CANADIAN DIVISIONS

More realignment in Niagara, Ottawa and Toronto

Court gives temporary rights of property to parish against diocese

By Sue Careless

On Feb. 29 Mr. Justice James Ramsay of the Ontario Superior Court in Hamilton ruled that, for the next three Sundays, the Anglican Network parishes of St George’s near Milton and St Hilda’s in Oakville could retain exclusive use of their church facilities. There is another court hearing set for March 20, when the judge will be asked to determine a longer interim arrangement while the larger legal issue of who owns the church buildings is sorted out. A third Network parish, the Church of the Good Shepherd in St. Catharines, was not part of the litigation but it is expected that the same decision will be applied to it. The Diocese of Niagara is contesting the property. The small minority of parishioners from the three churches who wish to remain with the ACC are currently attending Anglican churches within a six-minute drive of their original churches.  

St Hilda's in Oakville which has an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 100, voted 86-0 (with 1 abstention) to realign. The church delivers food hampers weekly to the needy and offers a free lunch program for students from a local high school. St. Hilda’s also has a regular prison ministry which the rector, the Rev’d Paul Charbonneau, leads. 

St George's in Lowville, near Milton has an ASA of 200 at three services with 35 children in Sunday school. It voted 128-3 (with 1 abstention) to realign. The church runs a prison ministry at the Maplehurst Detention Centre in Milton as well as a ministry to the elderly in a number of institutional settings. The Rev’ds Charlie Masters (right) & Ray David Glenn minister at the church. The Rev’d Masters, who has been rector of St George’s for 27 years, told the Planet, “It is striking to me through all of this how God meets you everyday in his Word. He has a fresh word every day to keep you going.” 

The Church of the Good Shepherd in St Catharines, Ont. voted 70-4 (with 7 abstentions) to realign. It has an ASA of 120 and over 180 members. It is involved in a breakfast program for the homeless in a city suffering badly from economic stagnation. Good Shepherd runs an Exploring Christianity course along with various fellowship groups. Members built and paid for their church facilities and land. The Rev’d Gerry Brodie is the first to admit, “I’m not one to lead the charge of the light brigade.” However when colleagues urged him to stay in the ACC to “make his voice be heard” he realized that for the past dozen years, “We’ve never had any influence.” As for the Network churches, “We are not many but I take encouragement from the verse, ‘Do not despise the day of small things’” (Zech. 4:10).

St Alban the Martyr's in Ottawa voted 77-1 (with 1 abstention) to realign. It has an ASA of 200 at 3 services with 25 children in the Sunday school. Its outreach program “Yoked” evangelizes and disciples students at the nearby University of Ottawa. Like almost all the Network churches it has run Alpha courses which introduce non-churchgoers to Christianity and acts as a refresher course for churchgoers. The “best ever” says rector George Sinclair was a pub Alpha at the Royal Oak Tavern. St Alban’s contributes to a local food bank and ensures that at least 3 percent of all regular church income goes to local and international mission work. There are two honorary assistants: the Rev’d Desiree Stedman and the Rev’d Patricia Coulombe. Sir John A. McDonald and three other Fathers of Confederation worshipped in the 1867 stone edifice. The rector has told his congregation that they might lose everything physically but “it is congregations that make buildings, not buildings congregations.” The church has withheld its apportionment due the diocese for the past three years “for conscience reasons.” On March 11 Sinclair was accused of abandonment of ministry under Canon 19 of the ACC.

Despite its small size, St. Chad's in Toronto has a remarkable outreach into its predominantly working-class neighbourhood. Monthly community suppers are well attended with up to 50 people. The church runs Alpha programs and conducts a monthly service at a seniors’ residence. St Chad’s also rents space to the Ugandan Martyrs Church. A Rover Scout troop for developmentally challenged young men meets in the church gym as does Narcotics Anonymous. The inner-city church has an ASA of 35 with two adults seeking confirmation. While the smallest and poorest of the ten realigning churches, it is not in debt. St. Chad’s supports a part-time priest, primarily from rental income from a daycare. Both church and priest have been happy with this arrangement.

The church sits, however, on prime real estate, at St. Clair West and Dufferin and in 2003 a diocesan report recommended closing St Chad’s. It is located in a predominantly Italian and Portuguese neighbourhood where most churchgoers are Roman Catholic, but there are also many West Indian and Kenyan families moving in which have strong Anglican roots. There were some financial irregularities before the Rev’d Barbara Richardson arrived in 1999. She was advised to invoke Canon 24, which removed the old wardens and put St. Chad’s under direct diocesan control. However, even though the financial problems were cleared up, the diocese has kept St Chad’s under direct diocesan control, which allows the diocese to close the church without a vestry vote. 

On Feb. 17 St. Chad’s voted 12-10 (with 2 abstentions) to realign. This was the only close vote of the realigning churches. Rev. Richardson was a strong supporter of realigning but the honorary assistant surprised many when he seemed to argue for remaining with the ACC. On Feb. 20 Colin Johnson, the Bishop of Toronto, inhibited Rev. Richardson; then on Feb. 23 she resigned. The following Sunday Bishop Johnson appeared at the church unannounced with Primate Fred Hiltz’ principal secretary, Canon Paul Feheley. The bishop interrupted the service to announce that it was his church and there would be a meeting on Monday night to discuss matters further. Then both men left. The diocesan meeting was not held because it interrupted the Rover Scout troop. Fearing the building would be taken over by the diocese, Rev. Richardson changed the locks on Feb. 26. The following Thursday night or early Friday morning the diocese had the locks changed again and cancelled the Sunday March 2 service for what it described as a “cooling off period.”

Canon Feheley led the service the following Sunday and has been appointed interim priest at St.Chad’s. Those who want to realign are holding their Easter and post-Easter Sunday services at 11am at the Toronto Heritage Adventist Church, 24 Innes Ave. They and all the realigning churches in Ontario are waiting to see what precedent may be set by the Hamilton court decision.  

See also: 

• Anglican realignment begins in BC, parishes leave ACC