Bishop Michael Bird defends the sale of St. Matthias, Guelph

St. Matthias Anglican Church in Guelph has been sold by the Diocese of Niagara for $2 million to a property developer who intends to build a six story apartment building on the lot. Residents in the surrounding area are less than happy about this and are protesting the sale. The local paper recently published an editorial implying that the Diocese of Niagara is behaving more like a corporation – in an “unflattering sense of the word” – than a church. Developers are expected to be motivated by profit, churches are not:

In the story of what’s next to come to a former church property in south end Guelph, a development firm has frequently been framed as a villain in the narrative.

Whenever that happens, it’s a convenience for the current owner-vendor of the property.

That’s the Anglican Diocese of Niagara.

It’s the stakeholder in this chronicle that decided to put the former St. Matthias Church lands up for sale – and to choose the big-bidding developer, whose intentions could easily have been anticipated by the diocese. The diocese has confirmed that it received two purchase offers from churches but they were “substantially lower” than the offer it tentatively accepted.

The diocese had every right to accept whatever bid it wanted to in this process. But it must accept that in making this decision it will be regarded as behaving corporately – in an unflattering sense of the word.

Michael Bird, unhappy at the thought that there are villains at work in all this, has responded:

I strongly disagree with the editorial board’s characterization that there are villains in this story. The Diocese, the developer, members of city council, concerned citizens and others are each playing a role in what has become a very thorough planning process. I continue to have every confidence that the needs and well-being of Guelph citizens will be of primary concern.

[….]

Today our congregations in the city of Guelph continue to proclaim Jesus’s message of love and hope and justice, particularly in this season of Easter.

I note that Jesus’ message of salvation is missing from the list.

Apparently, the reason the building has been abandoned and sold is so the congregation can “focus on ministry”:

In 2013, the St. Matthias congregation voted to take leave of their building to focus on ministry in the community rather than the upkeep of a building and property.

What ministry, you might be wondering? Well, advertising Earth Day, for one. And being a member of Proud Anglicans for another – evidently the massive influx of LGBTQetc Anglicans was insufficient to keep the place afloat.

The organisation of local residents opposed to the sale has its own perspective on how effectively St. Matthias has managed to “focus on ministry in the community” since its closure:

From our perspective, there does not seem to any continued Anglican ‘ministry’ in this neighbourhood. We have not seen a public service, prayer meeting, flyer, social event or any other invitation in the two years since the church closed. The site itself has been vandalized and/or signs empty,  for most of that time.

The Diocese’s director of justice, community and global ministries, Rev Bill Mouse clearly had not been briefed by the bishop when he admitted in an interview that, in the end, it all came down to money:

It came from the congregation’s size and their ability to financially support the ministry and the property.

A United Church minister was “baffled and disturbed at the diocese’s decision”. He approached the diocese to cooperate in setting up:

a spiritual centre — a place where different religious traditions could meet, celebrate in their own tradition but co-operate for the sake of the neighbourhood.

Normally this type of mushy mult-faith amalgam would be right up the Diocese of Niagara’s street but, in this case, there was no response from the diocese. Well, $2 million is a lot of money.

12 thoughts on “Bishop Michael Bird defends the sale of St. Matthias, Guelph

  1. So building a six-storey apartment block is immoral because? Better sell the property for the money than follow that UC minister’s suggestion.

  2. Here’s the thing…they are terrified that another denomination will be successful in the same location!

  3. As I have stated many times the ACoC has abandoned any adherence to the Gospel and will worship anything that happens to fit in with their agenda. With the clear support of the Primate it has legally stolen properties in British Columbia and elsewhere in the country and have proclaimed themselves as heroes. With the current leadership in the ACoC it can no longer claim to be Christian and makes a mockery of the Eucharist. So-called bishops like Michael Bird seem to believe that if they say something enough times people will believe them. Tragically that has proven to be true.

  4. So the marketing strategy of being relevant and fitting in with society did not work out? The 1.5% of the population that are queer and the additional 1.5% that enjoy both sexes did not fill the pews with their presence? How can this be??? Surely giving these people all the support and recognition that they have asked for would have had them flocking into the church. But where are they??? And why are they not buying the story of (oops, that should be “financially supporting”) the church that supports them???

    But of course. Why was it not seen before? We don’t actually need buildings to do this work. After all, St. Hilda’s in Oakville no longer needed its building. The money obtained from selling it can be used for so many other far more important mini-series (oops, that should be “ministries”).

  5. The St. Matthias site in Guelph has not been sold. There is an agreement to purchase pending re-zoning of this property. The property is in the middle of a residential area and the proposal is to construct purpose-built housing for 325 students (6 storeys, roof top terrace etc.). This is no ordinary condo. The application asks for R-4 specialized zoning and the developer, HIP Developments, has already appealed to the OMB because the city was unable to meet the unrealistic 120 day window for a decision on a very complicated file with tons of opposition. This is a contentious issue and the community is mobilized to continue to oppose the re-zoning for Solstice 3, the proposed development for St. Matthias property. As well, there were local congregations who bid on the property. They just could not match the developer’s $2.1 million. It is a very sad situation.

  6. Just further proof that the ACoC and so-called bishops like Michael Bird will gladly destroy the Gospel and legally steal property for which they made NO contribution as long as they get financial rewards. Such rewards will definitely no purchase any place in the Kingdom.

Leave a Reply