FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Blessed Sacrament/Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd Church

Pennington Avenue site: 72 Pennington Ave. Trenton, NJ 08618

Bellevue Ave. site: 716 Bellevue Ave. 08618

ATTN: NEWS EDITORS AND RELIGION EDITORS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECEMBER 16, 2008

Final Mass at OLDS Site

The final mass at the site of OUR LADY OF THE DIVINE SHEPHERD CHURCH will be celebrated at 11 A.M. on Sunday, December 21, 2008 with Bishop John M. Smith, Diocese of Trenton, officiating. Beginning December 23, all masses will take place at the Bellevue Avenue site, formerly Blessed Sacrament Church. Christmas Eve mass will be at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. prelude of carols and readings.

OLDS was a historically black, Roman Catholic parish in the Battle Monument area, near downtown, that served parishioners from throughout the Diocese. It was one of only two New Jersey parishes founded specifically for African—American Catholics.

The OLDS parish was established in 1941 in response to a petition presented to the Most Rev. William Aloysius Griffin, Bishop of Trenton, by several hundred black Catholics who wanted to have their own house of worship. For nearly seven decades, the parish has faithfully served the needs of the parishioners and the community through the church, its former school and social center at McGuinn

Hall on Pennington Ave.

IN 2005, the church merged with Blessed Sacrament Church to form BLESSED SACRAMENT/ OUR LADY OF DIVINE SHEPHERD CHURCH as part of the Bishop’s restructuring of churches throughout the Diocese.

The BS/OLDS congregation will be closing the Pennington Avenue site and holding all worship services and activities at the former Blessed Sacrament site, 716 Bellevue Ave, where it will continue to serve and worship for the glory of the Lord as a multicultural parish in the Roman Catholic faith.

Parishioners will observe the consolidation with the Mass and a reception to follow honoring elders of the church, visitors, and dignitaries.

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