Catholic Parishes In Highwood, Highland Park To Combine, Continue Holding 2 Masses

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich announced Thursday that Catholic parishes in Highland Park and Highwood will combine while continuing to host masses at both Immaculate Conception and St. James churches.

The unified parish will have a single pastor and pastoral team starting July 1, the cardinal announced.

Immaculate Conception Parish, 770 Deerfield Road in Highland Park, will be the designated parish church for sacramental record keeping. St. James Church, at 134 North Ave. in Highwood, will remain a worship site.

The name for the new parish has yet to be determined. Community members are set to submit three to five options to Cupich for a new parish name within guidelines provided by the archdiocese.

According to archdiocese data, average weekend attendance at St. James was 536 compared to 374 at Immaculate Conception in October 2019, the most recent data available. During the prior year, attendance in Highland Park declined by nearly 18 percent, while Highwood's rose by almost 11.5 percent.

Back in 2014, Immaculate Conception had more people attending mass than St. James, and the two parishes had a combined congregation of more than 1,400 — about 55 percent higher than it is today.

The parishes have nearly $2.6 million in combined savings and no debt in either parish. Last year, Immaculate Conception generated almost $88,000 in operating surplus, while St. James had about $81,000, for the church's Fiscal Year 2021.

But the first full fiscal year post-pandemic marked a reversal from prior years, when the pair of parishes lost approximately $250,000 combined over the two previous fiscal years.

Church officials hope to name a new pastor by mid-March, according to an archdiocese spokesperson. A priest placement board will recommend a candidate with a priority on someone who is bilingual in English and Spanish. About 35 percent of St. James' attendees come for Spanish mass, according to data from the archdiocese.

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Cupich's decision follows several months of review as part of the archdiocese's ongoing consolidation program called Renew My Church.

The two-parish "High Park Wood" grouping is one of about 100 parish groupings announced as part of the program, and members of each community took part in its Grouping Feedback and Discernment team, or GFDT.

The leadership team of the combined parish will look into potentially selling or leasing parts of each parish's property, which the GFDT identified as income-generating opportunities that could reduce operating costs and increase investments in ministry, according to the cardinal's announcement.

The team offered a clear vision for how the two united parishes can honor the distinct history and culture of both communities while recognizing the need to continue both campuses sustainably, Cupich announced.

Going forward, Bishop Jeffrey Grob and his team at his Libertyville-based vicarate will review the viability of continuing to use both worship sites with parish leadership every year, according to the announcement.

In 2015, St. James closed its school as part of a merger with Holy Cross School in Deerfield. Citing an untenable operating deficit, archdiocese officials shut down the school in 2018.

Related:

• Divine Mercy Chosen As Name For New Combined Catholic Parish
• 4 Of 5 North Shore Parishes Consolidating In Wilmette, Winnetka
• Highland Park, Highwood Churches To Reopen Gradually: Archdiocese
• Holy Cross School To Shut Down In Deerfield
• St. James School Wraps Up 90 Years of History