Spring has arrived at Fitzgerald Park at Bolton and Wilson streets. Grass is growing, flowers are blooming, dog walkers congregate with mothers with strollers. Few remember when, before the park was developed in the 1970s to honor F. Scott Fitzgerald, there was a thriving Jewish synagogue, and more recently a Baptist church visited by Dr. Martin Luther King, at that site.
Recently, someone posted on the BHCA Facebook page: When we were walking this morning, we noticed the absence of bells from Corpus Christi. Even though the last mass was celebrated there a week ago, the bells continued through Saturday. Today is the first day of its official closure, and . . . the neighborhood seemed emptier without the bells.
Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church has undertaken a significant renovation of its north tower, spurred by the noticeable deterioration of the tower’s exterior façade. The church at West Lafayette and Park Aves. has a national reputation for its architecture and magnificent Tiffany windows. Overall cost of the repairs is expected to approach $500,000, mostly paid from savings and an endowment.
The conclaves are mostly over, although consideration of appeals continues, since the Archdiocese of Baltimore decreed that more than half of all of the Catholic parishes in the city will close and/or merge in the coming weeks. Bolton Hill’s 144-year-old Corpus Christi parish will be merged into the facilities and programs at the Basilica. But what will become of Corpus Christi’s staff and its historic building?
The Rev. Grey Maggiano and his family parted company with Memorial Episcopal Church on Aug. 25. It was a joyous event filled with laughter, tears and lots of food. The Maggiano family is settling into a new home in Raleigh, NC, where he became the rector of Church of the Nativity.
🏠 BHCA creates committee on neglected, mismanaged properties; 💯 Parago family honored with Centennial Homes award; 🗿 Removing remnant of Confederate monument under discussion; 🕊️ Jim Craigen, Bolton Square resident, dies; 🌽 Two farmers markets are nearby on Wednesdays and Thursdays; ✈️ Brown Memorial Church is fundraising to bring Cubans to Bolton Hill
On April 14 the Archdiocese of Baltimore unveiled its “Seek the City to Come” proposal which seeks to reimagine the Catholic Church’s ministry and reorganize Roman Catholic parishes across Baltimore City. The proposal would consolidate 61 parishes down to 21. Among those facing potential closure is the 144-year-old Corpus Christi parish, situated at the corner of Mt. Royal and West Lafayette Aves.
Michael Stefanek in February began his role as Minister of Music at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Bolton Hill. Stefanek is organist and choir director and manages all the music ministries of the church. He was selected after a search that attracted applications from organists across the United States.
Just a few blocks west from Bolton Hill, at 1714 Madison Street, Payne Memorial AME Church stands as an example of the intersection of faith, community service and change under the leadership of Rev. Melech E.M. Thomas. Growing up in the church he now leads, Rev. Thomas’s story is one of personal transformation and a higher calling.
Changes in public religiosity, the politicization of some evangelical denominations, the prolonged scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese and the COVID pandemic—they’ve taken a toll on attendance and the dynamism of many churches, nationally and in the neighborhood.
