Friday, January 01, 2010

DioCT: +Smith Celebrates Parish Closings as ‘Opportunity for New Beginning’

from Stand Firm by Greg Griffith

Bishop Andrew Smith of Connecticut, who knows a thing or two about closing churches, reminds his diocese not to bicker about who's closed what church... these are happy occasions, full of joy and mirth!

...look at the names of parishes that recently were counted among our number in Connecticut, but are no more; Emmanuel, Stamford; Trinity, Stamford; St. John’s by the Sea, West Haven; Christ Church, West Haven; Calvary, Suffield, St. Andrew’s, Enfield; St. Mary’s, Enfield; Trinity, Bristol; Christ Church, Watertown. Those are parishes that have closed in the years I have served as a bishop.

What’s up?

Well, a number of things.

"One factor is a change in perception and attitude among us in the diocese. For years we have seen the closing of a parish to be a sign of defeat, failure. That sort of thinking in fact leads to a “survival mentality,” in which members of a parish, usually few in number, dedicate themselves to keeping a congregation “alive” even if that means running through all the parish’s resources and then some, and spiritually and emotionally exhausting the members."

But bishop, isn't closing a church a sign of failure? Granted, the definition of success in Christian evangelism is a highly nuanced, complex measurement the metrics of which are not always as obvious and straightforward as some might think, but don't we all pretty much agree that when we succeed in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to more people, they tend to end up in our pews on Sundays, creating a means by which to sustain a church building? Even, as we've heard in myth and legend, to warrant the expansion and growth of said buildings?

"In fact, among the teachings that Jack Spaeth and I offer when we are invited into parishes to teach about parish life, mission and stewardship, is one entitled “Six Kinds of Churches We Have Known and Loved in Connecticut.” Included among them is a kind of church we label “Closed” – and we present “closed” as one faithful response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"In that light, a number of parishes – often thinking together – began to see how much of their personal, spiritual and material resources were duplicated, and wasted, in continuing individually to maintain their property and historic parish life-styles.

"...But what opportunities and new beginnings! Consolidation of property, and wiser use of resources, mean better stewardship. A larger congregation has led to greater spiritual vitality and attractiveness for new members.

"So, yes, I do believe that closing a parish can be a holy, significant and strategic response for the Gospel."

Gosh, bishop... I guess next you'll be telling me that responsible stewardship of the earth means Episcopalians having fewer children! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

But seriously. Surely this was like a last-ditch, end-of-your-rope response, right? Everything's A-OK now that you've closed those nine parishes, right?
A search through our diocesan archives, and our own memories, reveals that there have been a significant number of parishes and missions which have merged or closed over the years, for many reasons. Traveling around Connecticut, it is fascinating to identify the buildings that once were Episcopal churches.

"Are there other parishes that should close? If with a cold eye we look at the (unbalanced) balance sheets of some, if we consider really low average Sunday attendance, if we gauge congregational vitality, yes, there seem to be. And that’s a matter for our discernment together.

"The bishops currently are in conversation about the question with several parishes in the diocese. In every case we have to measure the sacrifice of what we would lose against the opportunity of new gospel life. May the Spirit inform and guide us!"

Oh.

So you're going to be closing more parishes. Exactly how bad have your membership and ASA losses been, in the ELEVEN YEARS you've been bishop?

Oooooh. That bad, huh?

So the Diocese of Connecticut has lost over 10,000 in membership, and over 2,000 in average Sunday attendance, since Andrew Smith has been bishop. In addition to closing the nine churches he lists above, and in addition to the losses of the Connecticut Six churches, the diocese is planning on closing more churches in the near future.

From strong-armed tactics with dissenting parishes, to massive losses in membership and ASA, to spinning double-digit church closings (with more to come) as "opportunities of new gospel life," by any measure you wish to apply, Andrew Smith's decade-plus long tenure as bishop of Connecticut has been a failure.

At least the tenure of this failed bishop is coming to an end, but who has the Diocese of Connecticut elected as its new bishop? None other than Anglican Communion man-about-town Ian Douglas. Let's have a look at Bishop-Elect Douglas and see what his episcopacy might portend for the struggling Diocese of Connecticut.

Douglas sponsored Resolution D018 at General Convention in 2009. He has testified on behalf of TEC in the Virginia property trials. The goings-on at EDS during his time on the faculty there have been nothing short of abysmal, from Buddhist workshops and pro-polygamy workshops to courses on The Queer Incarnation, to the appointment of Katherine "Abortion is a Blessing" Ragsdale as its dean, to the selling off of over $33 million of its property just to stay afloat.

Thus the future of the Diocese of Connecticut becomes the easiest of 2010 predictions. Swami Greg says: EPIC FAIL

No comments: