Letters to the Editor - Merging churches may be a good thing - Merging churches may be a good thing

In response to “Am I missing something?” letter in the December Camden News: I was a member of St. Austin Church for over 20 years and attended St. Bridget for about two years. It breaks my heart to see any churches close but especially one that I was a part of for so long. Sadly, there has been a general decline in attendance among many faiths for many years; as a result, most parishes and congregations have had to focus on the basic needs to keep going, frequently at the expense of ministries that attract and retain families and new people. 

My family decided to leave St. Austin and look for a new spiritual family in order to find a place that was working to reach beyond survival of church; that was working to maintain ministries that our family needed. We were blessed to find that at St. Bridget. St. Augustine, the patron of the church of St. Austin said, “This is our house of prayer, but we too are a house of God...But Christians do not make a house of God until they are one in charity. The timber and stone must fit together in an orderly plan, must be joined in perfect harmony, must give each other support as it were of love, or no one would enter the building. When you see the stones and the beams of a building holding together securely, you will enter the building with an easy mind; you are not afraid of it falling down in ruins.” 

Now St. Bridget and St. Austin are merging. Ideally, this will allow the combined community to build, to reach beyond the needs of keeping the buildings open, to minister to all our neighbors in North Minneapolis and, dare I hope, attract new membership that could keep both churches open indefinitely. This is a hard time for churches, for congregations, but it also means that we have new challenges before us. God willing, if we rise to those challenges our communities will grow strong again and remain strong for years to come.

Anne Peiffer,

Victory