On Sunday, Feb. 14, parishioners of St. James Church, Penns Grove, closed their church doors, and entered the open doors of Corpus Christi, Carneys Point, in a ceremony that was part of the planned merger between the four parishes of St. James, Corpus Christi, Queen of the Apostles, Pennsville, and St. Mary, Salem.
The last Sunday Mass at St. James was celebrated at 8:30 a.m., after which the church’s Blessed Oils and the Eucharist were reverently carried out of the church, and its doors symbolically sealed shut. All parishioners in attendance then got into their cars and formed an honor guard of vehicles to begin the Procession of Transfer of the Eucharist, to the main sanctuary and tabernacle of Corpus Christi Church, one and a half miles away.
With Corpus Christi parishioners greeting their St. James counterparts, the Eucharist was placed in the tabernacle following Benediction, and the oils were placed on display in the sanctuary. Following this transfer ceremony, Mass at Corpus Christi began at 11 a.m.
Corpus Christi, Queen of the Apostles and St. Mary will serve as worship sites for the new parish.