A letter from the Cathedral Vestry begins as follows:
For several years the Cathedral has been having difficulty meeting the expenses of our beautiful buildings. Declining membership and an inability to attract new members and pledges in sufficient numbers has added to the financial uncertainty.
The Cathedral has been on the verge of closing several times over the last five years as it has used up its reserves. During that period, several committees and working groups from the Cathedral and Diocese have looked at options and ideas for bringing in additional funds. The Cathedral has also reduced expenses dramatically in an effort to balance its budget.
Hi, writing from Delaware. Let’s not forget something three significant things about the Cathedral of St. John.
One is that this parish never hesitated to roll out the red carpet for Spong when he had an openly heretical book to shill.
Two is that Dio of DE is one of those quarters of the TEC that prides itself on SSB.
Three is that this was the site of the infamous Righter Trial. You’ll recall that the recently-deceased Walter Righter was the Episcopal bishop who in 1996 was brought to trial and absolved of a charge of heresy for having ordained an actively gay man to the diaconate.
I recount these sad facts to point out that the Diocese of Delaware had given up on creedal, orthodox Christianity some time ago. Without an authentic Gospel to preach, there seems little point to continue paying the heating and lighting bills.
Thanks, wyclif. I think you’ve really said it all, although there were doubtless other contributing factors. As was true when the cathedral in Kalamazoo was also closed a number of years ago. But few people probably mourned the closing of that ugly monstrosity, whereas some people actually may grieve the loss of the cathedral in Delaware. In any case, it’s always sad. “[i]How are the mighty fallen![/i]”
We need to remember that the Lord allowed Shiloh to fall (Jer. 7) when it was the center of Israel’s worship. And God permitted the first and second Temples in Jerusalem to fall and burn too. In all these cases, it was due to the flagrant idolatry, unbelief, and unfaithfulness of God’s people. In the end, facilities, no matter how great and beautiful, only exist to facilitate the life of a Christian community.
David Handy+
I see your points. But I’d hesitate to suggest that it’s a case of God allowing the Delaware cathedral to shut down as a result of it unrighteousness. Did he allow the Germans to bomb Coventry Cathedral for that reason, or numerous parish churches throughout the land to burn to the ground for the same? I’m just sayin’, I wouldn’t want to go there.
#2. NRA: I’m not saying that there weren’t contributing factors…aren’t there always?
What I’m saying is that none of the above factors were mentioned in reports of the Cathedral’s closing in our local newspaper, or in any news analysis that I read. I’m not writing this doing pie-in-the-sky speculation; I’m a witness to these events writing from Delaware. This Diocese is very far gone from the faith once delivered at her foundation. They’ve invited heretical piffle, same-sex blessings and homoerotic theologies into their pulpit and witness.
Is it really any wonder their ASA dropped off, especially during the mid-2000’s when orthodoxy was attacked in TEC? If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, Dio of Delaware cannot legitimately blame demographics for their woes.
To be frank, a lot of wild overlap in DE. I read another source saying that its shore churches are “growing” but to me that looks plateau-ed or moderate, e.g.
http://pr.dfms.org/study/exports/4904-9281_20111004_06401462.pdf
but this could be explained by retirees into Sussex county and the fact that the gay community has attempted a strong presence in this area(DE shore) since AT LEAST the mid ’70’s. No shock that the latter would attend Episcopal churches.
A kind acquaintance of ours is a gay RC priest who resigned his orders because he has chosen to be partnered. He wants nothing to do with “marriage”, and attended one of the TEC DE shore churches. Certainly a student of doctrine, homiletics, and theology, he was very turned off by his experience there and has not gone back. He and his partner attend RC Church without asking for “marriage”; which of course they are not going to get, and they realize that their sex life or lack thereof is between them and God.
DE might be like Newark in that TEC’s loss is the RCC’s gain. The RC community in DE is large and thriving as I understand it(I was born there, was not raised there but attended UD and still have family in DE; I live in another state now)…whenever I have attended Mass(without communing out of respect for their doctrine) at St. Elizabeth’s in Wilmington, it’s been SRO. They must have more RC schools per capita than any state in the country(St. E’s, St. Marks, Padua, Salesianum, Archmere, Corpus Christi, St. Peters; just to name those right off the top of my head in New Castle county) and I don’t believe they’re lacking enrollment. My father was the oldest child in a large family; our “nuclear” element being the only Protestants, which is fine–but, 17 of my 19 cousins have all attended the DE Catholic schools. They were certainly part of it :-), but no shortage of population there.
That diocese might have enough growth or DuPont money to keep it alive, but sadly I don’t think you’ll be seeing any documentaries about it re: massive Christian growth. I was married 20+ years ago in an Episcopal Church there, but Bishop Duncan did our service, and certainly in retrospect I would not have wanted anyone else. As rector, too, his church there thrived–you can see what it is now for yourself
http://pr.dfms.org/study/exports/1400-9310_20111004_07064594.pdf
I truly don’t believe that Delawareans are busting down the doors to hear revisionist messages in TEC. And, if they don’t want to hear those, they either find an Anglican fellowship, REC, TAC or RC church. In that area, luckily that’s not hard to do.
Gary Soulsman may not have realized what he said here, but it speaks volumes
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110930/NEWS/109300350/No-saviors-for-St-John-s?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE
“But the church fell victim to forces that have dogged city churches: Changing worship styles, suburban flight, the aging of mainline denominations and the growing number of churches for Christians”.
Churches for Christians, huh?!! You don’t say…
Bookworm, FYI Two of your links get 404- not found messages and the other from Delaware Online only allows you to see part of the article to read the entire article, you must pay! 🙁
I appreciate all of the comments from those who know the story behind the story of why the Cathedral is closing. Your comments tell the whole story.
The Catholic diocese of Wilmington is certainly growing, though it’s stayed steady as a percentage of the population for a few years now.
http://catholic-hierarchy.com/diocese/dwilm.html
NRA, if I may make a gentle counter to your statement about facilities. I agree in principle that facilities are here to serve the people who use them. However, a decade in an old inner-city church has left me with an understanding that buildings are a heritage of the whole community, and bear witness to the life within them. A shabby building speaks of a lack of concern of the people. I have seen very humble little churches that are, objectively ramshackle, but you can see that the people are caring for what they have. So I am not speaking of material grandeur here, but of the heart of the congregation.