Congregation inspiration: C.B.S. church opens its doors wider to stay relevant
With churches across Newfoundland and Labrador seeing waning attendance, St. Peter's Anglican Church in Conception Bay South is finding new and creative ways to stay relevant and grow its congregation.
"There has to be much more going on in a parish than what happens on a Sunday morning," said Rev. Bill Strong, the rector of St. Peter's Parish.
On Sunday evening the church is hosting Sunday of Song, a concert featuring Michelle Noftall, Craig Young, Sandy Morris and Carole Bestvater playing folk and traditional tunes as well as some country and inspirational gospel music.
In addition to concerts, the church has hosted card games and flipper dinners with the intent to welcome people from the local community to come into the church.
A great venue for concerts
Noftall, a parishioner at St. Peter's, has brought a few different concerts to the church, including a Christmas concert in December. She says the church has supported her musical efforts since she's been attending.
And she offers high praise for St. Peter's as a music venue.
"Everyone who joins me in the concerts that I've held here are established musicians, who have performed in lots of different places. They always just love coming here, they love the acoustics of the building, it's a comfortable space for everyone who does come."
The building's pews are padded the building is wheelchair-accessible, and there is lots of free parking, she added. The church's new sound system is also top of the line.
For Strong, it's less about filling church coffers than it is about filling church pews.
"These kinds of events are trying to bring people in to participate in the life of the church," Strong said.
While rental fees supplement church revenue, said Strong, it's not imperative for the day-to-day running of the church; operating funds for St. Peter's primarily come from the people who put offerings in the plate on Sunday mornings.
"The core funding has to come in from the basic envelope support on a Sunday."
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