ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Longtime parishioners of St. Andrew Catholic Church in the Lemay area gathered in the pews Wednesday night to share memories and a prayer of lament.
“In a land where faith was strong, stood a parish proud and long. Named for St. Andrew’s guiding light, a beacon shining through the night. ... As we bid farewell in sorrow, we’ll keep your memory bright tomorrow.â€
The parish founded in 1905 is one of 34 that will permanently close on Tuesday in the largest restructuring in the history of the Archdiocese of ºüÀêÊÓƵ. While the churches are to remain open for worship, the parish names and geographic boundaries will disappear. Another 15 parishes will be merged into five new parishes with different names. Sacramental records will transfer to the archdiocese.
The implementation phase of the downsizing plan called “All Things New†will also see the reassignment of 155 priests. There are 27 groups of two or more parishes that will share a lead pastor.
People are also reading…
In Lemay, St. Mark will absorb the boundaries and finances of St. Andrew, St. Bernadette, St. Martin of Tours and St. Matthias to form the sixth largest parish out of 135 in the archdiocese. A temporary schedule to ease the transition indicates all weekday and five weekend Masses will be celebrated at St. Mark, with one weekend Mass at each of the other four churches through the end of the year.
While parishioners are encouraged to change their registrations, it will not be automatic. Their offertory checks can go in the old envelopes, but they must be made out to the new parish.
“What you will bring to the new parish is the spirit of St. Andrew. You owe it to your history, to yourselves and to your children to keep that spirit alive,†the Rev. Allen Boedeker said at the gathering Wednesday. Boedeker, who came to St. Andrew as a deacon in 2001, will become an associate pastor at St. Mark.
There were plenty of tears as St. Andrew’s parishioners passed the microphone to share their memories and inside jokes. Many in the crowd of 60 graduated in the 1950s from St. Andrew Catholic School, which closed in 2003.
“So many became successful and did things for the world and not just themselves,†said Lee Burkemper, class of 1952.
Now in their 70s and 80s, the St. Andrew classmates mourned the loss of their parish and a bygone era, when nuns watched from the convent as hordes of children walked to school along Hoffmeister Avenue.
There was the time schoolboys were shooting BB guns at pigeons on the church roof. Sister Oliver soon ran outside, dazzled them with her own marksmanship, then told them to scram. On another day in the churchyard, some hapless kid’s pants were hoisted up the flagpole. The parish once had bowling lanes, dance shows and a drum corps. Mothers baked oatmeal cookies with the nuns every Christmas.
“It was just a real community,†Burkemper said.
Still changes to come
While several churches in closing parishes will continue to host at least one Mass a week, commemorations will be held around the archdiocese this weekend before the changes start Aug. 1.
St. Barnabas in O’Fallon, Missouri, will be converted to a new Hispanic parish called St. Juan Diego. On Sunday, St. Barnabas will host a “Bounce Out†event after the final Mass with a bounce house, balloon artist and tractor pull.
“Go like a Barnabas, by wave, turmoil, fuss — tossed. We hope, we pray, we fear. Yet, God is ever dear,†the Rev. Linus Dolce wrote in for St. Barnabas printed in the final bulletin. Dolce has said he will return to the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Abbey.
About 80 parish jobs from secretaries to music directors were eliminated through a combination of layoffs, retirements and transfers. One of the few remaining parish nurses, Peggy Baker at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne in Florissant, will retire but continue to host exercise classes and blood drives on the church campus. Sacred Heart in Florissant is taking on the parishes of St. Rose and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson after they close.
Other changes coming to closing parishes:
• Immaculate Conception in Maplewood will keep its community food pantry open after being absorbed by St. Mary Magdalen in Brentwood.
• St. John the Baptist and Immaculate Heart of Mary will host separate prayer groups, fundraisers and social clubs for the near future after merging into St. Stephen Protomartyr in south ºüÀêÊÓƵ. The choirs of the three parishes will combine.
• This month, St. Nicholas parish in downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ hosted its last St. Ann Novena, held for the past 97 years.
The timeline for changes will be slower for the more complicated process of merging 15 parishes into five new parishes. St. David and Immaculate Conception in Arnold will keep their current Mass schedule for the next six weeks, with new times and locations to be determined.
Parishioners have completed first-round voting for a new name for the merged parish of Holy Name of Jesus in Bellefontaine Neighbors, and St. Angela Merici and St. Norbert near Florissant. Finalists include Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Victoria. A final round of voting will take place by the end of the month.
Three south city parishes merging into one will host their traditional events for at least this calendar year, including the homecoming festival at St. Joan of Arc, craft fair at St. Mary Magdalen and breakfast with Santa at Our Lady of Sorrows.
The Mass schedule will include Sundays at all three churches except for one weekend in September, October and November when Mass will be held at one of the three. The limbo period without a name or main worship site is likely to last at least through June 2024, said the Rev. Brad Modde, the new pastor who plans to keep three offices and work out of each location at least one day a week.
Another element of uncertainty is tied to the Vatican, which has received a handful of appeals from parishioners over the closures. The appeal process through canon law can take years to complete.
At least one closing parish, St. Roch in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, decided to recruit volunteer priests to celebrate Mass while awaiting a decision.