The Diocese of Allentown has announced that two Catholic churches in Jim Thorpe will become one, but both buildings will remain open and operational.

On Sunday, the diocese announced that St. Joseph Parish is consolidated into Immaculate Conception parish.

“Both church buildings will remain open and will use the existing Mass schedule,” the release states. “(The Rev.) James Ward, now pastor of both parishes, will remain as pastor.”

The consolidation of the parishes was recommended by Ward and reviewed by the Diocesan Council of Priests and the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Commission, as a way to benefit the future of both churches as a combined parish.

The release states that operating the two parishes as one will be a benefit because of the potential for reducing operating costs and having more efficient operations through resources that are available.

The consolidation is effective July 1.

St. Joseph was founded in 1871 by German immigrants who settled in the area and worked in the railroad and mining industries. The current church, which sits along North Street, was constructed, beginning in 1895, opening to the parish in 1901.

Immaculate Conception, located along West Broadway, has also been a heart of the community since the 1840s, with construction of the current church beginning in 1906. The church was dedicated in 1908.

The consolidation announcement is one of many the diocese has made over the past 12 years in the region, but the only one in Carbon County that has let both church buildings remain open.

In 2008, the diocese consolidated 47 churches following a two-year study that looked at the overall stability of the parishes, as well as the number of priests available to oversee the parishes into the future.

At that time, all Catholic parishes in Coaldale, as well as SS. Peter and Paul and St. Ann’s in Lansford were closed and consolidated with St. Michael’s in Lansford to become St. Katharine Drexel.

Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Immaculate Conception in Nesquehoning were combined to become St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Stanislaus in Summit Hill was closed and consolidated with St. Joseph in the borough.

St. Mary Parish, Beaver Meadow and St. Nicholas Parish, Weatherly, merged and became Our Lady of Lourdes Parish at the former St. Nicholas Church building in Weatherly.

In 2016, a second round of consolidations occurred, with two of the three remaining churches in the Panther Valley - St. Francis of Assisi in Nesquehoning and St. Katharine Drexel in Lansford - consolidating into St. Joseph in Summit Hill to become St. Joseph Parish of the Panther Valley.

Our Lady of Lourdes also merged with All Saints of McAdoo to become All Saints Parish at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Weatherly.

In 2018, the diocese announced that two parishes in Tamaqua - St. Jerome and SS. Peter and Paul - which had merged into St. John XXIII in 2014 but was operating in both churches, was consolidating the two church buildings into one, closing St. Jerome and merging it into SS. Peter and Paul’s building.

The closure came at the request of the Rev. John Frink, pastor of both parishes, as a way to alleviate the strain that maintaining two worship sites had placed on the financial condition of the parish.