After 2023 arson, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church celebrates another Christmas season in the gym

‘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…