A chapter of Minneapolis church history closed this week, a story soon to be repeated in St. Paul.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 4400 4th Av. S., one of the first black Episcopal churches in the state, held a deconsecration service Tuesday evening. A similar fate awaits St. Philip's Episcopal Church in St. Paul, another one of the state's first primarily black churches, which will close by the end of June.
The two congregations, both of which date to the early 1900s, are forming a new church, the location and name of which is still to be determined. And while the birth of the new church is considered a bright spot for many of the members, the atmosphere at St. Thomas was somber.
"This is a sad day," said Alice Anderson, a member for 48 years. "We feel so displaced."
She and a small group of fellow members launched a last-ditch effort to try to save the church, including picketing on the sidewalk before Tuesday's service. She wondered why the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota singled out two minority churches to close.
The decision was made on the basis of demographics, said Thomas Lawrence, a member of the church vestry. "The average age of our members is 72, and a lot of them are unable to attend" because they're home-bound, he said. "We have to do something. This [merger] has been in the works for nearly four years. It was voted on and approved by the members [by a 3-to-1 ratio]."
Moving crews had spent Tuesday packing the church's property and removing it from the building. In order to enter the now-barren sanctuary, members had to work their way past boxes of files that had been stacked in the foyer.
The Rev. James Jelinek, bishop of the diocese, broke from the text of the deconsecration service to console members.
