The St. Katharine Drexel Church building in Lansford has sat empty since the parish was consolidated into Summit Hill's St. Joseph Church earlier this year.

Now church officials are trying to dispel rumors that they exaggerated the condition of the building, and put up scaffolding that served no purpose, in order to get it closed.The Rev. James Burdess, pastor of St. Joseph Church of the Panther Valley, wrote a letter to parishioners on Oct. 29 responding to claims made by a group of St. Katharine's members who are appealing the decision to close the church."Neither the former St. Katharine's Parish nor our consolidated St. Joseph Parish have the financial means to repair that building or the ability to raise the necessary funds to do so,"Burdess wrote.The letter includes photos of the damage to the building, and a budget of all the capital repairs that have been undertaken since 2008.The pictures show that water has damaged the wood and steel framing of the church's tower and basement.It also shows deterioration of the facade of the building.Burdess said that "the need for the scaffolding was verified" during a meeting with the borough's code enforcement officer in September.Steve Meylach, the officer, said that he met with diocese officials, but that no decision was made on the scaffolding."I don't know what the status of the scaffolding is. It is still under research and investigation," he said. "I made a recommendation, based on what I know about zoning, it should come down."Meylach said that in zoning, scaffolding is frowned upon because it blocks use of the sidewalk. But if there is a project, it can be put up temporarily. But he said he learned that the scaffolding has been up since 2007."If someone else put up a scaffolding for that period of time, people would want to know why."The scaffolding is an important part of the appeal, which was filed in July, and is still active.One of the points that the parishioners have made in their appeal is that the scaffolding is not necessary."He used that in his decree. It's not true," said Sister Kate Kuenstler, a lawyer who is representing the parishioners, back in September. "He did that specifically so he could shut the church down. It's not true."The parishioners are asking the Vatican's Council for Clergy to overturn the decrees made by Bishop John O. Barres, the head of the Allentown Diocese. Barres implemented a plan to combine St. Katharine's, St. Joseph's and St. Francis of Assisi in Nesquehoning under the same roof at St. Joseph's.The closing of St. Katharine's was especially hard-hitting because the building also housed space for Our Lady of the Angels Academy, the Catholic primary school for the area that was located in the adjoining building.