Rev. Brian Ruttan has received a commuted sentence from the Diocese of Niagara: September 14th was his last Sunday at St. Hilda’s and he is now ministering in sunny Grimsby.
His replacement is Rev. Martha Tatarnic; she was present at St. Hilda’s building this Sunday morning.
Interestingly, little has been settled in deciding who pays how much for the upkeep of St. Hilda’s building. As things stand at the moment, St. Hilda’s ANiC is paying for all of the building upkeep in addition to paying for rental space for Sunday morning worship. The diocese is paying nothing, in spite of the court order to do so and the fact that they take up residence at various inconvenient times during the week.
In what must have been a spontaneous burst of naïve optimism, Martha asked St. Hilda’s ANiC to install a new phone line for her and add her name to our front sign – and asked us pay for it. A special vestry was not required to determine the appropriate answer.
You should have told her you’d consider it. I sit on a vestry (which includes people who no longer attend church) and was astounded that it has taken nine months to produce nametags for our greeters even though we have discussed it at four or five meetings. As a young person, I don’t really have much patience with all the talk, but as dialogue is God in the Anglican Church it would seem an appropriate answer to give her
.
Martha is truly a sweet person from the “can’t we all just get along” school. I suspect that the schemers at the diocese are hoping that she will be treated badly so that they can use her testimony at the next stage. She would make a great vulnerable witness.
Peace,
Jim
Charles, I am old enough to be your mum, and I have no patience for that sort of thing either! Why on earth are people who don’t attend church anymore allowed to have input on church decisions? That makes no sense to me. I wish you were in Ottawa, I’d invite you to St. Alban’s.
Perhaps it is time to stop paying the bills and let them mount up. The place won’t be worth much what with liens and tax arrears against the title. Just a warning to shut off the water and winterize the place before the gas and electrical companies shut off the heat though. If the pipes get frozen with the water still on the place will be come a disaster.
That is a disaster of a different sort than what is going on now. Don’t know which is worse.
No – keep paying the bills and maintaining the building. I can’t think of a better argument when the case comes to court next – if the diocese isn’t paying for building maintenance, surely that weakens their case for ownership??
[4]
Obituary,
My understanding is that it is the property that is valuable, not the building. With respect to adhering to the court order, judges take a very dim view of non-compliance -that is often reflected in their subsequent decisions.
Peace,
Jim
Jim (#6),
Yes, it’s the land that’s valuable. Also, we are still using the building during the week.
and (#2), the person from our side who deals with the squatters is very gracious, so I am sure Martha will be treated kindly.
Aren’t you supposed to be off the net, David?
So the new St Hilda’s has a new rector. Tell me, do they have a congregation yet?
#8,
Almost. 5 minutes to pack, then we’re off.
#9,
No, but Martha brought some stand-ins.
Jim (#6) and Obituary (#4), the diocese’s failure to pay its costs may even constitute contempt of court.
#11 Gordon Arthur….comtempt of court ! That would be marvelous ! OK keep paying the bills but shouldn’t the sign out front be updated with directions to the Sunday service down the street for the hard done by bill payers. Who knows you might attract Anglicans.