Anglican

Tasmania’s Anglican diocese planned to sell more than 120 churches, halls, houses and plots, just under half its holdings, to meet an estimated $8 million in redress for abuse survivors, with the bishop warning every parish would be affected.

St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Antigua reopened for Easter 2018 after an eight-year restoration, with the congregation processing back from St Andrew’s Anglican Church, where it had worshipped since the closure.

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle sold St James Church at Bungwahl, built by a pioneer in 1873 and given to the church, for more than $450,000, taking 40 per cent for abuse redress as locals protested.

A board member said the Anglican-run Wortley Home for Girls was in financial crisis before its 2015 fire, unable to cover utilities, food and salaries, and that its bigger rebuilt home needs more staff to reach full capacity.

The Anglican synod in Christchurch voted to reinstate the earthquake-damaged Christ Church Cathedral at an estimated cost of about $108 million, funded by insurance, a heritage trust, government and council pledges.

Residents of Bowden Hill, St Andrew, who helped save their primary school from closure, petitioned against the Anglican Church naming a new board chairman, saying the church had neglected the school for about a decade.

St John’s Anglican Church in Pembroke, Bermuda, renovated its 1835 bell tower in 2017, replacing corroded steel beams and concrete slabs with fibreglass beams while protecting a five-tonne bell assembly.

Fredericton’s Anglican diocese weighed selling two properties beside Christ Church Cathedral and building a multi-storey block with condos or rentals under a 40-year lease, warning that sale cash is often only a quick fix.

Restoring St John’s Anglican Cathedral in Antigua grew into a EC$12 million job after termite damage forced replacement of its entire structural framing, with EC$8.5 million spent by 2017 and EC$3.5 million still needed.

After a 2015 fire destroyed much of the 97-year-old Anglican-run Wortley Home for Girls, a $46 million rebuild by Food For The Poor was set to begin in 2016, raising capacity from 19 to 32 girls.

St Mark’s Anglican, the Manchester Parish Church in Mandeville, was completed in 1820 under a vestry plan that also listed a court, parsonage and jail. Its organ loft served as a jail during the 1832 rebellion.

Holy Trinity Church in Retreat, St Mary, the parish’s oldest Anglican church, marked 180 years on land a plantation owner donated in 1828. It has survived a fire and still anchors four daughter congregations.

St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Boscobel, St Mary, marked 115 years in 2015. It has a basic school attached and a growing primary school, runs a soup kitchen, and shares one rector with four other churches.

An Observer columnist argued that renting, not owning, is the realistic housing route for Jamaica’s poor, and singled out Anglican and Baptist leaders for appearing unmoved that developers were avoiding affordable housing.

The Commonwealth Bank sued Australia’s Anglican Diocese of Bathurst over $40 million in debt secured only by a bishop’s letter, and the court heard the diocese was advised it lacked power to sell property to repay it.