A downtown Mobile church with roots stretching back more than 160 years will close its doors for good in January 2018, the Archdiocese of Mobile has confirmed, ending regular worship at one of the city’s oldest Catholic parishes.
St. Joseph Catholic Church, founded in 1857 to serve the city’s growing community of German immigrants, will be formally dissolved as a parish next year, with its members folded into the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception downtown. The Rev. Michael Farmer, who has served as pastor of St. Joseph since the Cathedral parish absorbed it from the Jesuit order in 2009, said the decision came after years of declining participation and a shrinking financial base.
The church, located at 808 Springhill Avenue and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, currently offers a single Sunday Mass at 9 a.m. Farmer said attendance has hovered around 85 people for years, without the kind of broader parish activity — religious education, social gatherings, regular ministries — that typically sustains a congregation.
“We came to the realization that what constitutes parish life was not there,” Farmer said. “No other activities were taking place.”
Money was also a factor. Farmer said collections at St. Joseph have been sufficient to cover little more than utility costs at the roughly 110-year-old building. Larger expenses, including insurance, have been paid out of an endowment established by the Jesuit priests who ran the parish before 2009.
Despite worry among longtime members that the historic structure could be demolished, Farmer said that is not the plan. He said the Archdiocese has no immediate use in mind for the building once the parish closes, though officials would eventually like to sell it. Sacred items inside the church — altars, statuary and other fixtures — will be removed and are expected to be given to St. Ignatius parish, another former Jesuit congregation in Mobile that is planning a new church building. A fundraising campaign for that project is expected to begin soon.
“They’ll integrate the pieces into a new church with a traditional look,” Farmer said. “It will be a positive option in a very sad situation.”
The announcement has left longtime parishioners like Patricia Fellis searching for answers. Fellis, whose family ties to St. Joseph go back generations, said she was married in the church and raised there, and has no idea yet where she will attend Mass once it closes.
“I’m obviously going to find somewhere else to go,” Fellis said. “I’m not going to give up the faith.”
Fellis said the closure caught many in the small congregation off guard, even though speculation about the parish’s future had circulated for years.
“It took us by surprise,” she said. “We had heard the rumors for years, but it sounded ludicrous. We’re trying to find out more information.”
She acknowledged the parish is small and skews older but argued attendance had been slowly recovering. Fellis attributes years of decline to the earlier closure of the parish’s school, which was later replaced by the Wings of Life program, along with what she described as an unpopular former pastor. She had warmer words for Farmer himself.
“We’re thankful we have him,” she said.
Fellis said a handful of young families had recently begun attending and were welcomed warmly, but ultimately drifted away. Farmer said that is not unusual for a parish without a school, since families with children often look for a congregation that offers religious education alongside worship.
“We don’t have a school,” Fellis said. “Are we going to be punished and torn apart because we don’t have a school?”
Fellis also pushed back on the idea that St. Joseph is in financial distress, noting the parish’s endowment remains intact even after covering building expenses.
“However, it’s not going to run out,” she said.
With the closure now set for January, Fellis said she is trying to gather more details for fellow parishioners before the congregation disperses.
“I’m trying to call people and find out so we can at least get some answers before we’re torn apart,” she said. “The church is way too beautiful to disappear. It’s just too beautiful.”