Wind carried the soulful voice across a rainy Belfast dockside yesterday. How Great Thou Art crooned a man with an Elvis quiff and sideburns as the congregation of St Joseph's Church took Communion at the 10th Mass to be held on its steps since the church was closed for worship last February.
About 150 people huddled in their Sunday best under umbrellas while birds sang in the cloudy sky. Each week they brave rain and cold to hear Mass outside the small neo-gothic church in Sailortown, celebrated by west Belfast priest Father Des Wilson. "Most priests would give their eye teeth to have a congregation like this," he said.
Only half a dozen members of the congregation still live in the Sailortown area, a factor in local Bishop Patrick Walsh's decision to close St Joseph's. The community is now expected to attend Mass at nearby St Patrick's Church.
Father John McManus, spokesman for the Diocese of Down and Connor, dismissed rumours that the church was for sale. "We have asked any interested parties to submit proposals as to what should happen to the church . . . but it will not again be opened for worship," he said yesterday.
The reason for the depletion of the once thriving community goes back 30 years. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of the people in Sailortown were forced to move to make way for a new road system. While they settled in other parts of the city, for many Sailortown has remained their spiritual home.
"St Joseph's was the heart of their community, and these emotional ties saw them return for christenings, First Communions, weddings and funerals in the intervening decades," said Paul McLoughlin, a member of the Sailortown Cultural and Historical Society. "They feel it is a holy place as well as a piece of historical architecture." His group and the Save St Joseph's Committee hope people power will convince church officials to reopen the 120-year-old listed building.
Their campaign has the support of Sinn Fein leader Mr Gerry Adams and local Sinn Fein MLA Mr Gerry Kelly. However, few would have expected DUP Belfast Mayor Sammy Wilson to take up the cause. "I think it's wrong this building is not going to be maintained . . . unfortunately this type of thing is happening in the Protestant community too," Mr Wilson said recently.
The shock felt by the community at the closure has subsided. Now there is sadness. "My folks and grandparents are from this neck of the woods, as a kid I used to play around here, and socialised later in the Docker club . . . it's sad," said Jim Brown (33), an Elvis impersonator who sang at yesterday's Mass.
"I was born just across the road here and I had never left really even though I moved out of the parish, but I have never missed coming down here every Sunday," said Julie Gault, who cleared flowers and candles from the makeshift altar. "My son comes down, my niece and nephews too. It is the heart of this community. If this goes, Sailortown goes. They got rid of the houses here 30 years ago and told my mother then that they were going to rebuild them. They never did."
Last month, Belfast boxer and Sailortown resident Michael Ayers dedicated his latest title win to the campaigners to the bemusement of television viewers. Ayers is a regular at the weekly Mass, but not everyone has connections with Sailortown. Jim McClean from Glengorm ley started going to the church last year and has taken up the fight.
"It is ironic, with declining numbers attending Mass generally, that people actually want to come to this church," he said, adding that St Joseph's could be a focal point in the newly commercialised docklands. "There are apartments opening left right and centre, some will want to go to Mass in their area."
When the Mass ended the congregation sheltered in the nearby Stella Maris hostel, where they had tea and sandwiches. Father Wilson said they deserved to be "nurtured, not ignored". "I think they are doing the right thing . . . what harm is being done? If they are going to bring the relics of St Therese around the country, nobody can object if people come here to try and keep their church open."