St. James Parish, Kansas, Ohio

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Our story leading up to and responding to closure:

On the evening of April 21^st, 2005, St. James was still what it had always been; busy, thriving, active, engaged, humble, unassuming, duty bound, cared for, and very much needed.  It was everything that a parish needs to be in order to be strong, and to be an asset to the Toledo Diocese and its bishop, Leonard Paul Blair.  But it was much more than that.  It was also everything that a community needs a parish to be, in order to live.  And it had just been given a death sentence. 

St James knew what a mistake it would be to close this vibrant and thriving parish.  On this evening, parishioners determined to be a church community, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.  For every hour of every day, someone would be in the parish, praying to Mary with a rosary made from the lumber of the old cross atop the bell tower to spare our church from closure.  What began that evening was a journey together that has deepened our faith, enriched our community, and broadened our view of the body of Christ, and the role that we all play in it.  The final Mass took place on June 26th, 2005.  The following Sunday, a weekly tradition that is upheld to this day began when the St. James community gathered for a prayer service.

Fast forward to January, 2006.  Since May 1^st of the previous year, a parishioner had been inside St. James praying for the church to be saved.  A group of St. James parishioners were sitting in a conference room in the diocesan offices on Spielbusch Ave in Toledo, to make our case to Bishop Blair.  Both parties wanted a resolution to this matter, but our attempts to foster the dialogue so desperately needed were met with talking points. 

“Bishop, if you want us to move on, would you mind telling us which locations will be closed in the near future; because we don’t care to go through this ever again.” 

“Neither do I” he replied.  “This has been very difficult for me,” he continued and went on to chastise us for “clinging to something that doesn’t exist.”  Needless to say, this meeting ended in a stalemate.

On Monday, March 6^th, 2006; the gloves came off…literally.  The bishop was out of town that week, and the diocese hired a new employee that morning.  A woman who was quietly engaged in prayer didn’t think much of it when she heard the doors to the sanctuary open behind her.  People did come and go periodically throughout the day.  But this person wasn’t here to relieve her at the end of her shift, he was here to relieve us all for good.

“YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, NOW” he said. 

“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied. 

He regarded her dismissively while he stomped over to where the votive candles were lit by fellow vigil participants, and obnoxiously blew them out.  Now she knew something was definitely wrong. 

“You are NOT supposed to do that in a church!” 

She went to a stand up front where there was a phone.  He proceeded toward her quickly, and pulled the plug from the wall.  Now she was frightened for her safety.  What kind of a person comes in to a church and does this?  She wasn’t going to find out what he would do next.  With that, the doors were barred, and “Private Property” signs were placed intermittently around the church and parish house exterior.  After 10 months and 5 days, the prayer vigil had ended. 

Bishop Blair thought the St. James community would roll over and go away quietly when faced with bully tactics like this.  He doesn’t know this parish very well, and the community resolved that we should help him to become better acquainted.  With some legal assistance, the parish discovered that there was a strong argument to be made in court that the St. James community still owned the parish property.  One of the legal briefs filed on behalf of St. James reads as follows:

In the case at bar, the parish of Kansas St. James held the beneficial interest in the property until it was abolished by Defendants.  Then, the beneficial interests went to the Plaintiffs.  Plaintiffs have not and do not challenge the Bishop’s right to create and abolish parishes.  But to suggest that the Bishop holds property in trust – but for a body of beneficiaries that he can create or abolish at will – flies in the face of Ohio law.  Defendants’ argument is no different than suggesting that a large bank trustee serving many different trusts can allocate assets from one beneficiary to another at any time.  The beneficial interest in the trust holding the property of Kansas St. James belongs to the Plaintiffs and those who would associate with them in worship, not to the Defendants.  Plaintiffs seek nothing more than a trustee who will afford them the beneficial interest in the church property that they are entitled to.

The entire building was undisturbed.  Everything was exactly as it had been left since that horrible March 6^th 2006 day, when the last prayer vigil participant was run out.  Just in front of the alter, was a desert scene created by Ginny Hull, which had been placed (just one day before the vigil was forcibly shut down) to commemorate the observance of Lent that was supposed to take place in that sanctuary.  It was completely undisturbed.  The rosaries hung from the end of each pew just as they had throughout the entire vigil.  The place was waiting, perfectly preserved, for us to return and resume prayer.  It could have been done without any work, all that was needed was a volunteer to take the first hour, and there would have been several who would step up right then and there to do so.  There wasn’t even any dust on anything.

Along with our personal belongings, the pews were removed, and so was the rosary used in our prayer vigil (which was made from the old lumber from the damaged bell tower cross after being replaced in 2005).  All of these items are being kept in a safe location should our parish be returned to us.  Once all of the pews were removed, the members of St. James gathered in a circle for one final ‘Our Father’ before sealing the building back up.  I was personally overwhelmed with the strong presence of God’s love as we recited these familiar words.  We hugged, took one last look around, walked toward the back door and several of us tugged on the bell rope as we walked out.  With that, the doors were secured, and the St. James sanctuary was sealed once again to wait for the day when we could return to bring it back to all of its former glory.