Church silver

Queenship of Mary parishioners kick off 25-year anniversary celebration

By: Molly Petrilla
   PLAINSBORO — More than 15 years ago, Queenship of Mary Church’s parishioners participated in a small-scale pilgrimage from their space in Community Middle School on Grovers Mill Road to their new facility on Dey Road.
   They took frequent prayer breaks and traded off carrying a large cross that was eventually placed on top of the new building, where it stands today.
   On Sunday, both new and old parishioners re-created that trek to kick off the church’s 25th anniversary year — for which events are scheduled through next October — with a processional cross and anniversary banner in tow.
   "I think it’s a great way to celebrate our past," the church’s pastor, the Rev. Robert Medley, said.
   After the walk, the church celebrated a Mass and held a dinner-dance, attended by more than 300 people, according to the Rev. Medley.
   With nearly 25 years of history, the church’s silver anniversary was a good excuse to sort through its past, the pastor said. A newly formed history committee also presented a video documentary and tri-fold display Sunday evening.
   "It’s important for people to know where we came from and what has happened in the past so we can build on that and have a better future," he said. "Since our community is only 25 years old, it’s easy to (document) our history before it goes away."
   Ann Jackman, who has been a member of the church since 1989, is one of three parishioners helping to organize Queenship of Mary’s history file in honor of the year-long celebration.
   According to Ms. Jackman, the congregation formed in October 1982, when the nearest Catholic churches were in Hightstown and Princeton. Queenship of Mary began as a mission parish in nearby St. Cecelia’s Church, but soon moved its services to the Wicoff School.
   By 1986, its original 150-family congregation had grown to 326, and two years later the church moved to the Community Middle School auditorium, where it stayed until late 1990. Today, the church has about 1,200 families on paper, and as many as 1,400 people attend services each week, according to the Rev. Medley.
   To help delve into the church’s past, Ms. Jackman and her co-committee members have conducted oral history interviews both in person and through e-mail. They have also begun to collect all photographs, articles and other material people are willing to offer.
   "Twenty-five years of history can be archived," she said, "but once you get to 100 years, you’re going to be in trouble. That’s why we want to reach out now and find these people and get whatever stuff they have and don’t want."
   As Ms. Jackman and the history committee continue to gather items from the past, other parishioners are looking to the future, and have formed committees to help plan anniversary events for the coming year.
   Next month, the church will begin to sell bricks for a new garden, which will be created around its statue of Mary. The Rev. Medley said the new addition will "serve as a welcoming and prayerful place for people to come," and will be installed this spring.
   In addition, the parishioners are planning to build a Habitat for Humanity house in East Windsor by the end next summer.
   "We didn’t want our anniversary celebration just to be about us and patting ourselves on the back," the Rev. Medley said. "So we’ll be financing the whole (house project)."
   Next year, the parish will sell commemorative Christmas ornaments and host a children’s festival — though the details for both have yet to be determined, the pastor said.
   The year of festivities will culminate Oct. 21, 2007, with a Mass and dinner-dance.
   Though all activities for the coming year haven’t yet been finalized, the Rev. Medley said plans for the celebrations began "at least a year ago," at which time he assembled an 11-member anniversary committee.
   Although Queenship of Mary is celebrating its silver anniversary, the pastor also said his church is "young in many ways," and hosts a large number of young families in addition to a diverse congregation, with members from the Philippines, India and Central America.