list of St. Craig

St. Albert the Great, a newly created parish in Halls, begins celebrating Mass next Sunday in a meeting room at a local hospital. Over the next few years, a new church building will be constructed on Brickey Lane. Meanwhile, St. John Neumann in Farragut plans to open its new church in January.

While Catholic parishes are growing in the South, older parishes in the North are being shut down as membership dwindles and funds become scarce. The latest issue of The East Tennessee Catholic has a letter to the editor with an intelligent proposal. Bob Warshal writes:

My grandparents, like so many other immigrants to the North from Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, contributed their nickels and dimes to build those old churches up north, and I wonder now what is to become of those many church organs, Stations of the Cross, altar crucifixes, marble altars, and stained-glass windows, contributed with the idea of “permanent” remembrances.

Is it possible that the Catholic Church could have a website for parishes around the country and the world to make use of the fittings from those churches, now condemned by decreasing memberships? Is it too hard to imagine that some use could be made of these items in brand-new churches? With some planning, an architect might be able to make his design accommodate such items. After all, the quality of items made in the last century may not be duplicated today, and if the church can see its way clear to charge only for shipping and handling, the building of a new church or the remodeling of an old one might be a lot less expensive.