For less than the price of an average house in St Thomas, you can buy a house of God

From Canada-


For less than the price of an average house in St Thomas, you can buy an historic house of God.

Built in 1877, Trinity Anglican Church is one of the city's oldest congregations and on Thursday the 143-year-old house of God will go up for sale on the province's Multiple Listings Service. 

Faced with mounting bills and a declining membership, Trinity Anglican Church made a decision to sell 18 month ago, once it secured a merger with St. John's Anglican Church on Flora Street, to become the St Thomas Anglican Church. 


The merger and the forthcoming sale is part of a larger trend, as churches test their ability to hang on amid changing demographics, rising real estate prices and developers looking to pay top dollar for prime land.

Given the mutual benefits, it makes the prospect of selling too tempting an option to turn down for some churches. 

More here-

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-st-thomas-ontario-real-estate-church-for-sale-1.5617794

Anglican Diocese of Grafton says "it is early days" in plans for possible sell-off of church sites

From Australia-

"Heartbroken", "sad" and "very stressful".

That's how parishioners have responded to news the Anglican Diocese of Grafton has started the process to sell-off selected parish sites.

Already earmarked sites include, St James' Church at Byabarra, St Cuthbert's Church at Ellenborough and All Saints Church in Pappinbarra.

Each of the three communities' say they will defend their church from the fire sale.

Some parishioners have already met to discuss the future course for their congregation.

Byabarra's Gordon Burch - a lay reader at Wauchope Anglican Church - says the community has already discussed their options.

More here-

https://www.wauchopegazette.com.au/story/6631476/anglican-diocese-responds-to-sell-off-criticism/

Episcopal Church will cease to have Sunday worship attendance in 30 years, seminary pres. warns

From Christian Post-

A seminary president has warned The Episcopal Church's leadership that with the current rate of decline, they will cease to have any Sunday worship attendance in 30 years.

Kristine Stache, interim president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America-affiliated Wartburg Theological Seminary, gave a presentation Friday before the denomination's Executive Council.
Stache drew from the most recent parochial report data which found that, from 2008 to 2018, the denomination experienced a 24.9 percent decline in average Sunday attendance and a 17.5 percent decline in baptized members.

“It depicts a church that appears to be dying,” said Stache, as reported by Egan Millard of Episcopal News Service, labeling the statistics “very sobering.”

More here-

https://www.christianpost.com/news/episcopal-church-cease-to-have-sunday-worship-attendance-in-30-years-seminary-president-warns.html

Sandy Springs worshipping community closes but church remains open

From Atlanta-

A Sandy Springs church has ceased services for its worshipping community, but the church itself has not closed yet.

Highpoint Episcopal Community Church hosted its last service Jan. 12, and though its membership had been on the rise, the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta decided to stop services there because the worship community was no longer financially viable.

Rev. Lang Lowery, the church’s canon, said Episcopal churches are categorized as a mission, parish or worshipping community, with the last designation meaning the congregation had relinquished self-governance to the diocese because of its finances.

More here-

https://www.mdjonline.com/neighbor_newspapers/northside_sandy_springs/news/sandy-springs-worshipping-community-closes-but-church-remains-open/article_1bbd2870-4837-11ea-81a1-5369fa83e8da.html

St. Andrew’s Church in New Kensington holds final service for its faithful

From Pittsburgh-

St. Andrew’s Church in New Kensington has sat empty for seven years. On Thursday, roughly 30 parishioners filled the pews one last time.

Together they prayed, received Communion, and listened as Episcopal Bishop Dorsey W.M. McConnell deconsecrated the 71-year-old building, which is in the process of being sold.
“This is a hard thing to do under any circumstances,” McConnell said.

The church, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, has been without an active congregation for several years.

It was last used by a congregation of the Anglican Church in North America, which moved out of the building in 2013. The original St. Andrew’s congregation was among the 42 parishes that left the Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese in 2008 to join the Anglicans.

The diocese attempted to restart a parish at the church after the Anglican congregation left, but it was unsuccessful, the Rev. Canon Kimberly Karashin said. She said congregations that looked at the church told the diocese it was too big and would be too expensive to maintain.

More here-

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/st-andrews-church-in-new-kensington-holds-final-service-for-its-faithful/

Sunnyside’s All Saints’ Episcopal Church to close in February

From Long Island-

After the congregation of Sunnyside’s All Saints’ Church dwindled to about 20 members, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island announced that it will close the church as a parish congregation on Feb. 23.  

