A handful of other congregations, including All Saints Anglican Church in Charlotte, NC, Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Raleigh, NC and Saint John’s Anglican Church of Americus, GA have also announced building plans. This summer All Saints’ Anglican Church in Springfield, MO and All Saints’ Anglican Church in Peachtree City, GA, completed and consecrated new church buildings.
The churches range from a modest colonial-revival brick building in the case of Restoration to a 30,000-square-foot gothic structure built for the congregation of St. Peter’s.
In addition to making the churches more visible in their communities and accommodating growth in the size of congregations, the new structures are allowing for new programs and events. St. Peter’s is partnering with Trinity School for Ministry to offer theological education far from the seminary’s Ambridge, Pennsylvania campus. Other congregations plan to use their news space for conferences, or to begin hosting programs such as Vacation Bible School which were impractical or not possible in leased spaces.
“Our new church is just the beginning of what we hope to build,” explained Fr. Andrew Rowell, associate rector of St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
The number of Anglican congregations building new churches is remarkable. It is vindication of all those faithful Anglicans who have worshipped (and many still are, apparently) in gyms, schools, community halls and the like. And I agree with Walton that even though buildings are not necessary and Anglicans can worship anywhere, these buildings will greatly facility ministry.
This passage is intriguing:
[blockquote] “Several of the congregations, including Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, Virginia, which completed a $4.7 million church building in September, did not yet exist during the height of Episcopal Church litigation.”[/blockquote]
So, does this mean that those congregations were established within the last 5 years, and have grown enough to be able to afford to build their own church?
[blockquote] “It struck us from very early on that modern churches strive far too hard to do ‘contemporary worship’ in a way that seeks to be ‘relevant,’†Rowell explained of the design process. “Such efforts are not the nature of who we are as a community.â€
St. Peter’s strove to design a building that was distinctively Christian and in keeping with worship rooted in ancient Anglican ways. [/blockquote]
I like his thinking… 🙂
MichaelA – Yes, Restoration is about five years old, and is one of several congregations planted by the nearby Falls Church Anglican. Restoration began holding services in January 2009 with a “launch team” of about 70 persons from TFCA. In November of the same year, the church was elevated to parish status after electing a vestry and becoming financially self-sufficient. The congregation has grown numerically: since moving into the new building in September, there are probably about 500-600 persons that worship there on a Sunday (split between three services). TFCA’s daughter congregations in Alexandria, Vienna and Winchester have also grown significantly.
Very encouraging to hear Jeff, thanks.