MANCHESTER, Conn. — Preliminary plans are in the works to redesign the space at the St. James Church site on Main Street in Manchester as a new home for a parish community that, unlike some others, is seeing growth.
The recently unveiled concept stems from a reorganization plan designed by the Archdiocese of Hartford back in 2017 to deal with lower attendance and fewer priests.
When that transition began, 26 churches were closed and 144 merged. In Manchester, that led to four parishes becoming two and then eventually just one: St. Theresa of Calcutta.
Robert Muirhead, leader of communications at St. Theresa of Calcutta Parish, said that throughout the transition, they have held out hope for the future.
“We’re actually growing, sort of in defiance of national trends, we have been growing year over year for the last few years,” said Muirhead.
The worry, however, is that as parishioner numbers grow, so will the strain on an already limited number of priests. That’s why the parish brought in consultant Urbahn Architects to assist in designing its “Parish 2030” concept, which would see the St. James church site transform into a community space and its rectory replaced as a new 1,000 seat church building. The consultant also recommended combining the K-8 and Pre-K program at the St. Bridget school site.
“Right now we offer more masses to frankly an unsustainable level. That’s part of why we’re looking into this. That’s much too much work to put on two or three priests, let alone one,” said Muirhead.
Parish leaders recognize that the idea of this change comes with strong emotions but believe it is the best option for the future of the faith community.
Muirhead reiterated that the plan remains in its early conceptual stages and they simply wanted to include parishioners in every aspect of the process, stating, “We don’t want to be in the position where it feels like we’re pulling the rug out from anybody.”
Next steps will include forming building and planning committees. Parish leaders intend to incorporate aspects of each of the four church buildings into the new design.
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