Diocese Reviewing Churches in Richmond and Inverness Counties

Cape Breton Post
August 19, 2013

http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-08-19/article-3356735/Diocese-reviewing-churches-in-Richmond-and-Inverness-counties/1

The Diocese of Antigonish is conducting a review of churches in Richmond and Inverness counties.

SYDNEY — A review of churches by the Diocese of Antigonish isn’t about closing churches but instead about ensuring the diocese is properly fulfilling its mandate, an official says.

The diocese already completed a review of churches in Cape Breton and Victoria counties, which led to a number of closures. It is now turning its scrutiny to churches in Richmond, Inverness, Antigonish, Guysborough and Pictou counties.

Rev. Donald MacGillivray, the director of pastoral planning, said the region covered by the diocese is undergoing tremendous demographic change.

“Cape Breton is in decline, in terms of the population, we lose about one per cent of our population per year on Cape Breton Island, and that is pretty well true of most of rural Nova Scotia,” MacGillivray said.

“That’s a big challenge, and I’m staggered by this particular piece of information, in 10 years time one-third of Cape Breton Island will be 65 or older, so there’s all sorts of pressures for institutions, schools and other sorts of institutions as we have to adjust our infrastructure to reflect the population that we have.”

MacGillivray said it’s his view that congregations don’t really own their churches, but rather serve as stewards and caretakers so that those that come after them will have a place to worship.

“These are places that nourished and sustained their faith, so it’s really difficult when you start looking at the possibility that a place might close,” MacGillivray said.

While it may be the outcome, the review is not about closing churches, he said, but about ensuring they are “doing what we’re supposed to do."

“Providing places of worship, the church always has sort of a missionary part, which means serving the community, which means making the message known in the world. It means reaching out to the poor and the marginalized and disenfranchised,” he said.

Committees will be set up for each deanery to look at such things as demographics, church finances and church attendance. That information will be taken to public hearings where input will be gathered. They will then develop proposals, which will go back for public input.

“After the input is considered from the proposal, we will come up with a plan,” MacGillivray said.

The diocese’s infrastructure — including church buildings, parish halls and glebe houses — was built to serve the needs of the population from decades ago, he said, noting some of them were built 100 years ago when many people looking to access them had limited transportation options.

Other challenges, including the financial settlement related to the class-action lawsuit involving survivors of sexual abuse by priests, haven’t helped the diocese’s situation, MacGillivray added. There has also been a general secularization of society where church doesn’t have the same degree of importance in some people’s lives as it once did, he said.

MacGillivray said he hopes the review won’t take more than two years and would like to see it completed in 12-18 months.