Church Project Theorem #2: The Minority Report: To evaluate the health of a parish, particularly one in an urban setting, you often need look no further than its demographics and the demographics of the surrounding areas. In essence, look at the race of the people who attend. It's a bit crude, but it's really an incontrovertible fact that urban parishes in minority settings tend to be worse off than those in non-minority (i.e. White) or mixed settings. That's not a knock against minorities, but unfortunately they usually live in the poorest areas. (Read: North Philadelphia.) There are other indicators, such as turnout and condition of the physical structures, but it usually starts with demographics. I'll reference them from to time, where appropriate. It's also worth noting that those who don't fit the demographics of an area tend to stick out, and thus get the special treatment--the aforementioned "Fat Girl Principle."
So how is Our Lady of Hope doing? Unfortunately, pretty @$%#@^. (Can I even say that in regards to a church?) The collapse of the Logan section, and North Philly as a whole, doomed this church to decades of decline and neglect. It was renamed Our Lady of Hope in 1993, when several neighboring parishes were closed and consolidated into it. However, it’s still in dire straits. Logan is not the most desirable section in the world, and the vigil mass I attended had a sparse turnout, no music, and no dedicated altar servers. The life that’s left doesn’t seem like enough.
More vexing is the fact that the church itself is in atrocious shape. There’s excessive water damage, and whole walls of stone are horribly scarred. One rumor puts the repair estimate at $7 million dollars—yes, a 7 followed by six zeros. That’s troublesome, because the last church to command such a fee was the late, lamented St. Boniface. You can see how that one turned out.
Emergency Rating: Critical Mass. Have those chest paddles charged and ready.
