The fate of a 103-year-old Catholic parish in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood and the church it calls home appears uncertain.
Regularly scheduled weekday Masses and confessions at Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish have been suspended indefinitely, according to the church’s website.
The church has been operating at a deficit for the past several years, with low attendance and little sacramental activity, according to Nancy Fishburn, executive director of communications for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
As for the parish’s future, the diocese is reviewing options, Fishburn said in a statement on Jan. 9. For now, Catholic Charities will continue to operate the parish programs that serve people in need while long-term planning takes place.
The organization has also leased out Waldeisen Hall and the school.
Immaculate Conception officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The parish was established in 1923 in what was then the city of Kenmore, according to the church’s website.
‘Everybody was welcome’ at Immaculate Conception
Rose Pferschi Arp, a former parishioner who now lives in Wadsworth, said she grew up in the church and raised her children there.
Both she and her daughter, Kelly Shankland, attended the church’s school, which has since closed and merged with St. Augustine School in Barberton.
Shankland said the church was special because of its people.
“You have people from all walks of life, from the people that had money — lots of money — to those of us that didn’t have anything,” she said. “Everybody was welcome.”
She described the church as a big family, and she said everybody pretty much knew everybody.
Their family was heavily involved in the church while she grew up, from her grandmother planting and tending to the church’s flowers to many family members volunteering at the church’s annual fundraising festival.
“Everybody went to the festival, whether they were Catholic or not,” Shankland said. “If you lived in the Kenmore area, you knew the festival. Everybody was there.”
Shankland said she still runs into people she went to school with, and it’s like no time has passed when she sees them.
“You have that background together, and it’s something you just don’t lose,” Pferschi Arp said.
Although Pferschi Arp left the church in 1995 when she moved and Shankland stopped going around 2001, both said they have lots of good memories there.
“It was sad to hear that nobody else is going to be able to make any memories like we had anymore,” Shankland said.
Editor’s note: Lauren Cohen is a community reporting intern for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron. The position is funded through a grant from the Knight Foundation, which is also a financial supporter of Signal Akron.