributed

The congregation at Erie's St. Andrew Church is reeling after a series of decisions from the Bishop to merge St. Andrew and St. Jude, despite a budget surplus, a participatory body of parishioners, and vibrant community outreach programs.

Yes, U.S. Roman Catholic Churches are losing members. Yes, the priest shortage is real. Yes, some churches are going to have to close. But, the multi-year siege on Erie's St. Andrew Parish at West Seventh and Raspberry is unjustified. 

St. Andrew, the last anchor of Christian faith in the city's Fourth Ward, has continually met its mission to be a house of worship that provides crucial neighborhood ministries and hosts free community events. Through last year, St. Andrew's finances were solid, blessed with income gained from renting the former school and rectory, the parish sustained a healthy budget surplus. Buildings were maintained, parish life was vibrant, and most importantly, church attendance was growing. 

A review of recent events is in order. Things began to change in November of 2021 when, with no apparent precipitating cause, an idea was proposed: give the St. Andrew property to a non-profit and transfer St. Andrew's cash assets to another parish. The proposal faced strong opposition, the Bishop intervened, and the proposal was withdrawn. 

In 2022, in response to the upheaval and the teachings of Vatican II, and to create greater awareness of St. Andrew's importance to the Catholic community, a group of St. Andrew parishioners formed a revitalization movement: Forward in Faith. It engaged fellow parishioners to evangelize the community and support the management of the parish. Many parishioners enthusiastically helped initiate new ministries and expand existing ones: the food pantry was enriched with vegetables grown in a parish garden funded by the Ladies Guild, public events such as picnics, Our West Bayfront Porchfest, concerts, building tours, golf outings, and spaghetti dinners attracted visitors and door to door evangelization, yard signs, and mailings increased attendance at mass. 

In the light of these accomplishments, St. Andrew parishioners were taken aback by the Bishop's April 2024 Decree announcing the decision to merge St. Andrew Parish with St. Jude. The merger transferred St. Andrew's cash and campus to St. Jude's control and called for an end to Sunday masses at St. Andrew – a change that dealt a blow to the heart of St. Andrew's faith community.

In response to the decree, a St. Andrew parishioner filed an official appeal to the Vatican. Other lay leaders and members of the parish council met with the Bishop to discuss the decree. Upon review, the Bishop issued a revised decree, which upheld the merger but restored Sunday Mass at St. Andrew Church. However, the appeal was rejected on a technicality of Canon Law. The result of this procedural complexity is that the injustices outlined in the appeal were not properly or reasonably considered. 

Ignoring guidelines for merging churches, efforts to unilaterally dismantle St. Andrew Parish began in July 2024. Locks were changed, phone service ended, the website was closed, the daily mass chapel was taken apart, the monthly 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration was moved, the Ladies Guild was renamed and relocated, and a long-time employee of St. Andrew was dismissed after decades of service. Most significantly, and with seemingly no discussion, the long tradition of St. Andrew's 11 a.m. Sunday mass was rescheduled to 7:15 a.m., a decision that caused mass attendance to drop by nearly 70 percent.

New leadership did not share a budget or plan collaboratively. It was not until September 2024 that St. Andrew lay leaders were granted a meeting to discuss these changes and the plans for the parish. Of great concern, the current tenant of St. Andrew's former School, a tenant that has generated a stable income for the parish for many years, reportedly had their lease curtailed despite their desire for a longer tenancy. Perhaps this is not surprising since realtors and architects toured the facilities before the merger was in effect. 

Given these actions, it seems there are plans for St. Andrew's campus, but St. Andrew parish representatives have been refused input or information about those plans. Lay leaders of St. Andrew who volunteered to serve on the St. Jude Pastoral Council and Finance Committee were rejected. Instead, individuals who have scant, if any knowledge of St. Andrew, including at least one representative who was not even a parishioner, now oversee planning for the future of the parish.

Founded in 1871, the historic St. Andrew site, which includes the church, rectory, shrine, garage, and school building along West Sixth Street, were nominated in October 2024 for protection by Erie's Historic Review Commission (HRC). Days before the nomination was to be reviewed in City Hall, one nominator was informed that the agenda item would be downgraded, reportedly following a call to the now departed City historic preservation planner from a Diocesan attorney. In response, the nomination was withdrawn and immediately resubmitted for review at the December HRC meeting. Instead, the St. Andrew site nomination remained in limbo for months.

What is behind the effort to dismantle St. Andrew Parish? It is hoped that St. Andrew's role in the lives of generations of West Bayfront families is not being reduced to its cash value. 

Several sources report that plans are underway to sell the former St. Andrew School and annex. A sale would eliminate community meeting spaces and surgically isolate the church from its supporting campus, potentially dooming its financial future. Representatives of the St. Andrew community are supposed to be a part of the two groups that must vote to support a sale, and yet there are no real representatives of St. Andrew in either group. This entire process appears to conflict with the Bishop's stated intent and should be blocked. If the sale must go through, the complete sale price, along with the $400,000 in cash assets St. Andrew Parish held at the time of the merger, should be invested in a million-dollar endowment to maintain and improve the St. Andrew church, shrine, rectory, and garage. 

We know that the Roman Catholic Church is not a democracy. We also know equally well that the actions and speech of all Catholics are never to bring scandal to God's Church. Complex, opaque decision making processes that demoralize the faith lives of a hardworking and longstanding congregation and unilateral dealing with the assets of a historic Erie faith institution all give rise to scandal. The effect of which is to drive away many faithful Catholics. 

Perhaps there is solace and hope in our new Pope Leo XIV's inspirational May 8 remarks that encouraged the involvement of the laity – all worshipers – in decision-making when he stated, "we want to be a synodal church . . ."

Through this op-ed, we do not intend to disparage the men whom God has called to be his priests and bishops. Instead, we sincerely hope to educate the community, the Roman Catholic laity, and the Diocesan decision makers. We hope, and pray, that these leaders will be guided by the Holy Spirit to reverse past wrongs, to heal division, and to allow St. Andrew to be a stand-alone parish church, or a full partner with another church, and give parishioners the opportunity to work with Church leaders willing to grow, rather than dismantle, this crucial "beacon of Christ" in Erie's West Bayfront. 

 
Local businessman, Martin Farrell, served on St. Andrew's Finance Committee. A generational parish member, Farrell's parents joined St. Andrew in the late 1960s making the church the center of their family's faith life. Martin was an altar boy, a graduate of St. Andrew School, and, like his siblings, received his sacraments at St. Andrew Church.

Educational administrator James (Jim) Vieira served as the President of St. Andrew's Pastoral Council. He, along with his siblings, is a graduate of St. Andrew's School. Jim and his brother, along with their children, were all altar servers. His great-grandfather, Joao (John) M. Vincent, in 1870, led a Catholic group that approached Bishop Mullen to request the establishment of a westernmost parish. When the original church burned down in 1896, masses continued to be held at the Vincent family home known as Vincent Hall, located on West 6th Street, until the current church was rebuilt. His mother, Audrey, served as St. Andrew Parish secretary from 1978 to 1997.