Francis Milligan attended Sacred Heart Church in Concord for 17 years.
On Sunday, he knelt on those pews for the last time.
Beset by priest shortages and financial challenges, three Catholic parishes – Sacred Heart Church, St. Peter’s Church and St. John the Evangelist Church – consolidated as Christ the King Parish in 2011. Three years later, the parish announced a plan to move all worship to St. John’s and sell the other two churches. In February, the parish signed a purchase-and-sales agreement for Sacred Heart on Pleasant Street; local developer Jon Chorlian plans to convert the historic building into 10 condominiums.
So over the weekend, Bishop Peter Libasci presided over a final Mass there and deconsecrated holy spaces like the altar, so the building could be converted to secular use.
“There were many tears and much hugging and much sadness,” said Milligan, a doctor who serves on the Christ the King Parish council. “Combined with the fact that, okay, time to go to work.”
In a painful goodbye is a practical challenge.
As Chorlian prepares to convert the building to condominiums, the Catholic Diocese of Manchester and Christ the King Parish must begin removing many religious items from the church. Some, like linens and chalices, are small. Others, like stained glass windows and pews, are much larger.
No matter what, all will eventually be reused in a religious setting.
“We want people to know that even though the building may be gone, that the sacred objects that are associated with that building will be treated with reverence and respect,” diocese spokesman Tom Bebbington said.
Sacred Heart began as a French-Canadian parish in 1892, and the church itself was built in the 1930s. The inside is a traditional Gothic design, with towering columns and luminous stained glass windows.
The listing price was $2.9 million. (The final sale price is not yet public.) But the diocese wouldn’t sell to just anyone.
“The diocese now has a standard set of deed restrictions that goes with the property,” Bebbington said. “So today, if you were to buy a church from us, that says you can’t operate a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol.”
Those conditions were not always common practice. For example, a 100-year-old church in Epping was sold and eventually re-purposed as the Holy Grail restaurant, where booths look like pews near original stained glass windows.
Beginning in the 1990s, Bebbington said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began pushing for the deed restrictions that blocked the Holy Grail owners from buying other churches. Those same restrictions would also prohibit a church being used to provide abortions, sell pornography or ink tattoos.
The diocese is equally cautious with a church’s contents.
The Rev. Richard Roberge, pastor of Christ the King, said some statues and other items will be moved to St. John the Evangelist. Other items will be shared with Catholic churches or organizations elsewhere in New Hampshire. For example, some of the pews will be moved to Camp Fatima in Gilmanton. But major pieces, like the stained glass windows, the altar and the pews, will likely make their way to a resale company for religious items.
“They’ve been very careful, the diocese and Father Rich both, with how these things are utilized in the future,” Milligan said.
For longtime parishioners like Milligan, that knowledge can be comforting. For example, he said one sacred item will be shared with a military chaplain overseas.
“We are part of a larger body, and actions like that remind us that we are all connected,” Milligan said.
Roberge couldn’t specify yet where Sacred Heart’s contents will be sold, because many of the details haven’t been finalized. But he said representatives from other parishes have visited to look at some items, from chalices to the pipe organ.
“Even though some churches are closing, other churches are being built,” Roberge said.
For nearly 20 years, Scott Lair worked for King Richard’s Liturgical Design and Contracting, a Georgia company that buys, sells and restores religious items. Now, he is the national project director for Wisconsin-based Conrad Schmitt Studios Inc., which sometimes designs and restores stained glass windows.
Only a handful of companies do this kind of highly specialized work, Lair said.
“Most of the companies that purchase these items are only working within the religious communities,” he said. “As soon as one of the items they purchased shows up in a restaurant or a bar, they’re going to be cut off.”
Jim Osella of Used Church Items in Pennsylvania said he often sees former churches converted into housing, like Sacred Heart.
“Every diocese, they’re closing churches,” Osella said. “It’s unfortunate. They’re huge buildings. Their roofs cost a fortune. Their heating costs a fortune.”
While new churches are being built, he said many aren’t as large and tall as once was common. As a consequence, very large windows or ornate items aren’t in as high demand as they used to be.
“I’ve had stuff in storage for 25 or 30 years,” he said.
But many sellers track their items, so the original parish can learn when its altar or windows are reinstalled. That place of worship might be a newly built church, or perhaps a convent or a hospital chapel.
“There have been instances where we’ve had people who attended the former church visit the items in the new home,” said Joanne Garrett, who works in marketing at King Richard’s. “That can be very healing for the first church, and it can be a delight for those who are raising up new prayers with those items.”
A closing date has not been set for the sale to Chorlian. But at the end of Sunday’s Mass, the bishop tied a purple ribbon on the door to signify Sacred Heart is officially closed. St. Peter’s is still on the market.
In the meantime, some have struggled to move forward.
Paulette Laramee, a 69-year-old retired state worker, was baptized and married in Sacred Heart. When the church was built, her uncle was one of the stonemasons who installed the cross on top.
“To me, it should have been turned into something historical and tourists would enjoy seeing,” Laramee said. “It’s not an ideal place for condos.”
“The pope at the Vatican should have done something to keep these Catholic churches open,” she added. “I don’t understand it.”
But since the consolidation, Milligan said he has noticed others have become more active in the parish.
“I think, like any event in our lives, that causes a great emotional upheaval,” he said. “People began to look forward and say, what is it that God calls us to do now?”
Though challenging, Roberge said the merger has allowed Christ the King to mend financially.
Previously, the annual deficit was about $300,000. Now, Roberge said, that shortfall is about $100,000. Revenue from the sale of a rectory building has already helped with improvements to St. John the Evangelist, like asbsetos removal in the basement and a new audio-visual system. Income from sales of the other churches will go to return jobs cut during tight financial times.
“That makes a big difference,” he said. “We’re getting closer.”
The pastor has tried to focus on the church’s mission, rather than its location.
“It’s really about people,” Roberge said. “It’s not about buildings.”