St. Joseph parish shows resiliency in wake of arson fire

Trucks and motorcycles rumble past during Mass in the parking lot at St. Joseph Catholic Church, drowning out portions of the liturgy. The voice of Father Jeff Meeuwsen, even amplified through a sound system, fades in and out. Responses from parishioners are barely audible.

Celebrating alongside a busy downtown Salem thoroughfare has been challenging for the congregation since an early-morning arson fire on Aug. 31 caused significant damage to the sanctuary and surrounding buildings on the church property.

"It's been a struggle, but we have come together," said Jason Markowski, director of sacred liturgy. "We're praying we can be in the gym soon and be in a more permanent but temporary situation."

The church is awaiting approval from the city's Building and Safety Division to occupy the school gymnasium. The gym will be home to the congregation for the unforeseeable future as cleanup continues and restoration begins. It is too early for a timetable, but it could take six months, a year, or longer.

"I was baptized in this church in 1948," said Steve Meier, attending a weekday mass with his wife, Trish. "This is my parish. It's so sad."

St. Joseph officials are early in the insurance process and still assessing the scope of the damage. One thing is for certain: The cost of restoration and repairs is likely to exceed the $400,000 it took to build the church in 1953.

Staff, clergy and parishioners have shown their resiliency since the day of the fire, when they gathered to celebrate Mass in the parking lot while firefighters were still dousing hotspots.

Their faith has not wavered, even with the daily grind of setting up and taking down a makeshift altar under an awning in the church parking lot. Setting up takes about 40 minutes before Mass during the week and coincides with recess at St. Joseph School.

Meeuwsen hopes a soccer ball doesn't knock anything important over as worshippers begin to arrive. Parishioners wait outside the gate until the bell rings and recess is over. They come prepared, bringing umbrellas to block the sun, chairs to sit in, and cushions to help them kneel on the asphalt. Some use a towel or garden foam pad, while others make do with their jacket.

Despite any discomfort or annoyance from the noisy traffic on nearby Center Street NE, church council member Jim Bauer described a feeling of peace and power as parishioners have continued to gather, committed to demonstrating support for the 170-year-old church and its three new priests.

Quick work by arson detectives leads to arrest

Salem Fire Department was dispatched at 2:31 a.m. that Thursday morning after multiple 911 calls. The incident was first reported as a dumpster fire, then quickly spread to the roof of the church building and evolved into a four-alarm fire.

Salem Fire Department deployed 20 apparatus and approximately 70 firefighters to battle the blaze.

Firefighters contained the fire by 5 a.m. but were on the scene for several more hours. By afternoon, arson detectives determined the fire was arson and made an arrest.

Billy James Sweeten Jr., 48, has since been indicted on two first-degree arson charges and is in Marion County Jail. His next scheduled court appearance is Oct. 24.

Court records reveal Sweeten Jr. was previously arrested 138 times and convicted more than 40 times. The morning of the fire, there was a warrant out for his arrest after he failed to appear in court for unrelated charges.

First-degree arson is a Class A felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $375,000 fine, or both.

The Marion County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice Sept. 18 of the state's intent to rely on enhancement facts during court proceedings: harm/loss greater than typical; defendant on supervision; prior sanctions have not deterred defendant; demonstrated disregard for laws; incarceration necessary for public safety.

Enhancement facts can allow a judge to depart from someone's presumptive sentence, based on the Crime Seriousness Scale and an individual's criminal history, and impose a longer sentence.

School opens late, still doesn't have phone service

An open breezeway between the northwest corner of the St. Joseph church building and the Parish Center and St. Joseph school leads to a pair of metal dumpsters charred by fire. To the left, closer to the building, the concrete is blackened.

Firefighters told Meeuwsen that is where the fire started in a recycling bin.

Meeuwsen pointed out bluish-colored residue on the ground where the recycling bin melted while accompanying the Statesman Journal on a tour of the damage.

The way firefighters explained it to him, the fire traveled from the bin to inside the wall, through a crawl space, and onto the roof.

The Parish Center, a place for fellowship where the church has meals, classes and meetings, sustained smoke and water damage. So did the school.

The gymnasium took in a lot of smoke because its narrow bank of windows, facing south toward the church, were left propped open the night of the fire, typical on a warm summer night.

Removal of the smoke smell and construction of a new fire exit delayed the start of school until Sept. 11. The 165 students in preschool through eighth grade and 26 staff members conducted their first fire drill on day 4.

Even now, two weeks into classes, the school building still does not have phone or internet service.

Principal Deborah Dewar said she ran out of personal hotspot minutes one day this week and had to work in another area of the church property. Officials have been told it could be one to three months before service is restored.

"We found that the kids adapted really quickly to the changes," Dewar said. "We are looking forward to the rebuilding stage of this project. Even small children understand the positive power of building the future."

Sanctuary is the main focus of latest cleanup efforts

A local team from SERVPRO, a fire and water cleanup and restoration franchise company, arrived on site at 10 a.m. the day of the fire.

The response was quicker than usual because of employee connections to St. Joseph. One of its employees attends the church, and another has a child enrolled at the school.

"The Catholics that go here are really involved in the rest of the community," Meeuwsen said. "They own businesses. They're in government offices. There were firefighters that go to this church who were fighting the fire. There were police members from our parish that were part of it.

"They love their parish and church. They've done a good job living their faith in the world."

St. Joseph officials worked with SERVPRO to prioritize cleanup work on the school first, then the rectory, the Parish Center and the gym.

The gym needs some construction work related to the entry and egress. An exit door behind the stage must be cordoned off with a temporary wall because it leads to the church.

