Camden
New Jersey
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St. Joan of Arc Church
About St. Joan of Arc Parish:
"Our parish history began with Mass on September 12, 1920 in a building on the corner of Mt. Ephraim Avenue and Collings Road on the site of the former Chubby's restaurant [now a CVS Pharmacy]. The temporary chapel, a former poolroom, was acquired and named St. Joan of Arc by the priests of the Sacred Heart Church, Camden. Mass and services continued to be celebrated in that building for a year under Rev. Dr. John B. McCloskey of Sacred Heart." [from the 75th anniversary book of the parish] The parish was legally incorporated on December 14, 1920.
In 1921, Bishop Walsh of Trenton visited the area and determined where to place the church, school, rectory and convent in the parish. Initially, a house at 1594 Collings Road was purchased for the rectory. Later, four linked houses: 3128, 3130, 3132 Merrimac Road and 3129 Alabama "were purchased in 1922 from the United States Shipping Board for $4,820.00 [and] were originally used as both the convent and rectory with a chapel housed in the sun-porch area of 3132." [75th anniversary book]
Construction began in 1923 for a building at 1400 Collings Road, a triangular piece of property bordered by Alabama and Merrimac Road. The upper floor served as a school, the main floor as the church and the basement as the "meeting and social area." [75th anniversary book]
School opened in 1924 and the parish nurtured the faith of the people through the roaring 20's, the depression of the 30's, WWII in the 40's, the economic boom of the 50's and the activist era of the 60's, the inflation of the 70's, the Reagan era of the 80's, the exhuberance of the 90's and the transition to the third millenium.
The neighborhood had always been ethnically mixed, but only of descendants of Europeans. Italians, Irish, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukranians, Slovaks, Hungarians, French, Germans, English and others contributed to the mix. In the 1990's the first African Americans began to move into the neighborhood, followed by many people of Hispanic origin.
The school closed on June 20, 2000. It was subsequently leased to the Camden County Council on Economic Opportunity for three years. CCCOEO sublet two-thirds of the building to the KIPP Freedom Academy Charter School, who subsequently signed a lease for the entire building in December of 2005. The school began with grade 6 in 2004, added grade 7 in 2005 and plans to add one grade each for two more years. Then, the school will maintain an enrollment of about 300 students in the four grades.
To accommodate the newly arrived immigrants in the neighborhood, the parish began a Sunday liturgy in Spanish in November of 2000. Presently, the parish celebrates the feast days of the national patronesses of Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The English-speaking community continues to take the lead in celebrating the feasts of Christmas and Easter, while everyone joins together at Pentecost for one bi-lingual liturgy.
The parish is actively involved with the Fairview Village Ministerium, a coalition of six neighborhood Christian communities. The parish also belongs to the Camden Churches Organized for People, which advocates improvements to the neighborhood and holds politicians responsible for their roles in the city.
The new millenium has seen an enrichment of the spiritual life of the parish by the addition of members from several African countries: Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Liberia. The future of the parish, like that of the Diocese of Camden, is multi-cultural and multi-lingual.
"Our parish history began with Mass on September 12, 1920 in a building on the corner of Mt. Ephraim Avenue and Collings Road on the site of the former Chubby's restaurant [now a CVS Pharmacy]. The temporary chapel, a former poolroom, was acquired and named St. Joan of Arc by the priests of the Sacred Heart Church, Camden. Mass and services continued to be celebrated in that building for a year under Rev. Dr. John B. McCloskey of Sacred Heart." [from the 75th anniversary book of the parish] The parish was legally incorporated on December 14, 1920.
In 1921, Bishop Walsh of Trenton visited the area and determined where to place the church, school, rectory and convent in the parish. Initially, a house at 1594 Collings Road was purchased for the rectory. Later, four linked houses: 3128, 3130, 3132 Merrimac Road and 3129 Alabama "were purchased in 1922 from the United States Shipping Board for $4,820.00 [and] were originally used as both the convent and rectory with a chapel housed in the sun-porch area of 3132." [75th anniversary book]
Construction began in 1923 for a building at 1400 Collings Road, a triangular piece of property bordered by Alabama and Merrimac Road. The upper floor served as a school, the main floor as the church and the basement as the "meeting and social area." [75th anniversary book]
School opened in 1924 and the parish nurtured the faith of the people through the roaring 20's, the depression of the 30's, WWII in the 40's, the economic boom of the 50's and the activist era of the 60's, the inflation of the 70's, the Reagan era of the 80's, the exhuberance of the 90's and the transition to the third millenium.
The neighborhood had always been ethnically mixed, but only of descendants of Europeans. Italians, Irish, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukranians, Slovaks, Hungarians, French, Germans, English and others contributed to the mix. In the 1990's the first African Americans began to move into the neighborhood, followed by many people of Hispanic origin.
The school closed on June 20, 2000. It was subsequently leased to the Camden County Council on Economic Opportunity for three years. CCCOEO sublet two-thirds of the building to the KIPP Freedom Academy Charter School, who subsequently signed a lease for the entire building in December of 2005. The school began with grade 6 in 2004, added grade 7 in 2005 and plans to add one grade each for two more years. Then, the school will maintain an enrollment of about 300 students in the four grades.
To accommodate the newly arrived immigrants in the neighborhood, the parish began a Sunday liturgy in Spanish in November of 2000. Presently, the parish celebrates the feast days of the national patronesses of Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The English-speaking community continues to take the lead in celebrating the feasts of Christmas and Easter, while everyone joins together at Pentecost for one bi-lingual liturgy.
The parish is actively involved with the Fairview Village Ministerium, a coalition of six neighborhood Christian communities. The parish also belongs to the Camden Churches Organized for People, which advocates improvements to the neighborhood and holds politicians responsible for their roles in the city.
The new millenium has seen an enrichment of the spiritual life of the parish by the addition of members from several African countries: Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Liberia. The future of the parish, like that of the Diocese of Camden, is multi-cultural and multi-lingual.