Small Churches, Big Debts

Last year I reported on the problems Trinity Abbeville in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina was having with being a tiny congregation in a decaying historic church building. In this update you will find the unique way they hope to pay for the renovation. They will lease the place to a preservation society for the next five years.

The following illustrates the trouble they are in.



With only 28 active members (based on average Sunday attendance), and needing 2.3 million dollars in additional funds for the renovation, each member would have to pony up $82,000, which is more than the total Plate/Pledge the entire congregation gives each year. The renovation is not going to happen without outside help, so the priest called for a "community effort" saying that that the church "belongs to the community".

Multiply this small congregation's mess by several thousand similar churches nationwide and you can start to paint a picture of the issues The Episcopal Organization will face over the next several decades as its membership numbers continue to decline.

Taking a look just at Upper South Carolina, we see that out of 59 parishes, 23 (38%)  have an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 50 or less. 14 have an ASA of 30 or less (data from 2015, source: The Episcopal Organization's Statistics Pages).

The Post and Courier provides us with the update,

"Last year, Preservation South Carolina put Trinity on its list of eight “at risk” South Carolina historic sites. Now, the nonprofit hopes to help Trinity’s congregation save the building through a partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina."

Question: Why does the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina (EDUSC), who under the Dennis Canon purportedly  owns all church buildings and properties, need outside help in maintaining their historic structures?

Answer: Because the EDUSC can't afford to either.

"Restoring Trinity will be the first project for the preservation group’s Sacred Spaces program, an effort to protect at-risk sanctuaries across the state."

The first, but not the last. Look for other at risk Episcopal parishes to try to test Preservation South Carolina's generosity.

"Reverend Deacon d’Rue Hazel of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina sees Trinity’s restoration as a potential model for other parishes struggling to preserve their valuable, but complex, structures.
'This goes well beyond bricks and mortar,' said Hazel."

 So the building you let fall into disrepair will get a temporary reprieve, but who is going to pay for the ongoing maintenance and upkeep? What will bring back the congregants? Not the current teachings of revisionist bishops, priests, and deacons.

This does go well beyond bricks and mortar. It goes right to the heart of the cause for the spiritual decline of the Episcopal organization and the EDUSC. Episcopalian Bishops, priests, and deacons have walked away from their first love, Jesus Christ. That love they only found because His message had been preserved by the apostles and handed down to them via the Bible, a Bible that they have rejected through their abandonment of its teachings on human sexuality and marriage.

So let the renovations begin, but let them begin first in our hearts.

Turn back oh man, forswear your foolish ways.