Monday, February 23, 2009

What’s left of recently divided church focuses on fresh thinking.


For the few remaining members of the former St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal church in the Town of Tonawanda, starting over meant staying right where they were.

Just a dozen-or-so in number, they represent the beginning of a brand new church in the same old building, now called Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles, since the majority of their members left citing philosophical differences with the greater Episcopal Church late last year.

Those who remain sat in the very same pews they’ve occupied in some cases for decades Sunday, listening to a sermon about seeing beyond the old veneer.

“Allow your responses to change,” the Rev. Sarah Gordy told worshippers young and old, elaborating on a theme encouraging spiritual growth and leaving old assertions at the door as Lent approaches.

“Refuse to be satisfied with the old answers ...” she said from her position at a lectern in the church near the corner of Brighton And Fries roads built in the 1950s. Until just a few months ago, the place was spiritual home to about 1,000 additional souls.

Just as the new church tries to redefine its place in a house which seems suddenly very large for the few who gather there each week, its members are being encouraged to unseal old doors into their hearts and minds.

“This is Holy Apostles; this is not St. Bartholomew’s,” Gordy, 30, later said. She has since Feb. 1 administered service to those few who remain.

http://www.tonawanda-news.com/local/local_story_054022950.html

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