Comments on: Merger, possible church plant proposed for Peterborough

By: William E. Grubb

William E. Grubb — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 15:50:53 +0000

Try to find out what has been drawing in all those especially younger people to those other more evangelical churches and do not be afraid to make radical changes in worship style and everything else.. Organize all these congregations so that the remaining clergy visit maybe every month a different congregation ; work together with what you`ve got now and do not throw money at “pies in the sky”. BUT mostly find out from the people who used to attend why they don`t any more and ask what would bring them back — try some of those things —- We are, in the Parish of the Valley and after this pandemic is over we`ll see how things can work out.

By: Martin Chapman

Martin Chapman — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 04:24:35 +0000

Since this story was written, there have been major changes to Bishop Shaw’s proposal.
I think it is fair to say that her proposal was met with general incredulity. Close one Lutheran church and three other Peterborough churches and combine them all with St John’s…and then commit the new congregation to going into debt for millions of dollars to build a new church on a lot that the Diocese has owned for decades? It was also made clear that the Diocese would not provide money for the building of a new church.
After further meetings the plan was changed to drop the idea of a new church and give a maximum 5 year time period for the parishes to close and join St John’s.
That plan went to a vote by each parish with the end result being that the Lutherans and two other Anglican Parishes ( All Saints and St Luke’s) voted to pull out of the agreement that was reached prior to Bishop Shaw’s appointment as area Bishop. So….only one parish (St Barnabas) has now committed to joining St John’s.That is expected to occur Jan 1st 2018.
In the meantime St John’s is working with St Barnabas to welcome and involve them but no-one knows yet just how many from St Barnabas will make the move.
As for St Luke’s and All Saint’s, perhaps they will change their minds at some time in the future. If not, people are wondering if an earlier warning from the Diocese of Toronto to cut off all aid to parishes that pull out, will still be in effect.
I personally agree that a single parish is inevitable and is the best solution to declining attendance.We will have to all work hard to make this latest plan work. With prayer and local clergy leadership I believe it will happen.
But the way things have been handled in the past couple of months have left many Peterborough Anglicans very disappointed and let down.

By: Duleep Jesudian

Duleep Jesudian — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 21:49:31 +0000

Why not rent the buildings to other denominations – since other independent or evangelical churches seem to be growing more. Selling it so it becomes a neighbour hood pub does not sit well. We are dying out as we failed to counteract the secular world around us.

By: Allan M. Pearson

Allan M. Pearson — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 12:41:35 +0000

You can try to dress this up any way you like but the fact remains that there used to be 5 and now there shall be only 2. This drastic a decline is NOT good news. It is indicative of the fact that the Anglican Church of Canada is in serious decline. Any attempt to portray this as anything else is a denial of the facts. And until one accepts the fact that the Anglican Church of Canada is in this serious state of decline than there is a very strong likelihood that the Anglican Church of Canada will virtually cease to exist in as little as 30 years.