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.

18 thoughts on “St. John’s Shaughnessy is like a mausoleum

  1. 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.

  2. I’m curious how you get access the closed door diocesan council meetings. Are you like the “mystery worshipper” or something?

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. New Westminster has found at least a temporary use for the building: the opening service for Diocesan Synod in May. Synod will be held in the nearby Italian Cultural Centre.

    All this is rather strange, as the last I heard New Westminster was desperate for money, yet it’s back to hiring a hall for Synod after several years of holding it in Churches…

  6. Gordon Arthur

    Last Synod I was at was North Vancouver where it was quite a large space holding a good amount of persons. I think that St John’s (Shaughnessy), my home Parish since 1982, would be large enough to hold such an event.

    It’s a big space needs to be used for something.

    On Tues Evenings from 7-9pm was Central Focus Bible Study based on the model from St Helen’s Bishopsgate, London, England. In this study, we spend one year on one book of the bible. There were ten study groups with a size of ten persons. From 5:30pm-7pm was Evening Prayer for the Vancouver Chapter of the Prayer Book Society as well.

    These are some of the many well set up events that used to go on at St John’s (Shaughnessy).

  7. Maybe you should try to weasel your loser self into a
    DNW Synod. Assured that if you had a name tag on,
    any “bouncer” would actually not kick you out,
    but rather, give you a front row seat so that you could
    see why the Diocese is thriving, and why our Bishop is
    so admired, clearly unlike yourself, as you spend your day insulting
    a man you know nothing of. If you had any class or courage
    (you could take lessons from Bishop Ingham) you’d list your e-mail, phone # etc on your pathetic site. Good luck in Hell!

    • If that was aimed at me, I did spend a year on Synod in New Westminster. It came across as a convocation of Universalists, and I have not been back since. Mr. Ingham’s “sermon” scandalized me to the extent that I will no longer receive Communion from him, and since he got involved in the legal action against the parishes, I will no longer share the peace with him either.

      You evidently seem to think that Mr. Ingham is some paragon of virtue. My experience is rather different. I have actually met the man, I am a member of the Anglican Church of Canada in New Westminster, and it seems to me that his actions are not those of a Christian.

      • Gordon, for those of us unfamiliar with the man and everything he has said, I thank you for your testimony and description.

    • Marianne

      I went to a Brandon Diocese Synod. I had the Occasional Christian Blog and not at all supportive of Bishop Jim or the direction of the ACoC. Other than the editor of the newsletter being significantly snarky, I was not required to weasle into synod. Now Brandon is small potatoes compared to NWM, bishop Jim never wrote a book outlining how he was going to change Christianity.

      I doubt that NWM is thriving, look at the books and see where the current cash flow is coming from. Not plate and pledges but old investments and gifts. The Brandon Cathedral is running a defecit.

      I have seen Inghams lesson plan. Blahhh.

  8. Marianne

    Firstly, it is important to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Being Saved and Born Again. Trust in Jesus Christ alone knowing as Jehovah is in the Father is also in the Son and the Holy Spirit. Believing in Christ’s bodily resurrection. This is in the bible, the Creeds and in vows as Priests, Bishops, etc. Let the Holy Spirit speak to us through the Word of God because the Word is God. Follow the Commandments to Love God and Neighbour. That the name of Jesus is written on our hearts. Visualize putting on the full armour of God in the morning before one gets up. These are important things to think upon.

  9. Marianne & others

    Comment # 12

    Yes, I agree and all should agree that Bishop Michael Ingham has good qualities because he does

    He’s the Bishop

    To get there, a person has to have some kind of constitution

    He’s an easy going meet you half way there kind of person

    He can compromise

    He has a humanitarian side to him as well

    I think that he would have a good amount to offer to Habitat for Humanity

Leave a Reply to Steve L.Cancel reply