VENTNOR – It was the first Catholic church serving the Downbeach area when it was created as a ministry of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Atlantic City. Although the St. James Church has seen many changes in demographics, additional churches built in the southern part of Absecon Island, and changes in diocese governance, the congregation is rejoicing and celebrating a century of religious service, compassion and community.
The church will be celebrating with several events on Friday, Aug. 22, including two concerts in the afternoon, followed by a solemn Mass with Diocese of Camden Bishop Joseph Williams at 4 p.m. A gala dinner will be held 6 p.m. at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City. Other events will be held throughout the year.
St. James Church was founded as a summer ministry of Our Lady Star of the Sea, which at the time served the entire southern end of Absecon Island. About 10 years following the incorporation of Ventnor City in 1904, then Pastor Monsignor Petri of Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish saw the need to have a church for the many Catholic families who visited the city for summer vacations. It used a small Protestant church on Sundays, until Msgr. Petri built a small wooden church in 1920 on land donated by Frank and Hattie M. Curran of Trenton to accommodate what grew into robust year-round attendance at Sunday Mass.
The church was then part of the Trenton Diocese, but reorganization now has it housed amid the churches of the Diocese of Camden.
Father Gregory Moran was its first pastor and in 1924, church officials agreed Downbeach needed a larger church. Bishop Thomas J. Walsh laid the cornerstone on Aug. 30, 1925, and the yellow brick church was built for a cost of $225,000. The rectory that housed parish priests was constructed in 1923 at a cost of $50,000, and as the parish flourished during the Great Depression, St. James School was built next to the church in 1932, followed by a convent to house Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin, who taught in the K-8 parochial school.
Parishioner Sue McGinty, 78, who serves as the church historian, said when the church doors were opened, you could see all the way to the boardwalk and ocean.
“I’m sure they thought of that when they cited the church,” McGinty said.
The church has welcomed notable pastors over the years, including Rev. Thomas I. Hannon, Rev. Francis J. Hagarty, Msgr. Martin B. McMahon, Msgr. Edward J. O’Connor, Msgr. Augustine J. Seidenburg, Rev. Brendan V. Sullivan, Rev. Joseph F. Ganiel, Msgr. Peter M. Joyce and Rev. Joseph R. Ferrara. Current pastor is Fr. Pawel Kryszkiewicz.
St. James Parish grew and so did the populations of Margate and Longport. The Blessed Sacrament Parish formed in Margate in 1946, followed by Church of the Epiphany in Longport in 1953.
“But, St. James was the original church for the Downbeach area,” McGinty said.
Over the last dozen years, there have been changes in the parish, including combining all three Downbeach churches into one parish. Blessed Sacrament Church, the largest building in the three towns, is home base for the parish. The school that provided parochial education to all Downbeach children until 1960, was torn down a few years ago, as was the rectory and convent. In their place, are a row of million-dollar private residences built to comply with new post-Hurricane Sandy regulations.
McGinty said she was a graduate of the last class that housed children from all three towns.
“We are still a strong religious community, and I personally went through difficult times with the merger of all three churches,” McGinty said. “I didn’t want to see the church torn down too so I did a lot of studying about the history of the church.”
During the merger process, she became interested in the church’s history and she especially loved the hand-blown stained glass windows that tell the story of St. James, one of Jesus’ “four fishers of Galilee,” recruited to spread the word of Christ. The story goes that Jesus sent James and John, “known as the sons of thunder” to Spain, where they established a missionary pilgrimage that continues today. While preaching in Spain, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared before them telling them to go back to Jerusalem, McGinty said. When they arrived, they were tried and beheaded and James’ body was sent back to Spain for burial.
To replicate James’ pilgrimage, the church holds an intergenerational “Vitality Walk” on the boardwalk each year.
McGinty said the stained glass windows were manufactured by Franz Mayer of Munich, Germany, who manufactured some of the most beautiful stained glass windows for churches and cathedrals throughout the world.
“I was so concerned, and I didn’t want to lose them,” she said. So, she documented each one, which she said only get better with age. “They are so detailed. That’s how I got to know the history of the church and I wound up documenting it and had it printed at Staples.”
She said her writing will be on display at the Friday evening gala.
McGinty said the congregation remains strong despite a drop in membership since the merger of the three churches into one parish.
“Today, we have about 1,500 families, but before the merger, we had 4,000. Nevertheless, the church is packed on Sundays in summer and it’s well-attended throughout the year.”
The Ventnor City Board of Commissioners Aug. 15 issued a proclamation honoring the 100th anniversary of St. James Church, noting that it has served as a “spiritual, cultural and community cornerstone for the residents of Ventnor City for the past 100 years…It has been a beacon of faith and fellowship, offering not only religious services, but also outreach programs, charitable works, and events that have strengthened the bonds of the community.”
One of those events is the annual Live Nativity held on church grounds each Christmas season, complete with live farm animals and children playing the roles of the Holy Family.
For more information about the church celebration, contact Holy Trinity Parish Office at 609-822-7105
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