Shutting doors – how many more churches to go?

Percy from the Pews
What hasn’t been spelled out by the organisation – and should be so people can judge what has been lost – is the number of properties, churches and otherwise, that have already gone in the time of Bishop Harrower … So the follow-up question I have for the bishop is: how many more are to follow in this so-called rationalisation of Anglican churches in Tasmania?
IN DECEMBER I asked a question of Anglican Bishop John Harrower on the future ownership of Holy Trinity Church following indications it was being sold to the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia. I now direct another question to him arising from the eventual confirmation of that sale, via the Mercury in late January.

The Mercury published some of his comments made in a news release (through his media officer, Stephen Carnaby), but not all of it – and my attention was caught by this reference in the full text:

“The unfortunate reality for the Anglican Church in Tasmania is with over 200 properties, many of which are heritage listed, the amount of work is well beyond the means of the organisation.”

What hasn’t been spelled out by the organisation – and should be so people can judge what has been lost – is the number of properties, churches and otherwise, that have already gone in the time of Bishop Harrower.

He came here from Melbourne in mid-2000, and information I have is that some 20-plus churches have been closed during his tenure, Holy Trinity being the best known in catching the public attention with its closure at the end of 2007, but St Andrew’s at Perth and Holy Nativity at Bishopsbourne also causing anger from their closure last year.

So the follow-up question I have for the bishop is: how many more are to follow in this so-called rationalisation of Anglican churches in Tasmania?

On church-associated property, what had been a Holy Trinity parish house in the Glebe was sold for $600,000 last year. Add to that the $50,000 for “passing ownership” of Holy Trinity to the Greek Orthodox Church. And let’s not overlook the sale of St Margaret’s, which had been Holy Trinity’s mission church in Federal Street.

Now I’m told they are selling the half a dozen properties linked with Holy Trinity in Church Street. I understand that in Hobart City Council aldermanic circles there is the view that not only the church itself has to be protected and restored but the homes of the Church Street precinct as well because of the area’s historic significance to the social heritage of Hobart, in what had been the biggest Anglican parish.

A final note on Anglican property sales. In March, 2004, the Mercury reported the sale of Bishopscourt, in Fitzroy Place, Sandy Bay, for more than $1.5 million. It had been the home of Tasmania’s Anglican bishops since the 1870s. World War II hero Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery had his childhood there when his father was bishop, and part of the building was the Montgomery Chapel.

Percy from the Pews