Bishop Dennis Sullivan has decided, after extensive consultation with the leadership of the affected parishes and with the diocesan Presbyteral Council, to approve the consolidation of two Camden County parishes with nearby parish communities.
The Emmaus Catholic Community of Mount Ephraim will now be joined with St. Rose of Lima Parish, Haddon Heights. Mary Mother of the Church, now part of St. Rita’s Parish, Bellmawr, will join with St. Joachim’s Parish, also in Bellmawr. Those parishioners attending St. Francis Church, Barrington, now a part of St. Rita’s, will become part of St. Rose of Lima Parish.
The church buildings from the two parishes will become the responsibility of the new parish communities.
St. Francis Church was originally a mission of St. Rose of Lima, as was Sacred Heart Church in Mount Ephraim, now part of the Emmaus Catholic Community.
The consolidation was done to strengthen parish life and better serve the faithful in these communities.