Most Precious Blood finds its niche by intimately serving unique needs of community

Situated between one of the largest urban parks in the nation and a collection of high-density housing, Most Precious Blood is a parish that has found its niche in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

It’s a niche that provides an intimate worship setting for the congregation that is as welcoming to its original faithful from the neighborhood of Armistead Gardens as it is to the bevy of newly arrived immigrants it serves.

“Liturgies are a little more intimate here,” said pastor Father Ty Hullinger of the Bowleys Lane parish, which is in a pastorate with St. Anthony in Gardenville and St. Dominic in Hamilton and is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The church welcomes about 60 to 75 parishioners for Masses each week. Father Hullinger said about half the parishioners are recent arrivals from the Republic of Congo or other African nations and the other half are from the community built in the late 1930s, largely to serve growing World War II industries. 

The parish, started in 1948 in Armistead Gardens, originally held Masses in the Fox Mansion community center before moving to its current location in 1960.

“It’s quite the mix,” said Father Hullinger of the parish he has led since 2010 and soon will be leaving for a new assignment in Southwest Baltimore. “Everyone feels at home here. I think that because of its size, parishioners have a little closer connection. It’s small, but it really serves the day-to-day needs of the community.”

Most Precious Blood serves as a Head Start site and is a hub for citizenship classes and English courses.

Ann Collins, 85, has been a parishioner for more than 65 years and still helps decorate the church, launder vestments and serve on its hospitality team.

“It’s a tiny church, but it’s a mighty family,” said Collins, a retired silverware worker and doctor’s office receptionist. “It’s a very intimate parish. If someone gets sick, everyone knows within hours, and that’s the way it’s always been.”

Collins said she enjoys socializing with the wide mix of people who attend the parish regularly, serving donuts and coffee after Mass.

“We don’t have a lot of people,” she said. “But we sure do have faithful ones.”

Deacon Joe Krysiak, 92, has worshiped and served at Most Precious Blood for more than six decades. He and his wife, Dolores, sent four children to the parish school. Although he resides in White Marsh now, he and most of his family return each weekend to worship at MPB.

“I like to call it an ‘intentional’ parish,” said Deacon Krysiak, a retired accountant, “because most of the parishioners no longer live in the surrounding area. They intentionally come back to worship there because it’s so intimate and the people are so friendly.”

MPB moved to its current two-story brick building in 1960. The building housed the parish’s school, which closed in 1988, and its worship space. Plans to build a separate church, rectory and convent on an adjoining lot never came to fruition as the post-World War II Baby Boom era waned. 

After the school closed, the worship space on Bowleys Lane was renovated to provide a cozier Mass setting.

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

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