Representatives of several organizations in the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church community have reached out to the archbishop of Newark, pleading their case to schedule more Masses for a congregation that some parishioners argue has long been neglected.

The church reopened its doors in late November, for a Saturday Mass celebrating the first Sunday of Advent, following extensive repairs to its structure and years of activism from parishioners who suspected the Archdiocese of Newark had planned a permanent closure — a concern heightened during the church’s merger with Immaculate Conception Church into the St. Teresa of Calcutta parish 2016.