The ministries in Sunnyside and Long Island City have been running since 1928. The diocese said that it would examine how to continue to serving western Queens, but given the size of All Saints’ current congregation, which shrunk from 100 members in 1998, it can no longer afford to maintain the property or support staff salaries.

The diocese has no plans to sell the property, located at 43-12 46th St., and it will continue to use the church building for at least a year. 

“Our diocesan director of real estate, Haiko Cornelissen, will be handling rental and lease arrangements. The head of our Congregational Support Office, Canon Claire Woodley, will continue to provide consultation as she has regarding All Saints’ during the last 18 months. The priest-in-charge, the Rev. Gabe Lamazares, will be moving to North Carolina,” said Rev. Lawrence Provenzano, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

More here-

https://qns.com/story/2020/01/15/sunnysides-all-saints-episcopal-church-to-close-in-february/

Sandy Springs’ Highpoint Episcopal church to close; property’s future unclear

From Atlanta-

Highpoint Episcopal Community Church is closing after serving more than a half-century as a place of worship and a community center for Sandy Springs’ High Point neighborhood.

In the wake of failed, four-year effort to rebrand and resurrect the former Church of the Atonement amid a dwindling congregation, the church will hold its final Sunday service on Jan. 12. The future of the 7.5-acre property at 4945 High Point Road is said to be unclear beyond that.

Officials with the church and the Buckhead-based Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta did not immediately respond to comment requests about the closure, which was announced on the church website. But Duffy Hickey, a longtime parishioner whose wife Robin served in various leadership roles, said it came down to some simple calculations.

“We didn’t have enough fannies in the seats and enough money in the coffers,” said Hickey.

More here-

https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2020/01/07/sandy-springs-highpoint-episcopal-church-to-close-propertys-future-unclear/

Some churches get creative with downsizing issues

From Florida-

But one church is sitting on several billions of real estate – Trinity Wall Street.

The Episcopal church founded in 1696 in New York City was gifted in 1705 with 215 acres from Queen Anne. Once farmland in Lower Manhattan, it is now some of the highest-priced real estate in the country.

Most of the land was sold over the centuries, but the congregation is still one of the largest landowners in the city with 14 acres valued in 2015 at $3.5 billion. The holdings include 5.5 million square feet of commercial space in Hudson Square that in 2011 brought the church $158 million in revenue and $38 million in net income.

Though the value of the property has waxed and waned over the centuries, Trinity is credited with a recent revival of the Hudson Square area as a creative hub. That caught the eye of the Walt Disney Company, which has signed a 99-year lease with the church for its new headquarters. The deal is valued at $650 million.

More here-

https://www.postbulletin.com/life/lifestyles/some-churches-get-creative-with-downsizing-issues/article_8aa95502-2f5e-11ea-95df-17a3948558e6.html

The changing face of church

From Canada-

On October 2, 2019, the congregants and friends of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Fruitvale, B.C., took a last look at the building that had served them well over the years. They fell in line behind Lynne McNaughton, bishop of the diocese of Kootenay; dressed in her cope and mitre, crosier in hand, McNaughton led the procession out of the church, and into a motorhome that was waiting outside.

“It was the symbolism that we were on the move, and had a home worshipping,” says the Rev. Elizabeth Lewis, St. John’s deacon. “There’s a lovely picture of her sitting in the driver’s seat,” she adds.

The October service was a deconsecration of the building that had housed the church until July of this year, after the United Church of Canada congregation that co-owned the building decided to close their church and wanted to sell the property, Lewis says. Without full ownership of the building, St. John’s had to sell.

More here-

https://www.anglicanjournal.com/the-changing-face-of-church/

2020 is here .... finally!

From Rochester-

2020. Wow.
 

There were so many strategic plans named 2020. Colleges, school boards, hospitals, businesses, even the village of Oswego, not to mention the Association for Strategic Planning, all have or had 2020 plans. I hope they went better than the one devised by The Episcopal Church just before the turn of the millennium.

To the credit of those Episcopal big thinkers, they reached for the stars: to double churchwide attendance by 2020. In fact, over the past 20 years the church shrank by 25%. In New York state, over the past four years alone, the Episcopal Church closed 3% of its congregations while overall average attendance is down 16% (Denominational research). Whoever’s job it is to go back and evaluate that 2020 strategic plan will have a lot of data to work with but very little affirmation when completed.

