‘Twas the day before winter break, and Father Jeff Meeuwsen’s walking route through St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and school had him greeting staff in a newly renovated cafeteria, weaving through lines of excited students on a scavenger hunt and ducking his head into the chapel to check on a couple getting married.It has been one year and four months since an arsonist lit the historic church’s recycling dumpster on fire, which spread up the brick walls and set the roof ablaze. Congregants say the church community has been stronger than ever since then.Several damaged spaces have been back in use for months, like the cafeteria and parish center. The main sanctuary, where the fire burned hottest, is gutted and pale, stripped of its stained glass, fresco and organ. Even the soot stains that dripped up the walls have been blasted away, removing the lingering smoky smell.It’ll be the second Christmas season with mass held in the gymnasium instead. After his walk with Salem Reporter through the building on Friday afternoon, Dec. 20, Meeuwsen would be heading to a restitution hearing in court, part of the process to get insurance reimbursement for the damage. The building, located at 721 Chemeketa St. N.E., was dedicated in 1953. The fire came at the end of Meeuwsen’s second month on the job. He said it was the longest day of his career, and the stress impacted him. In the months since, he’s been getting to know the insurance process and working closely with CB Two Architects and FXG Construction who are leading the renovation. ”We were not trained for this in seminary,” Meeuwsen said, and laughed. Salem firefighters sit in the pews of St. Joseph Church the morning of a fire that destroyed a portion of the roof in the early morning of Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Abbey McDonald/Salem Reporter) About 300 people attend each of the six masses in the gym on Sundays, and two on Saturdays. Services are held in Latin, English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The gym also hosts weddings and quinceañeras.St. Joseph Catholic School has about 175 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Each week, middle schoolers help set up hundreds of chairs for weekend masses which are cleared for gym during the week.  On the Friday morning before break, the gym hosted a high-octane game of dodgeball that Meeuwsen participated in. In the afternoon, a small group of kindergarteners played a ring-toss game, their teacher wearing a hat with inflatable antlers to aim at. The students’ excitement was fueled by an extended winter break ahead, three weeks instead of two, so the school could finish the new fire suppression system. As Meeuwsen made his way toward the classrooms, he passed a breathless group of students waving papers.  “Treasure hunt,” several told him, showing their written clues. “I found one,” a grinning student toward the back informed him before they all moved on to the next room. Jackie Ebner, a parent, smiled at the kids’ excitement. She said she’s looking forward to Christmas Mass and thinks it’s beautiful even in the gym.“When we go somewhere else, a different church, I’m like, ‘I miss our gym,’” she said, and laughed.  She said the aftermath of the fire has grown her love for the school and the church.“The community has been great here and the love that everyone pours out has been phenomenal,” she said.  Adam Librande, the school’s vice principal, said that the adjustment period after the fire has been one of growth. He said the school has connected more with the community in the last year because of it.Librande, speaking loudly over the excitement in the classrooms, said it reminded him of all the new forest growth that came after Mount Saint Helens erupted. “I feel like that’s, in many ways, what happened on this campus as a whole. The fire occurred, and all the light that has already been here reinvigorated,” he said.  A new program has asked students to focus on a virtue every week. That week, the theme was patience. Meeuwsen doesn’t have a certain estimate of when the sanctuary will reopen to worshipers. There’s still a lot of work to be done, and as of this Christmas it still lacks electricity, heating and cooling. About 8,000 pieces of stained glass have been removed along with the organ for cleaning, and the fresco they hoped to repair was unsalvageable.“It’s down to the bone,” he said of the space. The main sanctuary at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church amid renovations on Dec. 20, nearly a year and a half after a fire burned a large portion of the roof. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Though the main sanctuary was empty, it wasn’t quiet. The reconstruction crew neared the finish line on the roof and gutters, and on Friday hammering echoed throughout the large room. The new roof was designed with better acoustics for services in mind, Meeuwsen said. Some of the workers and engineers on the project are parishioners themselves.It’s likely that next Christmas may be in the gym, too. But Meeuwsen hopes that it will be the last. But gymasium or not, St. Joseph’s congregation showed up.By Christmas Eve, the space had been transformed from a place fit for dodgeball to a place for worship. Christmas lights lined the room, including on a scoreboard in the back. Hundreds of chairs in neat rows followed basketball court lines on the polished wood floor. A daily mass at noon brought about 100 parishioners. Ahead of the mass, a small line of people waited their turn in confessionals made of plywood painted white at either end of the gym.When mass began, those gathered of all ages followed the prayers and hymns in reverence. A nativity scene made of wood from Bethlehem survived the fire and was on display at the front of the room near the altar, alongside Christmas trees.That evening, the church would welcome hundreds of parishioners for Christmas Eve masses, some of the most popular gatherings of the year. Along with hundreds of seats in the gym, there would be overflow space available in the cafeteria.  St. Joseph’s Catholic Church will use the gymnasium for worship until the main sanctuary is fully renovated. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Father Jeff Meeuwsen in front of the altar at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Dec. 20, 2024. An arson fire in August 2023 caused extensive damage that will cost millions to repair. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Ahead of Christmas Mass, the St. Joseph’s Church gymnasium and scoreboard were hung with lights and wreaths. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) The repairs to the roof and gutters are nearly complete as of Dec. 20. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) A boy carries a crucifix through the main aisle at the daytime Christmas Eve Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. The evening mass will fill every seat, with overflow in the cafeteria. (Abbey McDonald/ Salem Reporter) Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post After 2023 arson, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church celebrates another Christmas season in the gym appeared first on Salem Reporter.