Canadian Diocese of British Colombia is on verge of extinction: CEN 1.29.10 p 8.

The Diocese of British Columbia is “one generation away from extinction” a report prepared by a diocesan task force has warned. To save itself, the report prepared by the Diocesan Transformation Team recommended the diocese shutter 19 of its 52 congregations, and pursue a programme of transformational ministry.

Five of the redundant churches would be renamed and recreated as “hub churches” to serve the areas affected by parish closures, the Jan 25 report said.

“We have the choice at this time to be able to make the choice for a transformational change, focused on mission and where we’re going, rather than dwindling,” Bishop James Cowan told a press conference announcing the release of the report.

The recommendations will go to the March meeting of the diocesan synod for action.

“I would not say we are yet a church in crisis,” Bishop Cowan explained. “We are a church that is saying a crisis could come if we don’t act.”

In October Bishop Cowan told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation he believed the diocese would pull out of its decline if it focused on social justice issues. The September 2009 issue of the diocesan newspaper reported that average Sunday attendance had fallen from 4,955 people to 3,856 people, and the average congregation had fallen from 95 members in 2007 to 82 members in 2008. Only four of the diocese’s congregations showed a budget surplus and a growth rate in excess of 2 per cent.

Bishop Cowan was optimistic about the future however, telling the CBC the reorganization was an opportunity of reaching “out in social justice areas as well as in areas of spirituality and connection with the culture in which we live.”