Four choose to remain in ACPC

STELLARTON - St. George's Church in New Glasgow is ready to break free from the Anglican Churches of Pictou County.
Meanwhile, the four other churches of the ACPC have all voted to remain with the group.
Dave Harrison, the senior warden at Christ Anglican Church in Stellarton and the chairman of the ACPC, says the remaining churches can survive without St. George's.
Part of the reason, he says, is that the ACPC used to operate with two priests, Rev. Peter Armstrong and Rev. Kathy Laskey. Rev. Laskey left last fall, but Harrison says one priest can oversee the remaining four churches without conflict.
Christ Church voted to stay with the ACPC last Sunday. It was an obvious decision, says Harrison.
"Our decision was partially financial because sharing the costs of a priest is more manageable," he says. "And also, we're just not that interested in leaving."
As the old saying goes, he says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Rev. Armstrong will be moving out of the rectory at St. George's and into the rectory at Christ Church, says Bishop Sue Moxley. "(Rev. Armstrong) is going to stay with the ACPC," she says.
In the meantime, Moxley is faced with the task of assigning a new rector for St. George's Church. A so-called priest-in-charge will work at the church until a new rector can be found.
Of course, before any of this can happen, representatives of St. George's Church will have to prove the church is financially viable to be independent. That won't be a problem, says George Henaut, senior warden for the church.
"Since 2003, we've been in renewal. Our congregation is growing and we're doing quite well," he says.
"The other churches are now more interested in renewal and hoping they, too, will see a growth."
St. George's Church has a congregation of about 240 families. In comparison, Christ Church's congregation stands at about 160 families.
St. George's Church is now assuming responsibility for its own rector, rectory and office. After those finances are accounted for, "We don't anticipate in having a lot of extra money," he adds.
But it's very important that St. George's has its own rector if the church is to move forward, he says.
The ACPC was originally formed as a three-year experiment to deal with the problem of a shortage of ministers. At the end of the three years, Janet Marshall, an outside consultant, conducted a review of the ACPC. She observed that each of the six churches - this was before St. Augustine's Anglican Church in Trenton closed in 2007 - would like to have its own rector but that was impossible due to financial considerations, says Henaut. The bishop at the time, Fred Hiltz, announced soon after that each church would vote on its future with the ACPC.