By Lois Rogers | Features Editor

When the much-loved but badly aging St. Peter Claver Church needed to be demolished back in 2008, plans began to emerge for a community outreach center on the corner of Springwood and Ridge avenues in Asbury Park,  the same “holy ground” where generations of African-American Catholics had shared their faith.

As envisioned, the outreach center would continue the charism of the Jesuit missionary for whom it is named, enhancing the consolidation of four parishes and a faith community in Asbury Park and Neptune with programs and services benefiting both communicants and the marginalized of the area.

On Jan. 17, those plans took a giant leap forward as Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and Divine Word Father Miguel Virella, pastor of Asbury Park’s dynamic and diverse Catholic community, took shovels in hand and broke ground for the 5,300-square-foot building that will re-anchor the Catholic presence on the west side of town.

As he made ready to dig into a box full of sand from the Asbury beachfront specially prepared for the groundbreaking of the St. Peter Claver Outreach Center, Bishop O’Connell spoke of his joy in “keeping this beautiful name alive.”

Members of the St. Peter Claver community who are now part of Holy Spirit Parish; Missionaries of Charity, in their distinctive blue and white sari-style habits; members of the Catholic community at large; and residents of the area listened intently as the bishop prayed.

 Reading from Psalm 127:1, he proclaimed: “if the Lord doesn’t build a house, we labor in vain” and went on to pray for the “help of God to bring this construction to a successful conclusion.”  He spoke of his joy in meeting with those – including Harriet Gorham, a founding member of St. Peter Claver – on this memorable day.

At his words, Gorham, now 87, and her daughter Valerie shared the joy they felt at standing there on the corner of Springwood and Ridge where the church, formerly Whittier Chapel which dated to 1880 but became their place of worship in 1943, once stood.

Both women said they were looking forward to seeing the corner, a hub of faithful activity for decades, hum with life again.

Anchor of Faith

The outreach center was conceived to serve the needs of a geographically large community encompassing Holy Spirit Parish, which merged with St. Peter Claver Parish last July 1, and its twin, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, also Asbury Park, which merged with Our Lady of Providence, Neptune, on the same date.

Both are under the leadership of Father Virella who noted that Voluntas Dei Father Paul Janvier, spiritual leader of the area’s sizeable Haitian community which gathers for worship in Holy Spirit, is the outreach coordinator for both parishes and will oversee programs in the new center.

Father Virella said the atmosphere at the groundbreaking is a good indication of the cooperative effort underway by all parties involved in the changes. “We planned this for a long time and from the community representation, you could hear in the dialogue the enthusiasm everyone had.”

Noting that a full six years of prayerful dialogue, organization and prayer, much of it under the stewardship of his predecessor, the late Father William McLaughlin, had been “poured into this moment of success, it is wonderful that all were able to see the fruit of the labor,” Father Virella said.

The menu of programs to be offered is still in the planning stages, said Father Virella, but the hope is to offer the community a range of opportunities from educational training, to social services to catechetical programs and social events.

“The St. Vincent de Paul Society will have their office here,” he said. “It is a good, steady group of capable members and we are very excited because we need something like this for the whole community. We are hoping to have ESL and counseling. There is still a lot to concretize as we go along.”

Fresh Start  

The $750,000 St. Peter Claver Outreach Center was fully funded by proceeds from the sale of the former St. Peter Claver Youth Center to the Sisters Academy, a middle school run by the Sisters of Mercy for girls from economically challenged families.

When finished, the outreach center will be handicap accessible with on-site parking for approximately 20 cars, said architect Robert Gorski of Atlantic Highlands. “Construction should begin within the month and be finished within seven to nine months.”

The pre-engineered building is well insulated, Gorski added, and energy efficient, said William Wilson, director of the diocesan department of property and construction.

The space includes room for two offices – including one that will house the busy St. Vincent de Paul conference – storage, utility and kitchen areas. Five meeting rooms can be easily reconfigured by way of sliding panels into smaller or larger meeting areas, including a large center space with a raised platform that can accommodate up to 120 persons, said Wilson.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society began serving the impoverished west side community in 1997 from St. Peter Claver Parish and moved into Holy Spirit several blocks away in the downtown area when the church was demolished.

Brenda Terrell, who has been involved with the group from its inception, said the 19 active members are eagerly looking forward to moving the operation back to the west side. “It will mean a lot to be back and serving people in the west side,” said Terrell.

“They will be able to reach us easier than they can now. They have quite a distance to walk or take a cab,” she said.

  Terrell said she was so pleased to see representatives of the diverse communities that make up Holy Spirit Parish and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish at the ground breaking.

There is, Terrell said, a “lot of respect for what the (parishes do) in the community and we are overjoyed to be a presence in this neighborhood which is part of the redevelopment area in Asbury Park.”

The outreach center’s location in the once-vibrant west side area sends a very positive message from the Catholic faithful of greater Asbury said Terry Ginther, the diocese’s executive director of pastoral life and mission.

“The center is located in a redevelopment area and we, in our role as a good neighbor, are showing that we want to be a partner in that. We want to be a part of it. The parishes of Holy Spirit and Our Lady of Mount Carmel are of modest means but they have made the center a priority.”

Ginther added, “As these parishes come together, they are clearly saying, ‘this is our community.’”