From here (page 7):
Past and present clergy, wardens, altar servers, choristers. Organizers over the years of Sunday school, bazaars and rummage sales and men’s activities. Altar guild members.
Partners in other churches. Bishop Barry Clarke of Montreal – from 1993 to 2004 parish priest of St. Paul’s Church in Lachine – asked members of these and other groups in a near-capacity congregation of over 300 parishioners and wellwishers to stand and be recognized as he presided over a closing service marking the end of the 139-year history of the parish.
He also urged them not to waste energy trying to assign blame for the closing of the church or to focus too much on its dramatically impressive buildings, dating from 1963-64.
[…..]
“For us to move forward in God’s mission we have to do things differently,” he said.
The diocese has no discernible plan to “do things differently”; unless you count its accelerating descent into heresy tinged liberalism accompanied by an increasing cannibalisation of its assets in order to stay afloat – all disguised as a Ministry Action Plan – as different.
Page 8 of the same paper, without the least hint of irony, proudly announces: “Quebec diocese to offer blessings to same-sex couples”, something that the Diocese of Montreal approved in 2010. Catering to 0.8% of the population has worked out so well for other dioceses that Quebec has decided it wants a piece of the action.
I suppose that is one way to fill the pews on a Sunday but you can only close some many churches until you run out.
The church I was baptized in is now a immigrant center. St. Philips in Montreal West seems to be doing well-ish. I was a boy in the choir there, and fairly good at it (but alas no more!)
_Not_ catering to the overwhelming majority of French speakers is more of a problem.
Expect to see more of this throughout the country as the ACoC winds down to zero over the next two decades.
My only quibble is that the courts should force the dying church to give the living church (ANIC/ACNA) first right of refusal on all buildings.
Give it a rest. The issue is resolved. Period!!
No, the issue is not resolved, and no Christian should “give it a rest” in fhe face of what is happening. Unperiod.
Yeah, that Indian girl who was raped is dead. That “resolved” the issue, at least for you. Didn’t it?
Wow.
Oh for heaven sake, talk about reading into something that wasn’t there. I was refering to the issue of property rights concerning churches. The courts have already ruled. The case is closed. You can belly ache all you want but the issue is settled. Move on.
The court would have to have some ground for doing so. I don’t know if the courts have been asked to apply, for example, the equitable doctrines of constructive trust or unjust enrichment in such cases.
Well I’m not saying the courts should give ANIC the buildings – the courts have already ruled that out in a ruling that assured ACoC of steady income from sale of assets for a couple more decades. I was just saying that the ACoC policy of refusing to sell to the groups that built the churches is prejudicial. If an ANIC congregation is willing to buy a building at the going rate, they should have first right of refusal.
Most diocese’s that I know have a policy of selling churches to Christian denominations first so long as they can match the asking price.
OK. That is about as profound as…
Well, nothing actually.
I believe Ingham has said that he will NOT sell to ANIC congregations. There is the infamous case of a New York State TEC building that was sold to an Islamic missionary group even though a higher price was offered by the departing congregation,
This is just plain wrong. But then again I think Ingham is an idiot.
Eph, I think it may be illegal as well in BC. As I understand it, the bishop has a fiduciary duty to obtain the maximum benefit from any sales. That certainly would seem to require him to sell to the highest bidder.
That church could make a good mosque, like at least one former Anglican Church in North Vancouver.
‘a good mosque’ …
Aye, and like a lovely church in Constantinople.
And many other churches, and even cathedrals I think, in Europe and elsewhere. Apparently, there is at least one town in Germany that has no church left.
It’s sad that while the bishops of the church are turning to shamanism and new fangled ways of family life that the innovation for renewal is coming from the fringes of the church. http://www.counter-currents.com/the-wasp-question/
Reading the Canadian born and educated professor’s book The WASP Question will give today’s Anglican a peak at a better future.
They also publish this:
http://www.counter-currents.com/forever-and-ever/
Says something about where the editorial board of that publishing house is coming from!
Hi Kate,
I haven’t read the book you highlighted so could you tell us a little of what it is about? Thanks
I haven’t read it, but I think the fact that they published a book dedicated to Hitler says a whole lot about the company. One usually dedicates a book to someone one respects, after all.
I guess I’ll have to buy the book now and read it. I’ll be getting my free bus pass in a couple of years time and although I was born well after the war my life has been burdened by this character Herr Hitler although very little about him is known. But I can imagine that you are horrified that an English woman would marry an Indian and actually live in India with him and then write a book allegedly praising Hitler. Even more peculiar is that Hitler invaded White countries and then teamed up with one of the Asian countries to wage war on yet another White country. Most peculiar. So why exactly are you unhappy with this woman? Cheers.
well if its God’s mission to close Montreal’s Anglican churches as according to the propaganda of the diocese does it mean that He doesn’t think that what they promote is good for His flock? Seems about right. Carry on Dio of Montreal…you are doing His work though I don’t think you realize it.