(This is the preliminary Executive Summary still-pending is our parish council, our combined parish council with ASW and our Town Hall with our bishop on Oct. 5 at 7PM)
On Tuesday August 25 we held our most recent amalgamation conversation with the Corporation of All Saints' Westboro (ASW). At that time we felt that for the time being we have completed what we needed to talk about before bringing our conversations to our various parish councils, a town hall meeting with our Bishop, and our special vestry. So this is a summary document to keep you informed about our reflections and in some cases decisions for moving forward.
The first of our conversations dealt with questions of governance. As Anglicans we are governed by the Canons, Bylaws and Regulations of the Diocese of Ottawa and so while occasionally interpreted differently, the essential structures of our parishes are similar. What we found is that ASW has a more streamlined structure in terms of parish council membership. This is a structure we had talked about here so it makes a good fit for the future anyway. To ensure a balance of leadership, the first vestry of the amalgamated parish would ensure, as much as possible, a balance of office holders from this parish and ASW. This would help to ensure that decisions represent the hopes and expectations of both. ASW is also planning a visioning exercise to celebrate their 150th anniversary and so we have been invited to take part in that (assuming the vote at the end of October is to move forward).
Liturgically, we are both Anglican parishes using the BAS page 185 rite so the basic shape and practice of our worship is very similar. ASW has already done the internal renovations of their worship space that we were contemplating, so the space is open, and versatile. ASW includes usage of the alternative Eucharistic prayers which the National Church has published, and as I would have introduced these over the next year or so this works very well. One nice feature of the worship life at ASW is that they publish the liturgy in full in their bulletin so that visitors only have to pick up one booklet from which to worship.
Music is an important feature of all Anglican Worship. In this sphere our traditions are somewhat different. ASW has focused on congregational singing while we have developed a tradition of strong choral music under the exceptional leadership of Deirdre Piper. These two traditions, while different in focus, can be complimentary, and in the meeting between Deirdre and Edith Troup (ASW's Musician) it was agreed that they can work together well. There was a feeling that, within the tradition of anthems, and including some of our responsorial psalms, as well as in the monthly evensong, which All Saints' has, some of the essence of our musical tradition can be celebrated.
The question of the Pipe Organ problematic. Our pipe organ was bought and tuned for our building which is substantially larger than ASW. As a result the organ would have to be rebuilt to fit ASW. Early on the Wardens of both parishes foresaw that this would be a prohibitive expense and had to decide, very painfully, that this could not be done.
In further conversations with Deirdre Piper another possible solution was found for the outside funding of the move. This was taken very seriously by ASW and at a lengthy parish council meeting was weighed out. Once again the decision has been that the Organ cannot be moved. ASW has just spent a great deal of money renovating the church which included serious structural work to the floors and an attempt to open up the feeling of the space of the old chancel and sanctuary. There is no way to install pipes, conduit, blower, and wiring for an organ, which would not need to be obvious and above ground, as there is no way to bury it in the poured concrete floor of ASW without damage to the new infrastructure. On top of this, the pipes of the organ are too large for the organ loft at ASW and would have to be built out of the chancel wall (all be it high on the wall). Pipe organs also add a necessary $8-900 line item to the budget for necessary tuning and repair.
Financially we have looked, with the help of our financial leaders from both parishes, at several scenarios. There are a lot of wild cards in these types of amalgamations, but so far the estimates of the financial health of the amalgamated parish look solid. The proposed budget contains room for our current staff for at least the first year or so. This picture improves substantially if we are able, in our final vestry meeting, to re-allocate the GIFT monies we currently have in savings, as we will no longer be undertaking the building projects for which they were originally slated. ASW has already committed their GIFT money to the proposed amalgamation budget, but they have those monies allocated for Ministry and propose to continue having their second half time priest. My role would be as the associate priest of All Saints' Westboro if the amalgamation goes ahead. We have also included provision within the proposed budget for our current two lay staff positions to continue.
There are obviously still some details to be worked out. For example we need to talk about the parish kitchens. We are hoping that some of our most significant Kitchen improvements can be transferred to ASW. We still need to find out if a few of the stain glass panels can be moved. The resizing of them is prohibitively expensive, but we are hoping one or two of the historic widows can be moved.
The concern of parking has been raised. ASW actually has more parking than initially thought because of an arrangement they have with the neighbouring credit union. They also change the number of handicap spaces according to need. There is fairly good street parking in Sunday Mornings.
The name of the amalgamate parish will be All Saints' Westboro, both because of the parish's historical roots in that community, and because it seems to be the custom in this diocese that in amalgamations, where one parish goes to another, the existing parish keeps its name. However, we are already working on a St. Matthias mission to Hintonburg (the original heart of our parish and its geographical centre) as a way to keeping our name and ministry alive in this area.
This has been an intensive summer of meetings in order to be prepared for our commitment to a special vestry meeting at the end of October, and so that we as a whole parish might be on the same page as we head into the autumn. These amalgamation talks came directly out of the MAP workshop in the spring and the weighting people gave the various choices which were before us.
Amalgamation was the strongest indication in both people's first choice and their second. It expresses our strong desire to try to preserve our community even in the midst of losses... and there will be many. The sad reality is that we are faced with two terrible choices: the first, and initially easy one, is to stay put and exhaust our resources, human and financial, or second, to make a deeply painful decision now and preserve what we can of our community and ministry.
I have been asked what will happen if the motion at the October special vestry fails. I must say that I honestly do not know for sure. What is clear is that there are no better options for amalgamation, and even if there were, and that parish came here, which is completely unlikely, we would still be faced with the lack of accessibility and aging infrastructure which has so weighed us down.
The simple fact is that the church as we have known it is dying. It's historic link to our culture and power structures are already all but gone. When I was ordained thirty some years ago I never dreamed that the end of my ministry would be marked by taking part in the closure of a much beloved parish. But, that is my, and our, reality. It is also an opportunity to claim the essence of our ministry, to reconnect to the simple message of Jesus and to commit ourselves to being the death-resurrection people who know that God is always calling us onward to new things even in the midst of letting go of the old
Please feel free to talk to me, or any of our wardens about any of this at any time. Sincerely,
John Wilker-Blakley
Incumbent
Please mark down the following dates:
Town hall with our bishop on Tuesday, October 5th at 7:00 p.m.
Special Vestry on Sunday, October 25th following the 10:30 a.m. service