From the Modesto Bee
Retired pediatrician Doug Chadwick remembers the first service at St. Paul's Church when it opened in Modesto. It was raining on that Christmas Eve in 1971 and the parking lot was unpaved, "just part of a field. It was very muddy. One man guided us by flashlight, walking over boards so we can get in."
No one in that service could imagine that 37-plus years later, most of the congregation would walk away from the multimillion-dollar church on Oakdale Road just south of Briggsmore Avenue. But the split between Episcopals and Anglicans has grown so wide and litigious, Chadwick and others will do just that.
Their last service at St. Paul's will be held as usual two Sundays from now, on June 28. Their next service, on July 5, will be as Wellspring Anglican Church in the old J.S. West building in downtown Modesto.
During that week, St. Paul's will become the first parish in the San Joaquin Diocese -- and one of the first self-incorporated parishes in the nation -- to willingly sign its property over to the Episcopal Church before a lawsuit has been filed. The church, which is 130 years old and has been at various locations in Modesto, predates the San Joaquin Diocese and owns its property free and clear.
"Our name's on the deed. It doesn't even have the name 'Episcopal' on the deed, and we paid for it," said the Rev. Michael McClenaghan, St. Paul's priest. "Not a dime came from the Episcopal Church, not even a dime from the diocese."
More here-
http://www.modbee.com/life/faithvalues/story/743617.html
1 comment:
Michael was a classmate of mine at seminary and is an exceptionally fine pastor and priest. I had thought that St. Paul's had voted to become a part of AMiA, not of the Southern Cone realignment. In any case, blessings on them in the next chapter of their ministry in Modesto.
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