St. Luke’s Episcopal Church abruptly closed its preschool and kindergarten after the school year ended two weeks ago, surprising faculty and parents. Up until the decision was made, the church had still planned to operate the coming school year, but several reasons contributed to the decision to close the 50-year-old school.
The church vestry, a 12-member board that oversees buildings and other assets of the parish, met after the school year ended. The director of St. Luke’s Preschool and Kindergarten had recently resigned, so it was a chance for the vestry to come together and reflect on where they were and where they were called to go, said the Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple, rector of St. Luke’s. After they made the decision to close, they sent a letter out to parents and quickly held another meeting to tell the teachers.
More investment in the future leaders in the Episcopal church.
Something funny going on here. No parent’s school committee? A $40K deficit is not a sudden surprise. The vestry should have gone to the parents 6 months ago and sought solutions. The church should at least offer the space to a new pazrent-teacher management team. This is an incompetent vestry and a real shame.
YIC,
NW Bob
Another school or church closure? What a surprise. That’s the “cost of discipleship”. Endowments are being burned through.
Since 2002, St Luke has lost Members, ASA, and adjusted for inflation Plate & Pledge. A sad result of decling resoures. Why dot he childen have to pay the costs. Reminds one of thee Federal Debt problem. Statmann
Yet one more operation of TEC closing down. This seems to be happening a lot.
Keeping churches, schools and missions operating is one of the basic responsibilities of the leadership of a church, yet Katherine Schori and her bishops don’t seem to be able to manage it. If they were executives in a listed corporation, the board and shareholders would be asking searching questions by now. The reason for their failure would probably not matter – if you can’t adequately perform the duties of your role, time to step aside and let someone take over who can.