In September 2012 there was some fanfare when St. Luke’s Palermo broke ground for a new church-community centre amalgam.  The mayor and Halton regional chairman were there, along with various and sundry clergy; the bishop spoke and the project’s financial partner, the CEO of Diversicare, pronounced his secular blessing on the enterprise. The plan was:

to build a retirement residence (in partnership with FRAM/Diversicare) on land to the west of the church.

Alas, it seems that the financial arrangements with Diversicare have fallen through, leaving the diocese to foot the bill.

St. Luke’s, Palermo support – there are a lot of numbers that pertain to Palermo. The joint proposal with Versa Care [I am relatively certain that this should say Diversicare] is no longer financially viable, St. Luke’s will continue with the project without partnership and the Diocese is assisting financially to complete the Parish Centre.

A few other budgetary highlights:

There has been a 60% reduction in staff at the Synod Office since Bishop Bird was elected….

If some churches don’t have the money to pay the DM&M then how can the Diocese spend when they won’t be getting all they budget for?

If incomes increase so will the DM&M and how can we manage this with an aging congregation and declining attendance?

Parishes are delving into line of credits and investments, it’s a cascading affect that maybe we can’t afford to do

And my favourite – mainly because it is prime Anglican bafflegab:

We need to balance scarcity with abundance.

The Diocese of Niagara is continuing the trend of combining its church buildings with community centres and, in this case, a retirement home. The current church building will remain, but will be moved.

This secularising of churches has the benefit of creating an aura of vitality in otherwise flagging parishes and also brings in cash to the financially struggling diocese.

Not all the residents are happy about the plan: some are discontented with the size of the new building and others with the ecological effects it will have. It appears to be going ahead though.

St. Luke’s is the parish where the diocesan version of St. Hilda’s meets; there aren’t actually any people in the diocesan version of St. Hilda’s, but the diocese likes to maintain the fiction, nevertheless.

From here:

Palermo’s St. Luke’s Anglican Church has been cleared for take off.

Town council voted, Tuesday night, to approve an application from Fram Building group that will see the historically valuable church moved to the eastern side of the same property, which is bounded by Dundas Street West, Valleyridge Drive and Springforest Drive, to make way for a 7-storey retirement facility and a new parish hall and community centre.

The proposed development will be accessed via Dundas Street and Valleyridge Drive. Parking for each facility will also be established.

The cemetery on the site will be maintained, while the existing parish hall and rectory will be removed.