The Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Church worship site in Bristol Township will close come January 1, 2016.
The announcement came Sunday from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and has been expected for some time. The parishioners at Queen of the Universe in Middletown, which absorbed the Immaculate Conception congregation, learned of the news over the weekend.
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The announcement means the Immaculate Conception worship site on Emilie Road will be shuttered. The worship site designation allowed the church to host baptisms, weddings and funerals.
“The formal request to close this worship site originated from the pastor of Queen of the Universe Parish after consultation with his parish pastoral and finance councils. Both of those advisory bodies supported the request, which was then reviewed by the Archdiocesan Council of Priests and presented to Archbishop Chaput, who, after a careful review of all supporting factors, made the final decision,” the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said in a statement.
The Immaculate Conception Church building requires annual ordinary maintenance costs of approximately $150,000, which is on top of $962,000 of debt that was inherited by the Queen of the Universe parish.
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From the Archdiocese of Philadelphia:
Queen of the Universe Parish is not able to financially sustain its vital pastoral works and alleviate its debt should it attempt to repair and maintain Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Church. Doing so would jeopardize the stability of the parish. Additionally, there have been very few requests to use Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Church for public worship.
When Immaculate Conception B.V.M. and Queen of the Universe Parishes merged, all real estate holdings, assets and debts of the former Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Parish were transferred to the newly formed Queen of the Universe Parish. These transfers are standard procedure in the case of all parish mergers.
As such, the former Immaculate Conception B.V.M. Church building is the property of Queen of the Universe Parish. The future disposition of this building will be determined by the pastor of Queen of the Universe Parish in consultation with his parish pastoral and finance councils in a manner consistent with providing for continued parish viability and sustainability.
The archdiocese recently closed the St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Falls Township. The site served as a worship center since it closed as a regular parish in 2014.