More here-

https://www.fltimes.com/opinion/cameron_miller/denim-spirit-is-here-finally/article_fd679ef8-44d7-50ea-ab71-27949b615724.html

The Generation Gap Over Church at Christmas

From The Wall Street Journal-

Christmas is a religious holiday and a family one, too, and that’s where things can get complicated.
All six members of the Schultz family used to go to Christmas Eve church services. Now only two—Valerie, the mom, and her oldest daughter, Morgan—attend.

“Our tradition from when the girls were little has gone right out the window,” says Ms. Schultz, 62, who lives in Lancaster, Calif. Her three other adult daughters no longer go to church. Neither does her husband, Randy.

It’s the same for many other families. A recent Pew Research Center study found that about half of baby boomers attend religious services at least once a month, while more than 40% of millennials seldom or never attend. “Millennials attend religious services at far lower rates than older people,” says Gregory Smith, who heads Pew’s domestic religion research team. “The generation gap we see in the ways Americans approach religion is both statistically and substantially significant.”

More here-

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-generation-gap-over-church-at-christmas-11577016000?emailToken=146c2727fcf6ff301026ed4d1f307ecawThuCOv2DFIF/CPYJRCgW43nyhxY90k/38eawONsn+Pkd/yMOehTIa/qRsELj93tOgjXKR9V2NPjaguP0q6PzGi+cjdNwxtni/7g7LJOqHo%3D&reflink=article_email_share

Episcopal Mission of Franklin enjoying a rebirth

From New Hampshire-

Standing in the sanctuary at the Episcopal Mission of Franklin, the Rev. Kate Harmon Siberine recounts how a few months ago the building had been closed -- doors locked, cold and empty.

But like the city it calls home, the church is enjoying a rebirth and has again become a place for people to gather, worship and foster a Christian community.

“This building has always been about feeding people -- body and spirit,” said Pastor Siberine.

Originally known as Saint Jude’s Episcopal Church, it experienced the same trajectory of decline as Franklin, following the closure of the paper and wool mills that were once the mainstay of the local economy.

A stained-glass window of Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, has watched faithfully over the altar since the church was built in the nineteenth century, Harmon Siberine explained. And over her shoulder -- looking from the back window -- is the second saint of the local mission, Saint Tabitha.

More here-

https://www.unionleader.com/news/local/episcopal-mission-of-franklin-enjoying-a-rebirth/article_ff312f46-9d8d-5f5d-93c2-77522931da38.html

Take dire statistics with a grain of salt

From Canada-

In biblical times, God sent plagues to get human attention. Today, God "sends statistics." 

That’s what former United Church of Canada moderator Gary Paterson told me five years ago when his denomination was grappling with challenging news about decline. 

That comment came back to me when I read the recent report that there may be no members left in the Anglican Church of Canada by 2040. 

The Anglicans aren’t alone in getting that stark message. Other denominations in Canada are in a similar situation, including the United Church of Canada. According to Rev. Neil Elliot, who authored the Anglican report, that denomination is also facing a "zero-member date" in 20 years. 

More here-

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/take-dire-statistics-with-a-grain-of-salt-565922061.html

As Americans become less religious, the role of chaplains may grow

From The Washington Post-

The Rev. Donna Mote regularly accompanies military personnel escorting the caskets of fallen service members through Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where she serves as a chaplain at the busiest airport in the world.

Mote is the first person to greet the escorts once they step off the plane. She stands shoulder to shoulder with them while Delta Honor Guard members march with flags of the five military branches. She stays with them through their layover at the airport. She’s there for support. In many cases, the escorts are grieving because they knew the deceased.

When it’s time to go, Mote helps with check-in at the departure gate, walks down the boarding ramp, and once the remains have been confirmed, she heads up the airplane stairs with the escorts to bid them farewell.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/as-americans-become-less-religious-the-role-of-chaplains-may-grow/2019/11/29/18ca2368-12c5-11ea-b0fc-62cc38411ebb_story.html

Why it matters that Canadian Anglicans are having a near-death experience

From Get Religion-

Years ago, while I was still an Episcopalian, I tried to get a circle of clergy and journalists to collaborate on what I thought would be a classic work of religion-marketplace humor.

The basic idea: The creation of the definitive collection of jokes about Episcopalians and their unique approach to Christian life and culture. As one priest put it, the Episcopal Church is “NPR at prayer.”

The book never happened, but I learned lots of jokes that I didn’t know in all of the basic categories, from “how many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb” quips to jokes featuring “Episcopalians at the gates of heaven and/or hell.” But here was my favorite joke, as I heard it in 1993 (but with a few updates):

The year is 2030 … and two Anglo-Catholic priests in the back of National Cathedral are watching the Episcopal presiding bishop and her incense-bearing wife, an archdeacon, process down the aisle behind a statue of the Buddha, while the faithful sing a hymn to Mother Earth.