Bauer had hoped the parish would be worshipping in the gym by now, but understands thought and planning are prudent.

"Since we will likely worship there for quite some time, we want everything done with safety in mind," said Bauer, a member of the church council that oversees budget, facilities and finance.

A SERVPRO crew was busy Wednesday removing burnt debris from the back of the church where the church pews used to be.

"Now our main focus is the sanctuary," said Kesha Mills, production manager for the project. "We are working on the contents and figuring out what is salvageable."

All the oak pews, which seat more than 700, survived the fire but have been removed. Mills said it took three days and 15 trips to transport the pews, which have benches as long as 18 feet, to a storage location for cleaning.

Business as usual for the priests at St. Joseph

Standing in a dark and empty sanctuary, Meeuwsen gives a rundown of the stories told through the stained-glass windows wrapping the sanctuary. He knows his share of history about the church even though he is new to the parish.

The fire happened two months into his assignment at St. Joseph, the oldest Catholic parish in Salem and the second-largest in the Portland Archdiocese.

The parish serves more than 3,500 members and has a diverse congregation, offering services in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Latin.

Meeuwsen was familiar with St. Joseph before receiving the appointment. He has served at other Oregon churches, most recently at Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Aloha, and St. Joseph has often been a hub for regional meetings.

He admits the initial trauma from the fire took a toll on him. He said it wasn't until a few days ago that he could sleep through the night, unbeknownst to the parishioners he leads.

His work and that of two fellow priests has continued as usual. The regular schedule at St. Joseph includes 14 Masses a week, and only one was scratched temporarily, 7:05 a.m. on Saturday.

"We're still visiting the sick, we're still baptizing kids," Meeuswen said.

The baptisms have taken place in the parking lot. Other sacraments, including the celebration of marriage, have been relocated to other parishes. Two funerals scheduled for this past week were moved to other churches. Queen of Peace and St. Vincent de Paul are among the local Catholic parishes that have been accommodating.

Support for St. Joseph has come in many forms. Meeuwsen has been overwhelmed by the concern and generosity of people in the Salem area, and not just from Catholics, as the parish continues to settle into post-fire recovery.

"I'm trying to be as positive as I can and recognize the blessings in the chaos," he said.

Many people with the church are rising above the chaos, but in less visible roles.

"St. Joseph has a very small staff," Bauer said. "These are people who have worked their hearts out since the fire to keep things going and respond to the very important people worries, and the operational tasks related to recovery."

Relics are recovered, other items can't be salvaged

Many items in the sanctuary at risk of fire damage have no monetary value but are sacred to the church.

A canopy hanging above the marble "high altar" appears to have protected the crucifix and tabernacle. The tabernacle is a fixed, locked box where the eucharist, or blessed sacrament, is stored.

"The day after the fire it was cool enough that I could get in and retrieve the blessed sacrament, which I did," Meeuwsen said. "What's proper to do at that point would be to bury the blessed sacrament, so we did that at St. Barbara's,” a cemetery in South Salem.

The main altar, made of wood, did not fare so well. The back side was scorched by fire, and the altar likely will need to be replaced. The relic stone contained within it was recovered and saved. All of the altar relics were.

Within every consecrated Catholic altar is a relic of a saint, a tradition dating to the early days of the church. Saints Fructuosus, Eulogious, Amandus and Redempta are among those venerated at St. Joseph.

"We use the relics as teaching tools," Markowski said. "We tell these martyrs' stories to remind our people of the great sacrifice they made for Christ, so that we can be inspired by their courage."

The large statues of Joseph and Mary near the front of the church on each side are intact but will need some restoration work. How much is unknown.

One of the large vertical stained-glass windows sustained damage on the north side of the church.

The basement wound up with about three feet of water, leaving many of its contents, including Christmas decorations, unsalvageable. A wooden manger for baby Jesus was in the debris pile.

Markowski said they do not have reports on two other manger scenes, the oldest in the room closest to the fire.

Among irreplaceable items he hopes can be restored are canvas banners with the names of deceased in the parish since 1994. Some were done in calligraphy by a parishioner. The banners traditionally are hung around the church every November when the congregation remembers those who have passed before them.

SERVPRO has said it will attempt to restore them.

Parts of beloved fresco painting destroyed

Equally precious to the parish is something more recently added to the sanctuary — the floor-to-ceiling fresco paintings on either side of the crucifix and above the high altar.

Fresco is a technique of mural painting using water-based pigments on freshly applied plaster.

The murals at St. Joseph, dedicated in 2017, were painted on white-washed walls and depict a story from the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The left side shows Joseph sleeping under a tree. The right side shows the betrothal of Joseph and Mary.

Both paintings, nearly 28 feet tall at their highest point, appear to be mostly intact but will need to be cleaned and restored.

The greatest damage to the fresco took place closest to the roof where the fire was intense.

The middle section above the altar canopy, featuring a painting of the angel who came to Joseph to tell him not to be afraid to take Mary as his bride, is gone.

Blistered plaster obscures most of the Latin phrase "Exsurgens Autem Joseph A Somno" across the lofty, arched edifice above the altar area. Translation: "Now Joseph, rising from sleep ..."

A former pastor, Father Todd Molinari, created the original design of the fresco but took on a new assignment before the completion of the project. It took an artist with Conrad Schmitt Studios in Wisconsin more than two months to paint the fresco. Another artist did the stenciling and gilding.

An online fundraising campaign for "Fresco Restoration & Fire Relief" shows nearly $14,000 raised so far, with a goal of $100,000.

Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6710.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: St. Joseph parish shows resiliency in wake of arson fire