Finances and membership concerns led to the decision .
Finances and membership concerns led to the decision .
By LINDA M. LINONIS
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
LIBERTY -- For the majority of people, Sunday marks the end of the year. For members of St. Rocco's Episcopal Church, it's the end of an era.
The church, located at 239 Trumbull Ave., is closing. The last service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday followed by a parish dinner sponsored by the vestry. A celebration of ministry service is planned at 3 p.m. Jan. 14 with Bishop Arthur Williams and will conclude St. Rocco's affiliation with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.
John Harris, clerk of the vestry, said, "We wanted to give good witness to our faith. We wanted to go out with grace and go graciously."
The vestry, the governing church body with 10 members, voted on the church's future. Not everyone in the church agreed with the decision; some wanted to wait to celebrate the centennial in 2007. But feelings couldn't override reality that led to the church's fate.
Harris, a member two years, he said he gravitated to St. Rocco's because of its smaller size. "I was used to a small parish," he said. "You're part of a family here."
Changes and challenges
The church family faced changes and challenges. Harris said the membership is at 75 families; of that number, at least 10 are shut-ins and a few others are long-distance members who don't live in the area but support the church financially.
"About 35 attend on Sundays," said the Rev. Stephen P. Pressey, priest-in-charge, who first served St. Rocco's from 1969-77. He moved on to other assignments within the Episcopal church, retired, and then was asked to take on this assignment in 1995.
"There's a good, active core group," Harris said, but admitted the financial demands and building maintenance led to the closing.
A church member who helped with maintenance was transferred because of his job and that has left a void, Harris added.
The church has banked on its popular cavatelli and spaghetti dinners, held the first Sunday of the month, to help with expenses. The Dec. 3 event marked the end of the fundraisers.
"We called it the 'last supper,'" Harris said, noting a faithful but small and aging crew kept it going until it couldn't continue any longer.
The dinners first brought Rose and Joseph L. McCormick to the church about four years ago. "We first came for the spaghetti dinners," Mrs. McCormick said. "It was a small, friendly group and you felt at home."
"I think we were led here by the Holy Spirit ... I truly believe it," said her husband, who is senior warden at the church. "We've been very happy here."
Pastor's memories
That feeling also is shared by Father Pressey and his wife, Connie, for whom the church holds many memories. "I'm sad, but you have to look to the future," he said. "The members are in a grieving process."
"I was baptized in this church when I was 3 months old," Mrs. Pressey said. "It's been here all my life, except when we were assigned elsewhere. But I still came back to visit."
"Young people just don't seem to go to church," Father Pressey said, and that fact hasn't helped the membership. "It's an older congregation."
"There are so many traditions here that won't be recaptured," Mrs. Pressey said.
Among them is the celebration of St. Rocco's feast day, Aug. 16, which included a procession and festival. The practice dates to St. Rocco's early history. One story from the church history reveals that a statue of St. Rocco once fell into the Mahoning River during a procession circa 1920.
"The Division Street bridge was wooden at the time and collapsed from the weight of the people in the procession," Harris said.
History
The church itself has a storied history. In the early 1900s, some members of St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church in Brier Hill had a disagreement with the bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown and left the church. These members and the Rev. Carmelo Carfora founded St. Rocco's on May 17, 1907, as an Independent National Catholic Church. It was located on Calvin Street in the Brier Hill area. The church flourished for nine years, Harris said, then Father Carfora left and the congregation disbanded for two years.
The Rev. Alfred Izon of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on the South Side recognized a need in the Brier Hill area for the unchurched and also understood the minister had to speak Italian to relate to the people of that ethnic origin.
Harris said the Rev. Oreste Salcini, an Episcopal priest, fit that description and took over the leadership of St. Rocco's. On June 15, 1918, St. Rocco's was received into the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. At that time, the church had about 80 families and was flourishing.
In 1956, a new design for U.S. Route 422 forced the church to relocate to Liberty. The congregation worshipped for three years at Tod Chapel in Tod Homestead Cemetery until June 1959 when the church on Trumbull Avenue was completed.
St. Rocco's was dedicated Nov. 15, 1959. It was designated a mission church until May 1, 1980.
The building will be closed and revert to the diocese, which also will remove the sacred items.
Spirit will continue
The spirit of St. Rocco's will continue, Father Pressey, Harris and McCormick noted. Statues of St. Rocco will be received by St. John's Episcopal Church in Youngstown, St. James Episcopal Church in Boardman and St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Canfield. A statue of St. Anthony will find a new home at St. Anthony's Church in Youngstown and statues of St. Theresa, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart will go elsewhere. Some are 100 years old including one of the Immaculate Conception. Though elements of St. Rocco's will be in place at these other sites, it will not be the same.
"Members are heartbroken," Harris said.
A classified ad that's been published in The Vindicator reflects that feeling and holds out hope -- "Dear Lord, Help us to save St. Rocco's Episcopal Church from closing. We love and need our church."
linonis@vindy.com