"You know," one traditionalist whispers, "ONE more thing and I'm out the door."

More here-

https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2019/11/21/why-it-matters-that-canadian-anglicans-are-having-a-near-death-experience

Christianity is declining at a rapid pace, but Americans still hold positive views about religion’s role in society

From The Washington Post-

Despite public concerns about religious groups and a loss of respect for clergy in general, a new poll from the Pew Research Center suggests many Americans still see religion generally having a positive role for Christianity.

Christianity has been rapidly declining in the United States while the number of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated is growing. Gallup polls have found a massive, three-decade fall in confidence in “organized religion” from as high as 66 percent in the mid-1980s to 36 percent in 2019. Pope Francis’s image has declined in multiple surveys in the wake of new revelations about sex abuse scandals.

But Pew’s survey, published Friday, finds that Americans hold more positive views of religion’s role overall and concerns about it declining. Fifty-five percent say churches and religious organizations do more good than harm in society (compared with 20 percent of people who think it does more harm than good). Similar majorities say religious organizations strengthen morality in society (53 percent), and 50 percent say they bring people together.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/11/15/christianity-is-declining-rapid-pace-americans-still-hold-positive-views-about-religions-role-society/

'Dire' report projects near end of Anglican Church in Canada

From Canada-

By 2040, there may be no Anglican Church members left in Canada. 

That’s the finding a new report commissioned by the Anglican Church of Canada and delivered to leaders at the Council of General Synod meeting last week in Mississauga, Ont. 

The document by Rev. Neil Elliot, an Anglican priest in Trail, B.C., shows the church running out of members in 20 years at the current state of decline. 

"Projections from our data indicate that there will be no members, attenders or givers in the Anglican Church of Canada by approximately 2040," the report says. 

More here-

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/dire-report-projects-near-end-of-anglican-church-in-canada-564814062.html

Caswelll Cooke seeking to 'save a church in decline' with new book

From Connecticut-

Concerned about the survival of the Episcopal Church and alarmed by the downward trends in church attendance, a local man felt the need to sound the alarm and "save a church in decline."

Caswell Cooke Jr., who serves as junior warden on the vestry at Christ Episcopal Church in Westerly and is a seven-term member of the Westerly Town Council, just completed his first book, "The Death and Resurrection of the Episcopal Church (And other Mainline Protestant Denominations) — How to Save a Church in Decline."

Next Sunday, following the 10 a.m. service at Christ Church, Cooke, a lifelong Episcopalian, will talk about his book and sign copies for people interested in buying a copy and learning how to help save churches.

More here-

https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/westerly/caswelll-cooke-seeking-to-save-a-church-in-decline-with/article_3945882c-0194-11ea-bb3a-13a62991bd45.html

City’s Anglican churches plan to merge

From Canada-

One of St. Thomas’s oldest congregations plans to merge with another city church because of escalating costs and a decline in the number of parishioners.

Trinity Anglican Church on Southwick Street and St. John’s Anglican Church on Flora Street each held a meeting recently with parishioners and decided to merge.

The Diocese of Huron will make the final decision Dec. 6 on the proposed merger.

“Both churches have decided to become one church,” said Malcolm Wood, rector warden of Trinity Anglican Church. “In our particular case, what we’ve decided to do, is we’ve decided to reorganize the churches.”

Trinity Anglican Church and St. John’s Anglican Church would cease to exist, and a new name for the merged congregation would be chosen, if the diocese approves the plan.

More here-

https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/news/local-news/citys-anglican-churches-plan-to-merge

Special service marks closure

From The Diocese of Chicago-

A very special service, to be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, will mark the last time that St. Paul's Episcopal Church — the church with the bright red doors located on the corner of Washington and 4th streets in Savanna — will be meeting for worship.

According to Father Bob North, it is the hope of the remaining and former members of St. Paul's, who are preparing a festive reception following the service, that this All Saints' Sunday will be an occasion to honor all those who have attended St. Paul's and served the wider Savanna community throughout the years.

He said a special effort is being made to invite those who have grown up in the church and moved away or remained in Savanna as well as the lay members and clergy of the other churches with whom St. Paul's has worked with over the years in the Savanna Inter Church Community Association.

More here-

http://www.mycarrollcountynews.com/news/article_77efa600-fb33-11e9-b7ce-37c2ba4c6486.html