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  • Tribune-Star/Sue Loughlin Removal: Jay Pruitt assists in removing kneelers from St. Ann Parish on Tuesday. The church has closed its doors, and the pews and kneelers are destined for Bishop Simon Brute College Seminary in Indianapolis.

    MET052212St.Ann kneeler.jpg

  • Moving: Workers with Eldred Van and Storage move a grand piano out of St. Ann Parish and into a truck, where it will be transported to its new home at O’Shaughnessy Dining Room, St. Mary-of-the-Woods. The church had its last Mass on Sunday and has closed, and most of its contents are being moved to other parishes and a seminary.

    MET052212St.Annsteeple.jpg

  • Sr. Connie Kramer

    MET052212st ann kramer.jpg

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May 23, 2012

The closing of St. Ann Parish: Shuttered parish will help others live on

Part of furnishings destined for damaged church in Kentucky

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — St. Ann Parish celebrated its last Mass on Sunday.

With its doors now closed, the liturgical furnishings that breathed life and faith into the church for so many years have now been transplanted to other locations, including local parishes and a seminary in Indianapolis.

Another major beneficiary is St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Salyersville, Ky., which lost its church, parish hall, rectory and outreach center on March 2 in a series of storms and tornados that also devastated southern Indiana.

Smaller items from St. Ann’s went to their new homes Monday, while larger items were moved Tuesday. Work crews, many of them volunteers, removed pews, kneelers, a statue of St. Ann and even a baby grand piano.

“We’re organ donors today,” said Sister Connie Kramer, who has been the parish life coordinator. “The mission of the Church is bigger than any one situation, and what we have here will help the mission of the Church” at other churches and sites that need them.

The pews, kneelers and tabernacle will be used in a chapel at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis.

 “To have seminarians sit in our pews and feel the energy of the faith of this community and gaze on the tabernacle where our people gazed for years is a very precious gift,” Kramer said.

The St. Ann statue went to St. Joseph Church, and there will be a reception ceremony at the 11 a.m. Mass on June 10.

St. Benedict’s received the Old Rugged Cross that stood at the front of the church during Lent, as well as a lectern. St. Margaret Mary received the Stations of the Cross to use for its Hispanic ministry.

Sacred Heart, the daughter parish of St. Ann, received candlesticks and a diorama of the Last Supper.  

St. Patrick’s soup kitchen received a handstitched blessing prayer that hung near the St. Ann kitchen in the fellowship hall.

St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Kentucky will receive many liturgical and social hall furnishings, including a baptismal font, pulpit, sound system, two presider chairs, special candles, vestments, tables, chairs and much more. Those items will be stored at the Appalachia Ministry Center while St. Luke’s is being rebuilt.

Among those volunteering Tuesday  was Dorothy Goodwin, who has been a church  and choir member since 1975. Formerly a St. Ann’s choir director, she spent the morning cleaning out music.

Being at the church building as it was dismantled “I think is helpful, probably, for me. I’m really glad I’m here,” she said. “It’s a closure.”

She saw firsthand that there will be no church “waiting for us to come back,” Goodwin said.

While she’s “thrilled” to see the church’s furnishings find new homes, seeing her longtime church close “is horrible. This was my home. This is my family,” Goodwin said. She hasn’t yet decided what church she will join.

Kevin Burke, who has attended the church  for about 21⁄2 years and became a Catholic, also assisted.

While he wasn’t as emotionally attached to the church as others, “For me, it’s been a very affirming thing to see a group of people that are literally heartbroken and not become bitter. There’s been every opportunity here for people to be furiously bitter, feel betrayed and all of those negative emotions — and they’ve not,” he said. “It’s an excellent example that this is not about us, but who we serve.”

Tracy Pruitt, a parishioner since 1999, also assisted with dismantling and moving pews and kneelers; he and others in his construction company volunteered their time. The church’s closing is “sad, disappointing and heartbreaking. But that’s just the surface,” he said. The Catholic faith is bigger than one parish. “Our faith is forever.”

Kramer noted that the church building will be recycled as the new Christmas Store to provide new gifts to the low income during the holidays. Church offices will become offices for Catholic Charities’ Bethany House.

The social hall, in the lower level of the former school building, will be converted for use by St. Ann Clinic, which will remain open and expand. The lower level will be used for six mental health offices, physical therapy and break rooms.

Describing the final Mass on Sunday, Kramer said, “It was packed. It was a real celebration. People brought bells to use at closing services outside and rang them during the ‘Gloria.’ They sang their hearts out. They cried, but they sang. It was a  wonderful final worship experience.”

The closing of St. Ann Parish “is bittersweet,” Kramer said, as she oversaw the dismantling and moving operation Tuesday.

But she also believes, “Every ending is a new beginning if you let it happen … if you let it happen.”

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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