Brigantine, New Jersey
October 21, 2007
Neil and I are spending a mini-vacation (5 days) on Brigantine, which is an island just off the New Jersey coast, a 10-minute drive across a bridge from Atlantic City. There are three churches on this little island, as well as lots of lovely shore homes and condos. The three churches are Saint Thomas Roman Catholic, Community Presbyterian, and Brigantine Bible Church. (There is also a synagogue, Temple Beth Shalom.) Brigantine is only a little over an hour from our home, and Neil needs to drive back to Collingswood on Sunday morning to pick up a priest who will be conducting the evening service at the Stockton College campus ministry that evening. Because I won’t have a car while he is gone, I need to attend a church that is within walking distance, which won’t be difficult. Both Community Presbyterian and Saint Thomas are within easy walking distance (I can see both from our hotel room window), and at first I planned to go to the Presbyterian church. But I slept later – hey, it’s a vacation – and so I needed to attend the Catholic church instead.
Saint Thomas meets in an attractive building constructed in a Spanish style, with yellow walls, red roof tiles, and two steeples at each side of the front entrance. A plaque near the front doors reads, “Please! No skateboarding! God is watching! (and He loves you).”
Churches have lots of trouble with skaters, because they tend to be good skating areas: parking lots, wide concrete steps, hard rails, walls, and interesting fences. Some churches seem to have been constructed with skaters in mind! This is a big irritation for lots of church folks, especially the ones who need to worry about liability. Another reason this bothers church folks is that skaters sometimes frighten and/or offend parishioners. They look dangerously nutty to people who aren’t comfortable with skating culture.
You might think it would be a simple matter to simply forbid skating, or just chase the kids away whenever you see them doing tricks on the church steps. However, another fear makes people hesitate to say something. Skaters have been known to come back later that night, after being chased off, and throw rocks at those extremely expensive church windows, or at the light fixtures. No one wants to encourage that. So it’s something of an intractable problem for now.
It would be nice if a church that attracts skaters could build a skate park somewhere on the property and hire a youth minister who enjoys skating, turning a problem into a ministry. But that wouldn’t be easy or cheap, and besides, the insurance would likely be astronomical. So at present lots of churches just have an uneasy relationship with local skaters, and pray for the best.
Inside, I find a seat about halfway up the sanctuary. It is a rectangular space, with seating for at least 500 people. The altar wall is red brick, and there is a large cross with a risen Christ affixed to the bricks, flanked by two large banners with wheat sheaves. To the left are statues of the Holy Family. (Mary is a blonde.) To the right is a mural featuring a dove flying over an ocean. On either side are brick alcoves with statues and candles.
The sanctuary is filling up rapidly. It’s not packed, but there must be at least 400 people. I’m always impressed with attendance at Catholic churches. This is one of five weekend masses. So I figure they might have 1,000 people or more in attendance each weekend. That would be a mega church by Protestant standards, but it seems typical for a Catholic church in New Jersey.
Most people are dressed quite casually, as you would expect on an island. It’s quite warm for October (mid-eighties today), and some adults are wearing shorts and flip-flops. Still, there is the occasional older woman wearing suit, nylons, heels, and hat – the stereotypical church lady costume, which is actually quite attractive on many women. They just have to avoid the sour Dana Carvey face.
For some reason there are stacks of church financial statements in the pews.
A middle-aged woman steps into the pulpit and says, “Good morning. My name is Karen and I will be your lector.” She runs through the announcements, then picks up a book, holds it up, and walks down the aisle toward the back of the church. Then, as the congregation sings the first hymn, the priest, in a green robe, processes up the aisle, along with three young boys wearing white roves and the lector, bringing the book back to the pulpit.
Hey – I think the priest might be another one of the New Jersey Ugandans! As soon as we finish the hymn he speaks, and then I’m pretty sure he is Ugandan. He sounds a lot like Father Grace. He asks the children to come forward for children’s church. A few kids go forward, but not very many. That’s odd, as I usually see lots of kids at a Catholic church. Maybe most of them have already left for children’s church. The priest tells us that in Uganda many children are missionaries to other children, and suffer danger for Christ’s sake, and that we should pray that our children will do likewise. I don’t think many Americans are comfortable with this idea, frankly.
There is a prayer, and a reading from Exodus – the story about Moses lifting his hands in supplication to the Lord while Joshua battled Amilech; Aaron and Levi held up his arms when they grew weary. Next we do a responsive chant. There is the usual half-hearted congregational singing. There is another reading, another chant, and a Gospel reading. The priest announces that there will be no homily today because someone from the parish financial council will be addressing the congregation – ah ha, that explains the financial statements in the pews.
A man steps into the pulpit. He gets right to the point – the church is looking at a projected deficit of about $100,000 next year. Offertory collections must increase by 20%.
He points out good things about the parish, that it has been very vibrant, especially in the last three years. But expenses have increased as well. He notes that they have added a full-time paid youth minister, and that the cost of maintaining their aging building has gone up, including the cost of insurance. Apparently this church has been “regionalized” with four other parishes within the last year, which for some reason means that their subsidy to the parish school has doubled (if I understand him correctly). The diocese is also looking into closing or merging some churches to save money.
Then he makes an interesting comparison. He says that some churches are like Wawas and some are like Acmes. (Wawas are convenience stores in the Northeast, and Acmes are supermarkets.) He explains that this means that some parishes offer just a few services and some offer full service. He says that Saint Thomas needs to offer everything possible to avoid being one of the churches that will be closed or merged within the next few years. They should strive to be an Acme.
(Actually, Wawas are doing great right now. It’s the big supermarket chains that are in trouble, but still I see what he means.)
It’s a little hard to hear the speaker at times, both because he is rather softspoken, and because the man sitting in the pew directly behind me is providing continuous disgruntled commentary – he is firmly convinced that the people in charge of parish finances are morons.
Next we stand for responsive prayer. Among other items, the priest urges us to remember when we go to the polls that the bishops are opposed to the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Bond Act. There is an offertory hymn, and the collection is taken.
When the congregation recites the Lord’s Prayer, what a difference! Everyone knows this one, and suddenly you hear all four or five hundred voices speaking loudly and confidently. It highlights the difference between this and all the other prayers and songs.
The priest celebrates the Eucharist, and as I watch the people going forward, I suddenly realize that everyone in church is white except for the priest. Also, almost no one takes the wine.
Then there is a final hymn, and everyone leaves quickly. It’s a beautiful day to go to the beach!
Epilogue
I did not know this at the time, but the financial situation of the Diocese of South Jersey would come to be very significant for me personally, as Neil was laid off in 2009 when the Diocese offered severance packages to lots of employees, warning them that if they didn’t take the offer now they would likely get much less later. Things seemed to turn out okay for St. Thomas, which was not closed or merged, but lots of churches were affected. Catholic churches throughout the United States have been closing or merging in recent years, especially in the Northeast, and the Diocese of South Jersey tried a rather novel approach – make all the changes at once, rather than closing a few churches every year or so. The approach was controversial, but anything they did would have been controversial. You can read more about the the plan here.
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