MERRILLVILLE – Honoring all the saints whose names have graced Catholic churches in Merrillville since the 1850s, the Diocese of Gary has named its newest parish Holy Martyrs, welcoming the faith communities of Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Joan of Arc and St. Andrew the Apostle to worship together.
“All of the parishes in Turkey Creek (north Merrillville) were named after a martyr, starting in the 1850s, when the first church was built and named for St. John the Baptist, later changed to Ss. Peter and Paul, who were also martyrs,” explained Father Ted Mauch, who was named pastor of the then three separate parishes last September by Bishop Robert J. McClory. He is now the first pastor of the newly-created Holy Martyrs Parish. “St. Andrew the Apostle was founded off of Ss. Peter and Paul, and St. Joan of Arc and St. Stephen, Martyr were established later.”
The name Holy Martyrs, added Father Mauch, “was chosen by the (Merrillville) parishes after it came up in the steering committee meetings. While it represents all three parishes, St. Andrew church can also be called Holy Martyrs because it is now the parish church – the sign is there and the school is there.”
All weekend Masses are now hosted by Holy Martyrs Parish at St. Andrew church – 4 p.m. on Saturdays and at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, while weekday Masses are held at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Joan of Arc church and at 8:30 a.m. Fridays at St. Andrew church. The final Mass at Ss. Peter and Paul was celebrated by Bishop McClory on Jan. 9.
“Holy Martyrs (officially) came into existence on Jan. 1, and all three former parishes were merged into one new parish,” Father Mauch explained. “Every ministry, person, things both spiritual and temporal, became part of the new (combined) parish. A discernment of the people from the former parishes wanted everything that came from all of them to be together … as they become the community of Holy Martyrs.”
According to Renee Long, a St. Joan of Arc parishioner who is a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council as well as her parish council, said the Holy Martyrs pastor has been a key factor in the smooth transition. “Father Ted came in and listened to the people,” she said. “The diocesan leaders came in and met with the key leaders identified for each parish, and have been respectful.
“Father Ted asked us if we wanted to take it slow or go fast, and we all said to go fast. It makes no sense to drag it out,” Long added. “This has been hanging over our heads for a long time. You can’t have liturgies where the church is less than half full and have five of those churches in Merrillville.”
Since Aquinas School at St. Andrew had outgrown its building, the former pastor of all three parishes, the late Father James Meade, had arranged more than a year ago for the St. Andrew parish office to be moved to St. Joan of Arc, while the school office moved into the former St. Andrew rectory/office and the kitchen and dining room became the teachers’ lounge.
As announced by Bishop McClory last July, Father Mauch will also become pastor of Our Lady of Consolation later this year, leading to an eventual merger with Holy Martyrs, and an associate pastor will be named. When Our Lady of Consolation eventually becomes the principal site for ministry in Merrillville, the use of the St. Joan of Arc campus will be discontinued.
“We have so far brought three of the five Merrillville parishes together at one site to worship together, practice our faith together and do good works together,” said Father Mauch. “Eventually, St. Stephen, Martyr will also come with us in another phase.
The next step is for the diocese to finalize the merger of the business affairs of the three churches comprising Holy Martyrs, noted Father Mauch, and to determine how the three current weekend Masses at St. Andrew will be blended with the three weekend Masses at Our Lady of Consolation.
Father Mauch intends to follow the wishes of parishioners to carefully merge at St. Andrew some of the icons and objects important to the people. In order to maximize seating in the sanctuary and still allow for social distancing at St. Andrew, padded chairs with kneelers used in the Ss. Peter and Paul chapel have been relocated, while other moves will take more planning.
“We’d very much like to bring the 10 stained glass windows, which represent each of the female patronesses of the Diocese of Gary, to St. Andrew, but that will take some study, and there are some statues, the altar table and other symbols of the Ss. Peter and Paul community that we want to look at, too,” Father Mauch said. “At the same time, we don’t want to lose the identity of St. Andrew.”
Long said it was “very enlightening to have the key leaders meet on Zoom. We didn’t know what path (the process) would take and if the people would really be involved, but you got to speak your mind and feel like you were being heard. My parents were instrumental in establishing St. Joan of Arc. If I had not been involved in this process, I would have wondered what was going on; it helped me get through it by being involved.
“I think the process has been very successful due to Father Ted and his people skills,” Long said. The people of the four parishes were open to the process; some had certain issues, but we were able to work them through. I don’t think it could have gone any better – faith over fear. I hope God will be pleased.”
The first priority now, added the Holy Martyrs pastor, is to make sure the ministries, “the good works of the heart,” come together. “In a post-COVID-19 world, there is a need to rebuild, because we had to step back from some ministries.”
The biggest challenge in reimagining the Merrillville faith community, said Father Mauch, “is helping people to understand that this is an opportunity to come together - in the midst of sadness and a sense of loss about losing their parish – to keep the legacies and traditions alive.”
“For those who say, ‘I’ll just go to Our Lady of Consolation because that’s going to be the only (local) church anyway,’ Father Mauch stated, “That’s not true; we will have Holy Martyrs at St. Andrew church indefinitely as a place to worship.”
The most rewarding and best result of all the work that has gone into the process, Father Mauch revealed, “is how wonderful the people have been. I would have expected that when you lose your home church and someone has to get up and tell you that sad news, that some people would be angry and hurt, and maybe take it out on the messenger, but no one has. Even those who have expressed sadness have prefaced that with, ‘Thank you for being here, it’s not your fault,’ and they have loved me.
“Their being faithful to Christ in how they’ve treated me has been the best thing,” he added. “They are people of God responding out of charity.”