St. John’s Shaughnessy is like a mausoleum
Since the Diocese of New Westminster won the court battle for the buildings of parishes that left the diocese and joined ANiC, St. John’s Shaughnessy, once the largest Anglican parish in Canada, has gone downhill a little. Sunday attendance has dropped from 850 to between 3 and 13; the parish is running a deficit of $20,000 per month and in the week, the building, according to the treasurer, is like a mausoleum.
This was discussed is a parish meeting in November 2011.
Here is the mausoleum remark:
And the $20,000 per month deficit:
Who is paying for this deficit, you might be wondering? The well known philanthropist, Bishop Michael Ingham:
You can listen to the whole meeting here:
A triumph of Pyrrhic proportions for Bishop Michael Ingham.
After listening to bits of the meeting it brings to mind the old saying about re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The theological differences with the real congregation are alluded to but it doesn’t appear that the people at this meeting are even aware of what they are.
I’m curious how you get access the closed door diocesan council meetings. Are you like the “mystery worshipper” or something?
David,
Eph has a point.
They must not have had a 70 year old woman bouncer at the door.
Ah, yes, Nora Batty.
That brings back fond memories.
I’ve become much more technologically sophisticated since then: now I have spy satellites trained on ACoC council meetings all over Canada.
David
Do any of your drones have offensive capabilities?
Jim,
There is an offensive drone going on here (deadly at 30 paces), but I fear it is undirected, incoherent and completely out of control.
Ha Ha!
David Jenkins
Bishop Michael Ingham in 2002 has put a blessing upon the diocese yes but at the same time out congregation has gone from around 800-900 to around 50. The 8am service can be 3 to 10 to 20 but the 10am can be around 50. I don’t know if any of the attendees from the 8am also attend the 10am or what. I’ve been a member since 1982 when it first started going. Since Rev Harry Robinson came there is when it started growing. Our family used to attend Canadian Memorial United on W15th & Burrard in Old Shaughnessy but I started attending the Broadway Pentecostal Church on E Broadway & Renfrew had a very alive atmosphere and had an unbelievable amount of young people. But I missed the atmosphere and look of the old line church. Canadian Memorial was built in 1928 but Broadway was built around 1970. Coincidentally Canadian Memorial moved out of 6th Avenue Methodist was bought by what is now the Broadway Church. I looked around and found St John’s to be a good happy medium between Canadian Memorial United & the Broadway Church. St Paul’s Anglican Church on Pendrell & Jervis in the West End used to be the most Evangelical Anglican Church at one time. Big houses and families were once there where children went to the old King George High School on Burrard & Nelson. A number of British Ex-Patriots lived in the West End with a number of Europeans too. The Gay people started going into the West End too. Everything used to be quieter and covered up back then. Then started this more ‘openly gay’ & ‘in-your-face’ sort of dynamics in the Gay Community in the West End. This started going into St Paul’s on Pendrell and Jervis too. The Diocese of New Westminister once said in the early 1980s that St John’s Shaughnessy is a closed old fashioned Low-Anglican Church is the way St Paul’s used to be and we are trying to stop this sort of thing. That was how the Diocese thought then and it seems is how they are thinking now. But St John’s Shaughnessy was very alive and had lots of young people in it too like the Broadway Church. Previous to this St John’s Shaughnessy had rather low attendance where the Diocese told us we’re on our own. My neighbour who attends St Faith’s once said, “Anything Anglican always has such low attendance” to Archbishop Hambidge who didn’t respond. He was both our Metropolitan Bishop of the Province of British Columbia as well as the Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminister.
Yes, St John’s Shaughnessy was a good model for a renewed old line church. We were one of the if not the largest and wealthiest Anglican Churches in Canada. It seemed to work. But some Anglicans from some Parishes put us down. Comments such as, “Oh that Church” or “That Church has a bad undercurrant about it” or “They are the ones causing the problems” or “You allow people to be openly straight but not openly gay” or “I have no respect for St John’s Shaughnessy because they never pay their Diocesan funds” or “St John’s Shaughnessy never sends in its’ statistics to the Diocesan Synod” it goes on and on.