St. Joseph the Worker prepares for demolition

IC photo by Marie Mischel

+ Enlarge

The procession leaves St. Joseph the Worker after the Decommissioning Mass. The parish is building a new church, which is expected to be completed by next Christmas. Many of those carrying out the crucifix were among those who helped build the church i

WEST JORDAN — For 45 years the barn-shaped mission church on Redwood Road was the place for West Jordan residents to celebrate baptisms and first communions, joyous weddings and sorrowful funerals, daily Mass and holy feast days. That service came to an end on Oct. 17, when the Rev. Patrick F. Carley held a Decommissioning Mass at St. Joseph the Worker.

The Mass was attended by a standing-room only crowd that included many of the congregation’s founding families.

Ray Cordova, a founding parishioner whose two children were baptized and married in the church, recalls when they held Mass at a nearby warehouse. He helped build the church, pounding nails in the roof and doing other carpentry chores. “I didn’t want to (demolish it) at first,” he said, “but when they said how good the new building would be, I said, ‘go for it.’”

Also among those attending the Oct. 17 Mass was Msgr. Matthew Wixted, the associate pastor when St. Joseph was being built. “There weren’t many people, but they were very committed,” he said. “They all worked together – that’s my memory of it.”

In his sermon during the Decommissioning Mass, Fr. Carley said, “It’s a painful thing to take down the church that was built by these folks and all their families, many now gone to God.”

They gave the parish a great legacy, he said, but “We’ve set our hearts on building a new church” and the old building must go to make room for the new one.

The parish’s growth from about 150 families to more than 1,000 is a primary reason for the new church, said Anne Kurek, St. Joseph’s secretary and historian, although the building’s deteriorating condition also was a consideration. “It was really never built to last. It was built as a mission church; it was built by volunteer labor, and it’s falling apart. Sometimes we come into the building and we find parts of the ceiling on the floor. We had an electric fire not too long ago. We’ve got a tiny little bathroom. It’s not very functional.”

The existing building is expected to be demolished by early December, with construction on the new church starting around the first of the year. Mass will be held in the parish’s hall until construction is complete, probably around next Christmas.