Saint Philip & Saint James Church

This place has become the weekly home office for us.
Why drive nearly thirty minutes for church when there are literally twenty different places in between?
I don’t know but I think it comes down to four things:
1. This is the only place in the area that offers a Sunday evening service at 5:30. Sorry but not everyone likes or has the scheduling flexibility to get to church in the AM on a Sunday so this is huge as to why I come. I really wish that more pastors would figure this out as clearly there is a market for it as the Sunday evening Mass here is very well attended even during football season.
2. Going to church can be a real drag especially if the priest at your local parish is either a bore, poor public speaker or in the case of the church that’s right down the street from me, simply not a nice person in general. SPSJ has you covered as there are five different priests at this parish which equals a nice variety of speeds/​homily styles and each week the bulletin/​website lists who the celebrant is for the next week so you always know who you’re getting.
3. The building itself is an old school beauty that dates back to the late 19^th century.
4. The pastor, Father John, even if he is not the celebrant is regularly around after Mass shaking hands and saying hello to everyone. It’s a nice touch and one that is certainly not done everywhere.
While I’m not a member here (or technically anywhere for that matter) I certainly throw a few bones in the basket every week and as long as they keep offering the Sunday evening Mass I’m pretty sure that we’ll be regulars for the foreseeable future.