EASTHAMPTON — A weathered book housed in the church rectory tells the origins of the Our Lady of the Valley Catholic parish.
In its early years, the church on Adams Street burned down twice. The first structure was destroyed by fire on Dec. 8, 1873. The rebuilt church burned down again before a dedication planned for Easter Sunday 1883.
“The people of Easthampton have been tried like gold in a furnace,” reads the old book, published in 1900 to detail the history of Diocese of Springfield parishes.
These days, challenges here aren’t necessarily related to fire hazards. Like parishes around the country, the church’s leadership is trying to beat back a downward trend in attendance. Meantime, the strength of the parish shows what this 133-year-old church means to its members as major renovations to the interior get underway — the culmination of a multi-year fundraising effort.
“We started a beautification fund,” the Rev. Douglas McGonagle said. About three years ago, when the parish had banked $30,000, church leadership photoshopped pictures of what the interior of the church could look like, with bright color schemes and decals replacing drab earth tones.
“That really got things kicked into high gear,” he said.
The fund surpassed $150,000 last spring, McGonagle said. Still, declining attendance hangs in the background.
About 850 people fill the pews during the church’s weekend Masses, McGonagle said. Attendance goes down each year.
“There’s been a steady decline,” he said, “but the slope of the decline is exactly matched by how many funerals we do. We do 70 to 100 funerals every year.”
Easthampton Catholics used to worship in three separate churches.
The Polish Catholics said Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus on Franklin Street. The descendants of French Canadians celebrated at Notre Dame du Bon Conseil on Pleasant Street. Just about everyone else — mostly descendants of Irish, German and Italian immigrants — attended Immaculate Conception on Adams Street.
One day in 2010, that old system came tumbling down.
The three churches would consolidate at Immaculate Conception, which would be renamed Our Lady of the Valley.
What would happen to the old Polish hymns? The old statues at Notre Dame? The crucifix at Immaculate Conception? Everything was up in the air.
“There are two cultures here,” Monsignor John J. Bonzagni, of the Diocese of Springfield, said in 2010 of the French and Polish churches. “They’re very concerned that a number of their ethnic traditions be observed in the new parish.”
Parishioners crammed into the pews for the first 4 p.m. Saturday Mass on July 3 that year. McGonagle, who said his first Mass at the parish that day, said a man from the old Notre Dame parish walked up to him about a year later and said the church needed a new paint job.
“He was right,” McGonagle said. “He said, ‘If we paint it, then it becomes Our Lady of the Valley. It won’t look so much like the old Immaculate Conception.’”
The walls were a “90s mud,” McGonagle said, adding that if he was feeling charitable, he’d describe the color scheme as having “earthy tones.”
The church has been closed for renovations since Jan. 9. Parishioners are celebrating Mass in the basement until the expected completion, possibly in March, McGonagle said.
Plans call for a brighter ambiance inside the dim neo-Gothic church, with dove white walls and two tones of blue coloring the vaulted 45-foot ceilings.
A new confessional, altar, revamped circular icons featuring the 12 apostles, Mary and Jesus, recreated paintings, restored stations of the cross and new LED lighting to highlight will all be part of the interior. The estimated cost in the end could hover around $200,000, McGonagle said.
The pews are covered in plastic and workers have constructed a second level in the church so painters can reach the top of the vaulted ceilings.
That July day in 2010 was cramped. Not everyone was at ease with the decision to consolidate the city’s Catholic parishes.
“It was very big, high emotions,” said McGonagle, who said his first Mass at the parish that day. “Folks were upset and grieving that everything had been tossed up in the air and flipped all around.”
Almost seven years after the consolidation, McGonagle is encouraging a fresh identity while respecting those deep roots.
Take Our Lady of the Valley’s altar for example. The base, top and support pillars are made from the old chestnut pews at Notre Dame du Bon Conseil. The core of the altar is from Sacred Heart of Jesus. And the altar stone is from Immaculate Conception.
Mary Jane Mathers has attended Mass at Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Valley for 45 years with her husband, William.
“Everyone has come together as one parish,” she said. “We’ve known each other living in town. And now we pray together.”
McGonagle wishes church attendance were higher. Perhaps the revamped space will spark interest. Besides that, for the major holidays, church leadership places ads in the newspaper and hangs banners outside.
Masses are televised on community access television in Easthampton and Southampton. Two weekends a month, volunteers make meals for Meals on Wheels. They participate in the interfaith COT shelter and work with sister parishes.
“These outreaches to the general community bring our name and bring our presence,” McGonagle said. “It hits people that may not be Catholic, but they know that we exist.”
All that while nurturing participation from the lifelong Catholics who now call Our Lady of the Valley home.
“If you look at the stations, if you look at the people who donated for the icons and the angels and the paintings and stuff like that, you see French names, you see Polish names, you see Irish names, you see Italian names, you see German names,” McGonagle said. “There’s an opportunity for folks to buy in.”
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.