Church Project Theorem #6: Consolidation. Parish consolidation is a sad occasion, happening only when a parish (or a group of parishes) are no longer financially viable and must close. It usually takes three forms. The first usually deals with only one failed parish, which is simply absorbed into a neighboring parish, no fuss, no muss and no pesky name changes. One example is the recent closure of St. Boniface, which was merged into neighboring Visitation B.V.M without requiring Visitation to adopt a new moniker.
The second form involves two failed parishes that merge togethers, names and all. You can see an example of that in two other West Philly parishes, St. Agatha and St. James the Greater. Those two merged back in the 1970s, right down to their names--the new parish simply adopted the name St. Agatha-St. James. It's unwieldy, but at least faithful to their respective histories.
The third, and most serious kind, involves a group of failed parishes in a specific geographic sector. Here, the Archdiocese plays the percentages and gambles that one consolidated parish will have a better chance than two or more struggling ones. Thus, they pick one of the churches, merge all of the others into it, and create a shiny new name to symbolize the dawn of a brand-new, hopefully very profitable day.
Consolidation is truly the ultimate indignity a parish can suffer. It means a failure of their mission and, more importantly for the sentimental, the end of an era. Name changes can also upset longtime parishioners, who often have a hard time accepting that their church is now called something else. The whole thing is truly like a big scarlet letter, marking a church for all eternity. And despite efforts to the contrary, usually no good can come of it. Such parishes generally never, ever recover their previous splendor. (See Hope, Our Lady Of.)
As I mentioned above, Cyprian is a consolidated parish, so that alone speaks volumes about its viability and the viability of the surrounding neighborhood. Cyprian is not quite in dire straits, but I wouldn’t necessarily toast their success, either. The two Sunday masses, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., seem to be fairly well attended; the 11 a.m. in particular boasted a strong crowd and a gospel choir. However, Saturday masses have been indefinitely postponed, and the church is physically in subpar shape; there are large sections of paint damage on the roof, and a couple of spots where the stained glass windows were removed and plastered over.
Fat Girl Principle, v5: Cobbs Creek is a predominantly Black section, so those of the White persuasion tend to stand out quite starkly. One of the ushers, a very nice older lady, noticed us as soon as we entered and spent much of the pre-mass time discussing the parish and their various renovation efforts.
Aside from that, Cyprian luckily spared us much of the personal attention, but did insist on a generic “All visitors please stand!” Despite the presence of a few other visitors, also Black, we tried our best not to stand…until a nearby parishioner prodded us with a “Come on and stand! We know you a visitor!”
Emergency Rating: Not in the greatest shape or the greatest neighborhood, but there’s still some life here. It remains to be seen whether or not it’s enough.
