BALTIMORE — Former parishioners of St. Ann Catholic Church on Greenmount Avenue are working to buy back the building after the Archdiocese of Baltimore ordered it closed two years ago.
Parishioners work to buy back historic Catholic church in Baltimore
The group is forming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to raise funds and purchase the property, which is listed at $850,000.
"We protested the closing; we asked the Archdiocese to reconsider," recalled Erich March, a former parishioner. "They hemmed and hawed and eventually said no. And so we're saying that's not stopping us; we want to make sure this community is served."
St. Ann Church, a historic, African-American Catholic parish located at 22nd and Greenmount, served the Greenmount community for over 150 years. The Archdiocese of Baltimore closed it as part of a mass consolidation of parishes driven by declining citywide Catholic Church attendance and rising maintenance costs.
The church, along with two other parishes, was slated to merge and converge at St Francis Xavier, also a historic African-American Catholic church, on Oliver Street about a mile away.
READ MORE: St. Ann’s Catholic Church, with its 150-year history, among Archdiocese closures
According to a property listing, St. Ann spans over 16,000 square feet on just under half an acre.
While the group does not plan to hold regular Mass at the location, their goal is to convert the space into a community center to continue serving the Greenmount neighborhood. They are appealing to the church's alumni base, which extends well beyond Baltimore.
Former parishioner Bobby Jackson said a broad fundraising effort could make the difference.
"I think that a nationwide drive would help us save this particular institution, and we can continue to help others in the community here," Jackson told WMAR-2 News.
"There's more than one way to make a place sacred," March added. "There's more than one way to do church. And that's what we're going to do [in] the Greenmount community."
Jackson said the group remains determined despite the challenges ahead.
"We have to pursue all the avenues available to us to try to preserve it. Remember one thing—we take a licking, but we keep on ticking here at St. Ann."
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