Newfoundland church staggered by anonymous gift
By Sue Careless
EVERY CONGREGATION that has had to rent worship space, especially in a facility that is not a church building, longs for a sanctuary of their own. Setting up and taking down each Sunday in a school gym may appeal to the youngsters who want to shoot hoops after the service, but for the adults it can become quite disheartening.
The Church of the Good Samaritan in St John’s, Nfld. had moved more often than most, 27 times in 12 years – a real wandering in the wilderness. The Anglican Network in Canada congregation was growing, from 50 to 100 over those years but would they ever have enough money in the bank to buy a church home of their own?
For the past seven years they have been meeting in the gym at the Easter Seals building. It has been a good partnership, but due to the coronavirus and the vulnerable population of disabled children that Easter Seals serves, the congregation had to meet and worship online, even when other churches in the ‘Atlantic Bubble’ were meeting in person.
Then their priest, Archdeacon Darrell Critch, saw a former church up for sale in the downtown core. St Michael’s had been an Anglican Church of Canada congregation that had dwindled, sold their 1959 building to a commercial enterprise in 2009 and had moved to a smaller site in the suburbs. Now the massive 1959 concrete building was back on the market, with a price tag as massive as the structure itself: it was listed at $2.5 million.
On June 22nd, in the middle of the COVID lockdown, Critch emailed his parishioners with what he thought they might well perceive as a ludicrous proposal:
“I know…you think I’m nuts…bear with me. I know it’s too big… and I know we don’t have $2.5 million…and I know we can’t maintain it….and…and…and. But – it’s a great building, with lots of parking, with a great inner-city ministry opportunity. So – before you write to me to confirm that you think I’m nuts – or to tell me why this will not work – just pray! Pray that if it is a building for us – God will provide it.”
Pray they did and God did provide – miraculously through an anonymous $2.5 million donation. The purchase price was $2,050,000. The donors also agreed to fund the expense of restoring the church windows, doors, roof and heating system at a cost of between $1.6 to $2 million. As if this wasn’t enough, the anonymous benefactors offered also to set up a fund, the interest of which would pay the operating costs of running the church, including the heating and electricity bills, and the snow removal. And St John’s has a lot of snow.
The congregation had consulted with various engineers on whether it would be wiser to build a new church elsewhere but the professional opinion was that renovating the older church on St Clare Ave. was their best bet. The site also included an 8-bedroom rectory.
The deal was signed and sealed on Nov. 10 and they expect to take possession in mid-February. They will worship in the parish hall while the nave is being renovated and then meet in the nave while the parish hall is renovated.
When the purchase was announced at a parish meeting, Deacon Colton Carrick spoke some words of warning: “I’m haunted and convicted by the fact that we live in a city of empty and emptying churches. Churches much more beautiful and much bigger than ours have consistently gathered fewer and fewer worshippers. It is blatantly obvious, if one looks around the City of St. John’s, that having a church building does not automatically lead to spiritual vibrancy, meaningful community or powerful witness.
“If we think a building will win souls, then we will be disappointed. If we think a building will gather the masses, then we will be disappointed. If we think a building will sustain the life of the Church, then we will be disappointed.
“The gift of this church is an immense and overwhelming gift. We are right to feel humbled and grateful…. If we are to give glory to God, we must use this church building as a mission outpost. It must not only be a place where we gather, but it must be a place where we are commissioned and sent out. We must remind ourselves that we are all missionaries and that the mission of God is the duty, responsibility, privilege and joy of every Christian.”
Colton is from Ontario and had been hired just as lockdown came into affect. He could not move to St John’s until April but his words were very wise:
“Pray that Good Samaritan would grow due to the conversion of souls. Pray for a great awakening in our midst. Pray for the neighbourhoods that surround our church…. Let us pray for boldness and bravery… Let’s walk the streets of St. John’s, knocking on doors, inviting folks to church, sharing the hope that we have in Jesus. Let us do as Jesus did, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and proclaiming good news to the poor.”
One of Good Samaritan’s honourary assistants had once been the Rector at St. Michael’s. The Rt Rev’d Donald Harvey later became the Bishop of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador and was based at St John’s cathedral in the city. He eventually left the Anglican Church of Canada and became the founding bishop of ANiC. Bp Harvey said that visiting the site again with Critch “brought back poignant memories of services there with over 500 in attendance, and distantly I still could hear the sounds of beautiful praise…. The phrase Sic transit gloria mundi [Thus passes worldly glory] kept running through my head. Dare I hope that this can be reversed and departed glory be restored to Zion?”
As Bp Harvey drove around the very diverse neighbourhood afterwards, he noted that “within a ten-minute radius of the property we have the most densely populated part of the city – and many of them in low-income housing.” He was reminded of Jesus who “had compassion on the multitude because they were as sheep without a shepherd.”
Forty percent of the “Good Sam’s” congregation are under forty with 12-15 children in the Sunday school.
They have never been an inward-looking group. They give away ten percent of their income, some of it to pay the school fees of three children in Guatemala. They have helped pay some of the rent and insurance of two ANiC missions in Gander and Bonavista. And closer to home, another honourary assistant, the Rev’d Marilyn Flower, ministers (albeit currently online) to inmates in Her Majesty’s Penitentiary in St John’s.
“We will not be a holy huddle,” Critch vowed. He’s hoping retired teachers in his congregation might help with an after-school homework club for the neighbourhood kids. And he thinks there could be enough space outside for a skateboard park.
Various task forces have been set up. An industrial kitchen will be installed to serve both the congregation and the needy in the community. All the original church furniture had been removed but Good Samaritan has enough in their own $450,000 building fund to buy the furniture they need and they will try to employ local artisans to design and build much of it. They will buy chairs with kneelers that can be linked together for worship services but can be separated and placed around tables for meals.
How would Critch encourage other congregations in rented facilities? “My hope is that godly folk would pray expectantly and not lose hope. God’s timing may not be our timing. Nothing may seem to happen for ages and then everything may happen at once. Never give up since God can do what you can’t. You may be on the brink of a miracle.”
He quoted William Temple who said, “When I pray a lot, coincidences happen a lot; but when I don’t pray a lot, coincidences don’t seem to happen.”
Had Critch ever prayed such a big prayer before? Yes, he and his wife Sarah were told that their adopted son Chase would never walk. Sixteen surgeries later he still has some physical limitations but he is walking.
Young Chase only hopes there will still be a space in the newly-acquired building where he and his friends can play basketball after church. TAP
