Trinity Communion Church is moving into the former All Saints Church building at 759 Winona Blvd.
The congregation of more than 100 people, which currently holds services at St. John Fisher College, purchased the building from the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester for $475,000.
Fr. Robert Dalgleish of Trinity Communion Church says groups of parishioners have been working hard on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays to prepare the church for use in September.
The church plans to go paperless, so additions will include large plasma screen monitors that can be used to display hymn lyrics, readings and information.
“So people can look up and worship rather than looking down at a bulletin,” said Dalgleish.
Trinity Communion Church is part of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which uses the word “Episcopal” as a description of its church governance and is not a break-off group of any Episcopal denomination.
“As sad as it is when a church closes, it’s a wonderful thing for us to see a strong community to worship in the space,” said Rev. Canon Carolyn Lumbard, the canon for congregational development and communication for the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. “We wish them well.”
Yes, so sad, especially when the diocese wouldn’t let the former congregation worship there as an Anglican Communion parish and chose instead to sell the building.
Let’s see,
1. Episcopal Diocese kicks out and confiscates property of an Anglican congregation for their orthodox views on homosexuality, etc.
2. Diocese sells property to a different congregation (with Anglican roots) that holds essentially the same views as the original congregation. Diocese nets $495,000.
3. Diocese makes a public statement – “It’s a wonderful thing for us to see a strong community to worship in the space. We wish them well.” (Rev. Canon Carolyn Lumbard)
I really wonder how Fr. Robert Dalgleish and his congregation of Trinity Communion Church can justify this purchase. From reading what I can find about the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, I believe that they would agree that the church property was, in essence, stolen by the Diocese of Rochester from the good people at All Saints. Doesn’t this transaction amount to, then, a purchase of stolen property? What does this say about the witness of Fr. Dalgleish’s church or others that are willing to feed the coffers of ecclesiastical corruption for their own benefit?
Hopefully more ECUSA empty buildings will at some point be purchased and be turned back into churches by Christians. There is one sitting not a 10-minute drive from my house, which no longer can sustain a rector and only conducts occasional services now that they have shut their elementary school down. I sadly think, however, that most Episcopal churches are destined to be torn down and the properties turned into condos or business offices within the next 20 years.
Having reported oon the diocesan convention that ejected All Saints from the diocese, I share the astonishment expressed by others at this turn of events.
Now that Father Dalgleish and his congregation own the building, I hope they will entertain the idea of sharing the space with All Saints as a basic expression of Christian hospitality toward outcasts.
Comment #2 from “Rochester” mistakenly stated that Trinity Communion Church has Anglican roots; we do not.
As a congregation of faith, we look at the pattern God developed in giving us the gift of the former All Saints building. When our church was started, we left a prosperous denomination and all it’s accompanying possessions, much as the All Saints congregation left. Generous hosts allowed us to worship in their buildings for the last several years; we essentially wandered in the desert with God meeting all of our needs until His appointed time. He then presented us with a building that was more than we could ever have hoped for. We know that God’s plan for the All Saints congregation is just as beautifully choreographed, and will be just as perfectly timed.