Lansford Catholics have lost an appeal to reopen their church. Now some fear that they will lose the building itself.

The former St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church, known between 2008-2016 as St. Katharine Drexel, has been closed for three years. However, it sat untouched as parishioners appealed to Rome to keep it open.

With the appeal officially over, some former parishioners fear that the church will be demolished like several other former Catholic churches in the Panther Valley like St. Ann’s in Lansford was in 2016, or SS. Cyril and Methodius in 2013.

The Diocese of Allentown says it has made no decisions regarding the future of the church building.

The people hoping to save the church have made it clear that the church has historical and artistic value, which would be lost if it is demolished.

“I cry about it every day. I feel the historic value is going to diminish the town. I feel like they’re looking at dollar signs rather than souls,” said Rita Klekamp.

Coal mining heritage

The church’s history is part of the coal mining heritage of the region. It was built in the early 1900s on land sold by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co.

“We all have history there. All of us were descendants of miners. That has a significant impact on how we feel about the church,” Klekamp said.

Miners from Lansford were forced to deduct part of their pay to pay for construction — $2.50 per week for single men, and $10 per week for men with families.

Bruce Markovich, a Lansford council member and town historian, said the miners often took home less than they donated.

In 2008, St. Michael’s was merged with two other parishes and became the home of the new St. Katharine Drexel Parish. In 2016, the diocese merged St. Katharine’s into St. Joseph’s of Summit Hill, citing declining attendance, a lack of funds and needed repairs.

Parishioners, some who were transplants from other consolidated parishes, appealed the decision to Rome. About a month ago, the Catholic “appeals court” reviewing their decision said there was enough reason to close the parish.

“The appeal is done. Right now, the main objective is to keep the church from being torn down,” said Joe Pavlis, a longtime St. Michael’s member.

A diocese spokesman said no decisions have been made about the future of the church building, because it was still under appeal up until a few weeks ago.

“No determination on the future of the building has been made at this point. While it was under appeal, we could do nothing,” said Matt Kerr, director of communications for the Allentown Diocese.

Markovich says that saving the church is not just important for Catholics from Lansford, it’s important to the history of the town. He says there are numerous people who visit the historical society each year who ask if there is any way they can tour the church whose steeple dominates the town’s skyline.

When a celebrated painter from New York named Riva Helfond would travel to Lansford in the 1920s to paint, she would often include the steeple in her paintings along with the other dominant feature in town at that time — the No. 9 breaker. One painting, which contrasted the church and the breaker, was called “The Two Cathedrals of the Coal Region.”

“There’s no historical value or cultural value to an empty lot. It’s as simple as that,” Markovich said.

The architecture

The church was designed by A.W. Leh, who also designed St. Joseph’s and Dreisbach House in Jim Thorpe and the Tamaqua flatiron building. Two of his other buildings in Lansford have been demolished.

“When he handed the keys to (the pastor) he said, ‘I built you a church for the ages.’ He didn’t say, ‘I built you a church until Allentown Diocese decides to close it,” Markovich said.

The tower’s clock, and its bells named for saints, has been ubiquitous in the town for nearly a century. In the 1970s, parishioners and nonparishioners worked together to replace parts of the clock after someone shot it with a rifle.

In addition to the tower, the church has numerous architectural features that parishioners feel are worth saving. The stained glass was imported from Germany and includes a rose window and a window depicting miners. Pavlis said that as a child he didn’t appreciate the features, but while reviewing pictures of the church, he was amazed.

“I never took a good look at those windows, because I was very small. Once I saw those pictures, I said, ‘All right, now I know what we fight for,’ ” he said.

The remains of one of the church’s past priests, the Rev. Paul Lisicky, are interred beneath the church.

Klekamp sees parallels between the recent tragic fire at Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral and the fate of St. Michael’s. She said there has been so much concern about the loss of the cultural heritage of Notre Dame, but her church has one as well.

“I think that’s a terrible tragedy, but I think that the same thing is going to happen to St. Michael’s, and that’s a tragedy as well,” she said.

Klekamp said she believes that the diocese plans to demolish St. Katharine’s so it can help pay the victims of priest sex abuse.

When the church closed in 2016, the diocese gave several reasons, including needed repairs in and outside the church, and a lack of funds to complete them.

Kerr, the diocese spokesman, said if the church building were sold, or its contents were sold, all of the proceeds would remain in the St. Joseph’s of the Panther Valley Parish.

“No church assets from anywhere in the diocese are being used for the reparation fund,” Kerr said.

Despite the dire situation for their church building, church supporters say they are still loyal to their Catholic faith, and for some it is stronger than ever.

Pavlis said the experience of fighting for his church has been costly financially, but he still believes it has been the right thing to do.

“When I leave this planet, none of us are here forever, I can go and face my parents and grandparents and say myself and my group did our absolute best to keep our beloved church open and standing,” he said.