Bishop Cronyn Memorial London ON

Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church in London ON, held its last Sunday service in December 2015

 

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CANADA: Two Historic Anglican Parishes to Close as ACoC Faces Continued Decline Historic Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church to shutter in London, Ontario St. George's Anglican Church in the Walkerville, Windsor, Ont to be demolished Both parishes have deep roots in Canadian history

By David W. Virtue DD www.virtueonline.org November 28, 2015

An historic Anglican Church in Canada will close its doors in December a victim of liberal theology and progressive social views that failed to attract next generation Canadians.

Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church is the second oldest church in London, Ontario. Another historic parish St. George's Anglican Church Walkerville, Windsor is slated to be demolished.

A blurb at the parish's website says "Bishop Cronyn Memorial's core values speak to inclusivity. The church treats all as made in God's image, regardless of race, gender, orientation, age, ability, nationality or economic class. Cronyn Memorial Church is committed to standing as Jesus does with the outcast, oppressed, denigrated and afflicted, seeking justice and peace, no matter what the cost."

Apparently the cost was too great and its core values were not enough to keep the church doors open. Its clergy includes Rev. Rae Fletcher, the Rev. Deacon Judy Castle and the Rev. Canon Dr. Doug Leighton.

The congregation began in 1870 as St George's. It changed its name in 1873 to Memorial Church in memory of the first Bishop of Huron, Benjamin Cronyn (1802-1871).In 1955, the parish adopted the name Bishop Cronyn.

PARISH HISTORY

In July 1857 a meeting of the clergy and lay delegates resident within the proposed Diocese was held in London, under the Presidency of Bishop Strachan. Present were 42 clerical members, and 69 lay representatives of the various parishes. The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Cronyn, Rector of St. Paul's Church, London, and the venerable Dr. Bethune, afterwards Bishop of Toronto, were the candidates proposed. Dr. Cronyn was elected on the first ballot, by a narrow majority, and was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury the same year. This was the first instance of an untrammeled Episcopal election in any part of the English Church for many generations, and the very first election in the Canadian Church.

In 1857, the entire population of the Diocese of Huron was 360,000, 70,000 of whom were members of the Church of England. When Dr. Cronyn was consecrated, there were 43 clergymen in the Diocese, but of these only 40 were in active service. The number of constituted parishes and missions was 46, and there were 59 churches in the whole Diocese.

LONDON CHURCH RETURNS FIRST WORLD WAR TREASURE

A plaque in Bishop Cronyn Church in London, Ontario in memory of Lt-Col Edwin Woodman Leonard, who brought a statue from a damaged church in Belgium during WWI will be returned to Belgium because the London church is closing. The journey of the carving speaks of great battles, a saviour or a thief, and the end of times.

It landed in London 100 years ago, pulled from the ruins of one church and given to another that seemed in this safe land eternal.

Now the London church, not quite eternal, has lost its own war, and the carving is on another journey.

"Since we are closing, it just seemed like the right thing to do is to send it back home," David Bellhouse, a member of Bishop Cronyn Memorial Anglican Church, said Thursday.

The church on William Street looks and smells like history. Ivy covers the walls, and inside, original Victorian stained glass windows sit high above wooden pews polished by decades of parishioners' clothing.

"At the time, it was the pre-eminent Anglican church in London outside of the (St. Paul) cathedral," Archdeacon Allan Livingstone said.

Now the church barely draws 25, a victim of changing times and declining interest in mainstream religion in Canada and the clear lack of an intentional gospel to proclaim.

Struggling for financial survival, the church will hold its last Sunday service in December, although it will try to rent out space for community groups and recitals.

From: https://virtueonline.org/canada-two-historic-anglican-parishes-close-acoc-faces-continued-decline