40th anniversary

RANDOLPH  Resurrection Parish here celebrated 40 years as a “truly Second Vatican Council” faith community in central Morris County — and as the first parish that now-Bishop Emeritus Rodimer established in his early days as Bishop of Paterson in 1978 — with a Mass in the church on Sept. 17.

On that Sunday, Father John Tarantino, Resurrection’s administrator for the past six years, presided over a well-attended 11:30 a.m. Mass to mark the parish’s 40th anniversary. Concelebrating priests were Father Michael Drury, pastor of St. Luke Parish, Long Valley; Father John Andrew Connell, a retired priest and a former Resurrection pastor; and two other retired priests, Father Raymond Pavlick and Msgr. George Dudak. After Mass, Father Tarantino blessed and dedicated the community room in the parish’s ministry center, named in honor of Msgr. Martin Rauscher, Resurrection’s founding pastor and now a retired priest. It was followed by a parish picnic.

“Resurrection is a truly Vatican II parish. The church was built in the round and the lay people participate in our ministries. We are constantly adapting — tweaking things to stay current — but we are happy to continue to build on the great founding of the parish by Msgr. Rauscher,” Father Tarantino said. “It’s a welcoming parish and a remarkable place.”

About 350 people enjoyed the picnic after the Mass and dedication of the community room. Also present were representatives of Bishop Rodimer and Msgr. Rauscher, who were both unable to attend. The occasion also marked the 35th anniversary of the construction of the church building and the 10th anniversary of the ministry center. The anniversary celebrations also coincided with a campaign that raised funds from generous parishioners to make improvements to the church’s interior and the parish grounds [see related story at right].

A dynamic faith community of almost 900 families, Resurrection continues to become more diverse, Father Tarantino said. The parish’s website, www.resurrectionparishnj.org, states that parishioners “are encouraged to become actively involved in one or more parish organizations, programs or projects — opportunities to share our God-given talents with the rest of the parish community.” They get involved in such ministries as Cornerstone retreats, high school youth ministry, Right to Life programs, religious education, the Rosary Society, the senior citizens group and the soup kitchen, ministry to the sick and homebound and music ministry, according to the website.

Actually, Resurrection’s origins date back to 1977, when a small group of local faithful met with then-Msgr. Rodimer, Diocesan Chancellor, about the possibility of erecting a Catholic church in Randolph Township. Bishop Rodimer was ordained the sixth bishop of Paterson on Feb. 28, 1978 and later established Resurrection as a parish on July 1, 1978, naming Msgr. Rauscher as founding pastor.

“I arrived in Randolph with no people, no church, no land and no money,” Msgr. Rauscher said.

But on the weekend of July 8-9 in 1978, about 1,500 residents joined him where he celebrated their first Mass in then-Randolph Intermediate School — this new faith community’s home for the next five years. Daily Mass was celebrated either in the parish rectory on Park Avenue or parishioners’ homes, while weddings and funerals were celebrated in St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Randolph. The growing Resurrection population was developing its ministries, including hospitality; religious education, held in the homes of volunteers; and the samaritans who reach out and assist those in emergency situations, according to the parish history.

In 1979, Resurrection bought 10 acres of gently sloping farmland along the west side of Millbrook Avenue. By October 1981, pledges from parishioners for building a church exceeded $1 million. The groundbreaking took place on Sept. 11, 1982, in a ceremony that included burning the mortgage. The church’s dedication on Oct. 8, 1983, “was the high point in the celebration of the people’s commitment and an affirmation of their call to be builders of God’s kingdom on Earth,” the parish history states.

Resurrection was so buzzing with activity and parishioners that on Sept. 18, 1988, St. Matthew the Apostle Parish, in the Ionia section of Randolph, was founded “to make it possible for people in the new parish to experience a smaller community and, at the same time, reduce the size of Resurrection back to what it was during the first five years at the intermediate school,” according to the parish history.

By 2004, Resurrection’s population had outgrown the church. So the parish embarked on a capital improvement project to add an elevator and handicapped access and to maximize seating in the church, as well as refurbish it. On Oct. 12, 2008, the $2.7 million project — which included a new ministry center with 10 classrooms wired for the Internet and room for the parish’s ministries — was dedicated to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the church dedication, parish history states.

“The renovation of the church and the new ministry center give testimony to the incredible sense of stewardship by many of our parishioners,” said Father Connell, Resurrection’s pastor at the time. “The story of Resurrection is the story of its people, men and women of faith, who willingly and generously gave of themselves. Like the many stones that form their church, each one of them is important and unique. They are the living stones of the Lord Jesus,” he said.

A longtime parishioner, Henry Holden, arrived at Resurrection in 2003 from Florida and immediately was attracted to the parish’s hospitality. Today, he participates in many ministries, including evangelization and Cornerstone retreats, built the parish’s website and has been researching and writing the parish’s history.

“The people at Resurrection were warm and welcoming when I got here and are still that way. I try to be like them,” Holden said.