December 26, 2024 at 8:31 a.m.
‘TRUST THE SPIRIT’
The end of the year has not been easy for the parishioners of St. James in North Creek.
In October, the parish announced that after 140 years, St. James would be closing its doors. The church roof was in desperate need of repairs, and with limited finances, it reached a point where sustaining operations were no longer feasible.
“We have to trust the Spirit,” said Father John O’Kane, pastor of the Northern Points Parish Cluster of St. James in North Creek, St. Isaac Jogues in Chestertown, and Blessed Sacrament in Bolton Landing. “Change is not easy, and we just have to go on with the St. James tradition in another new way.”
On Oct. 27, St. James held its final closing Mass in a packed church space. Dozens of families attended, many of whom have belonged to the church for decades. St. James’ organist has been playing for the parish’s Masses since she was a little girl. Joyce Parker, 80, has been a parishioner at the church since she was a toddler.
Father George Fleming, pastor of Corpus Christi in Round Lake and All Saints on the Hudson in Mechanicville-Stillwater, served at St. James from 1999-2006. Speaking at the closing Mass, Father Fleming said the day felt like a funeral: a mix of heartfelt goodbyes with the bittersweet recounting of fond memories everyone shared.
“I will miss the excitement of decorating the church for Christmas, setting up the Nativity around the altar, the joy of the festivities of celebrating the birth of our Lord, the Christmas giving tree and Midnight Mass,” said Annie Bulmer, parishioner.
“The people I spoke to were really grateful to have the closing liturgy,” Father Fleming said. “It was very bittersweet, but it was an opportunity to honor the past as well.”
Tom Cronin, Director of Evangelization and Strategic Planning, said that the decision to close the church was not made lightly. It was a painful situation that was driven by its unsustainable financial circumstances.
“It is an incredibly complex process and filled with emotion,” Cronin said, because “these structures are not just buildings, they’re sacred spaces. People from these communities have experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows of their lives in that church. Their kid’s baptisms, their own sacraments, their wedding or kid’s wedding, and then burying their loved ones.”
But still, under it all, was that glimmer of hope that we all look for in hard times. The hope that even though the church building may be gone, the love for St. James and the community it built will live forever.
“It’s almost like when you have to sell the family home,” Father Fleming said. “It doesn’t mean the family is gone, but the family home is gone, and that’s a big loss.”
St. James first opened in 1884 and assisted several mission churches around the area, including St. Charles Borromeo in Wevertown (closed in the mid-1970s), St. Pius X in Pottersville (closed in 2000), and St. John the Baptist in Chestertown (now St. Isaac Jogues in Chestertown-Hague.)
St. James was one of the three original parishes, along with St. Cecilia’s Church in Warrensburg and Sacred Heart Church in Lake George, that founded and sponsored the North Country Ministry, which serves many struggling families in northern Warren County.
In 1995, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard formed the Northern Points Cluster with Father Joseph O’Brien, which consisted of three parishes and two mission churches, all with one priest. Now, the cluster includes Blessed Sacrament in Bolton Landing and St. Isaac Jogues in Chestertown-Hague.
Father Fleming said that St. James’ closure reflects the “painful reality” that the larger church is in. “We need to pull our resources better so we can continue to serve the people, so sometimes that means less sites,” he said.
“We need to be hope-filled,” Cronin added. “This is a very complex process, very difficult and sad, but at this point, change is necessary for a more vibrant and stronger church.”
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