Churches Archives - Natick Report

Natick gun buyback slated for September

July 13, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Citizens for a Safer Natick and the Natick Area Interfaith Clergy Association are partnering with the Natick Police Department and Middlesex Sheriff’s Office to sponsor a Natick Gun Buyback on Sept. 12 from 10am-2pm at Hartford Street Presbyterian Church.

Organizers figure the fewer unnecessary firearms laying around, the lower chance there is of the weapons falling into the wrong hands or resulting in accidents.

A similar event held three years ago netted dozens of firearms, ranging from revolvers to assault rifles. Owners were given gift certificates for their efforts, with more powerful guns rating bigger prizes. Turning in ammunition scored owners ice cream coupons.

The firearms, after being run through a database to determine whether they’ve been stolen or used in a crime, are sent to the state police for destruction.

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Natick miracle? Sacred Heart Church boasts ‘Sold’ sign

June 9, 2020 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

We’re not counting our angels before they ascend, but the Sacred Heart Church in South Natick that’s been shuttered since 2004, has a real live “Sold” sign in front as of today.

Word is that the buyer of 26-28 Eliot St., very well could be the operator of a circus school, as we reported recently. Though some are skeptical that zoning rules will allow that. Regardless, the prospect of the circus arts school has neighbors doing backflips and shooting each other out of cannons.

Most suitors have eyed what’s become an eyesore over the years—shingles and whatever else falling off, overgrown grass, etc.—for a handful of what no doubt would be marketed as luxury condos.

Real estate sites have had the property listed for $450K. The Metrowest Daily News recently reported that a couple of deals fell through.

sacred heart church — Most of ‘Sold’ sign blurred to avoid free advertising for real estate firm

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Natick houses of worship will continue to love their neighbors at a distance

May 30, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Gov. Charlie Baker earlier this month revealed the state’s re-opening plan, which included a rough timeline along which organizations in various sectors might re-open. Up first were places of worship (up to 40% occupancy), which got the OK to welcome the faithful back beginning May 18. Natick’s religions houses, however, have been in no rush to re-fill those pews. They’re all still praying on it.

Despite the new guidelines, religious organizations in town are taking a cautious approach under advisement of each of their own committees as they study the situation carefully. Services and masses, which have been online for weeks now, will continue in that vein, while baptisms, weddings, and funerals will be managed on a case-by-case basis.

Temple Israel‘s Rabbi Daniel Lieben says, “Our plan is to re-open over time and with caution. Our primary concern is the safety of our community. The bulk of what we are doing will remain remote.”

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Temple Israel, Natick — Temple Israel, Hartford St.

The rabbi, like many religious leaders in Natick, says he’s been pleasantly surprised with the success he and his team have had in creating connectivity over Zoom meetings. “We’ve even had a bar mitzvah, and we were able to create a true experience.”

Still, he acknowledges the sense of loss that has come with the enforced separation. “People gather together in synagogue to pray as a community. It’s very important to be together, and the sense of loss runs deep. But people are coming together online because it is a way to connect.”

Milestone Church‘s Pastor Jay Mudd agrees that now is not the time to take COVID-related health concerns lightly. “We’re huggers at Milestone,” he says. “That’s just not going to work right now.”

Mudd notes that when services do resume, worship will look different than before. According to the Milestone website, “We will have to limit interaction and worship with only a handful of people in the room. Your overall worship experience will be much different than you expect.”

Day by day

Most church and synagogue offices are not staffed right at this time. A pastor or rabbi might stop in briefly to record a section of the upcoming online worship service. A bare-bones cleaning crew does the rounds of chores quickly and at a distance from one another. Phone calls either go to voicemail or are picked up by a staff member working from home.

When the buildings do re-open, expect to see masks on clergy and worshippers; plenty of sanitation supplies available from hand sanitizer to bleach wipes; and even plexiglass shields in some offices to protect staff as they interact with the public. All scenarios are currently up for discussion including traffic patterns throughout the spaces and a dismissal system that could look less like a meandering flock headed out in to the world and more like a military operation.

It seems likely that most sanctuaries will remain closed until fall, which could be the most sensible course given that attendance at Natick churches and synagogues already trends downward during the summer months. The closest to opening may be St. Patrick and St. Linus Churches. Weekly mass attendance is a precept of the Catholic Church, although dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation has been granted to the faithful for now. Church leadership at this time is working out a plan for resuming worship that will likely include a pre-registration process for a seat at mass and volunteer cleaning teams to take on the necessary sanitizing tasks.

Rev. Adam Tierney-Eliot at Eliot Church (no relation to John Eliot, the missionary leader who founded the church in 1651) says, “We’re not going back until September at the earliest. What we do as a congregation is care for our members, so coming back and gathering isn’t a good idea right now.”

Eliot Church, Natick — Eliot Church, South Natick

Tierney-Eliot said although he knows it’s hard for people to remain apart, it’s necessary because “we love them and care about them. It’s like an extended snowstorm, in a way. We stay closed so that people will stay home. We stay closed for now to keep the community as a whole safe.”

The commandment has been delivered loud and clear: Love they neighbor as thyself — but do so at a distance.

Where to worship online in Wellesley

Holy Big Top! Could former South Natick church get new life as circus school?

May 18, 2020 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The former Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 26-28 Eliot St. in South Natick has been shuttered since 2004, its closure a result of declining church attendance; the need for the Archdiocese of Boston to raise money to settle lawsuits from the clergy sexual abuse scandal; and the dwindling number of priests.

sacred heart church, Natick — The shuttered Sacred Heart Church in South Natick may get a new lease on life.

Now we hear that the 150-year old building, on the market for $450k, may get new life as a circus school. It seems the sanctuary with its soaring heights just might be the perfect space to train aspiring young trapeze artists on how to fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

Seeing the lights on in the church this past week, which illuminated the stained-glass windows, indicated possible new life.

Over the years, this building just across the town line from Wellesley has come close to achieving a resurrection. In 2015, the Natick Planning Board granted a permit for a buyer to build five condo units in the church. Although that didn’t come to pass, the rectory across the street was beautifully renovated into two units. But the 62,000 square-foot church has remained empty for the past 16 years.

That the decommissioned Sacred Heart church may be born again after having served the spiritual needs of parishioners for 114 years is good news for many. We’re neighbors of the church, and it breaks our heart every time we walk by and see the general disrepair of what was once a beautiful building. As my husband said when the religious statues in front of the church and the rectory across the street were removed in 2012, “You know the neighborhood is going downhill when Jesus and Mary move out.”

Abutter Christine Schell isn’t certain the idea will sail through, however, noting, “That property isn’t covered for a commercial entity. The space is zoned for housing units. So there’s a zoning issue.”

Neighbor Marco Kaltofen concurs. He says, “This building is currently zoned residential and the Natick Planning Board has given careful consideration to multiple plans that recognize the residential character of our neighborhood. Any new use would need to have appropriate limits on noise. density, parking, intrusive lighting; of course, it would also need to be lawful. I imagine that everyone wants a use that allows people to maintain the peaceful and tranquil use of their homes.”

Sacred Heart is just down the street from Elm Bank Reservation, where the Circus Smikus, the traveling youth circus, used to perform during the summer not long ago.

Other former churches have undergone similar conversions. In Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts in 2017 renovated one of that area’s long-closed Catholic churches and started welcoming trapeze artists, jugglers, contortionists, and other practitioners of circus arts.

Day by day

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