… membership has always gone up and down, and in recent years has waned to the point that no more than 10 people show up on any given Sunday.
None of the remaining members even live in Wellsburg anymore, [Senior Warden Lois] Barton said.
The church hasn’t had its own pastor in years and shares a priest with a cluster of Episcopal churches in the area.
The remaining members finally made the painful decision to dissolve the church. The building will remain the property of the Central Episcopal Diocese of New York, which will decide its fate, Barton said.
Sounds all too familiar. Was the close knit community too much so? Was the coffe hour really better than the liturgy? Was closing less painful than change? Can someone nearer the scene fill us in?
A sad story. The few left will sorely miss it. But the TEC Chart has already been dropped and the church hasn’t even closed yet. Such a short memory at the national church level. And Bishop Skip has more possible candidates for closure. In 2009, there were 16 churches with ASA of 20 or less in CNY. Statmann
Things are tough demographically – towns in upstate NY that are away from the major routes are not growing rapidly – if at all. That difficulty, of course, could be overcome if a congregation loved Jesus and knew they needed to evangelize with the biblical Gospel. How many Episcopal congregations match that description, however? Not many – and most that did have departed for a Church that values the Lord and his Word.
[blockquote] “The church hasn’t had its own pastor in years and shares a priest with a cluster of Episcopal churches in the area.” [/blockquote]
This is the story throughout much of England also, as the money slowly runs out. There are notable exceptions all over the country, but one priest serving 5 or 6 parishes appears to be the norm in most rural areas and many urban ones as well.
Grew up in CNY, began to run off the rails years ago. Looking back I can now see the signs, the words, the apostasy, that we are all facing now. Left TEC a while ago. Sorry to see a truly remarkable (once) a body of Christ, now a social service center, and a bad one at that. It all fits in with the marxist govt we now have. It’s a slippery slope from here.