The Diocese of Fredericton has a plan – or in Anglispeak jargon, a vision – to sell millions of dollars worth of church buildings, mainly because it has become too expensive to maintain them.
Interestingly, the diocesan bishop, David Edwards is one of the bishops who signed a document expressing disagreement with the general synod vote to approve same-sex marriages. As one of the few theologically conservative bishops still precariously clinging by his fingernails to what is left of the institutional remains of the Anglican Church of Canada, it seems rather sad that his diocese is being sucked into the sinkhole of doom created by the chaotic sexual obsessions and inclusive, yet diverse heresies of his liberal comrades.
Perhaps it is time for the bishop to shake the dust of his disintegrating buildings from his feet and align with a more simpatico version of Anglicanism.
From here:
The bishop of Fredericton has put forth a proposal for the possible sale and development of millions of dollars’ worth of historic church property in the heart of New Brunswick’s capital city.
Last November, Bishop David Edwards presented a “vision” for Christ Church Cathedral and several nearby church properties to the congregation of the cathedral. Church officials are reported to have met with Fredericton city staff earlier that month to discuss the plan and ensure it fit the city’s vision for the area.
The proposal, available online, includes the sale of two church properties—Cathedral Memorial Hall, which contains offices and rooms used for meetings and other functions; and Odell House, the former deanery of the cathedral. It envisages the construction of a new building encompassing the existing Bishop’s Court (the former residence of the bishop) and the synod office building next door. Plans for the building include institutional and possibly residential space—condominiums or rental units—providing income to both the diocese and the cathedral.
Driving the possible changes is the high cost of maintaining the five properties currently held by the diocese and cathedral. The cathedral itself, a National Historic Site of Canada that Edwards calls the architectural “jewel in the crown” of downtown Fredericton, is nearly 170 years old. It was restored in the 1990s, but “many of its parts cry out for another multi-million dollar restoration project,” the proposal says.
Cathedral Memorial Hall is unused most of the time, but also needs “extensive and expensive renovations.” The synod office, too, needs renovations, according to the proposal.
