Church expands to accommodate growing congregation

From Washington State-

For years, the Episcopal Church has been getting older and smaller. The average member is 62 years old. Membership has steadily declined for decades, from its height in the 1950s and 1960s.

But St. Clare’s Episcopal Church in Snoqualmie, along with an increasing number of parishes scattered across the country, is bucking the trend. In six years, the congregation has nearly doubled. In the past two years, it’s grown by about 25 percent.

Four years ago, its future was not clear. The church’s pews were sparsely occupied on Sunday mornings and mostly filled with people with gray hair. Many might have expected the parish to fold when its main building had to be bulldozed after being flooded in January 2006.
Instead, the setback gave the congregation new purpose.

“To a person, we would all love to have that building to worship in, but it’s helped the congregation’s relationship with God,” said the Rev. Patty Baker, St. Clare’s vicar since 2004.
Today, St. Clare’s is expanding. It has outgrown the community hall it converted into a sanctuary, Sunday school and offices. It is adding two modular buildings to house offices and the church’s new — and popular — Sunday school program.

More here-

http://snovalleystar.com/2010/09/29/church-expands-to-accommodate-growing-congregation