Crescent-News.com - STOPPED AGAIN: Contractor halted for a second time from removing Junction church items

Photo By Karen Sierer/C-N PhotoPaulding County Sheriff Dave Harrow talks with former Junction St. Mary parishioner Jim Batt outside the historic church on Tuesday. For the second time in less than a month, parishioners stymied an attempt by a Cleveland-area contractor to remove windows and sacred items from the site.

By JACK PALMER

palmer@crescent-news.com

JUNCTION -- For the second time in four weeks, a group of former parishioners on Tuesday stymied an attempt by a Cleveland-area contractor to remove stained-glass windows and other items from the former St. Mary Catholic Church in Junction.

A crew from Klimo Inc. of Columbia Station arrived at the scene with a trailer and truck shortly before 11 a.m. Word quickly spread among former members and within a half hour several were on the scene.

"We knew they (the contractors) were coming back before winter and doing it so soon without telling anyone wasn't surprising to me," said Janet Sholl, who was among the former parishioners who gathered at the church. "The diocese is very bold and very secretive."

Although the protests were peaceful, the Paulding County Sheriff's Office was called to the scene. Upon arrival, Sheriff Dave Harrow met with former parishioners and also went inside the church to talk with the contractors.

The contracting crew departed the scene around 1:30 p.m., according to Sholl.

"They actually left once to go to lunch, but the Cabbage Patch (located a half-mile away) is closed on Tuesdays," said Sholl, who lives near the church. "So they just came back, gathered up their scaffolding and tools and left for good."

David Sproul, of Oakwood, a member of the Auglaize Historical Society, was outside the former church circulating a petition to save the century-old building. A non-Catholic without any other connections to the Junction parish, he nevertheless is concerned with historic preservation and already has obtained the names of nearly 600 signatures on a petition he prepared.

Sholl reported that parishioners have paid a retainer fee to Paulding attorney Joe Burkard to consider filing legal action to halt any further attempts to remove the stained-glass windows and any other items.

"We feel we need to do something," said Sholl. "The majority of our members feel strongly about this."

Becky Keller, of rural Defiance, a member of the parish for the past 21 years, said this morning that many parishioners are confused about what is happening.

"We are hearing all these conflicting stories about some windows being sacred and other windows (in other closed churches) not being sacred," said Keller. "A lot of people feel our church is a historic building and that the windows should remain there. They don't understand the need to get them out and the way this is being handled."

Keller said recent events dating back to the Junction church's closing has caused parishioners to view their faith in a different light.

"We are starting to understand that we are to be obedient to God, not to people or power or money," she said. "It's something so foreign to what we are used to."

"I had my own private vigil last night," Sholl said. "I prayed and prayed about what's happening to our church. I didn't sleep well."

When contacted Tuesday, diocese spokesman Colleen Buckman said she had no comment on the Junction situation.