Faced with the burden of caring for its aging building, a shrinking downtown Episcopal church is relocating to another parish in the city, while its longtime home on Linwood Avenue will be converted into a senior housing project by the operator of Canterbury Woods.

The Church of the Ascension at 16 Linwood Ave. at the corner of North Street will move three miles north to the campus of the Church of the Good Shepherd at 96 Jewett Parkway. It also will rename itself the Church of the Ascension at Good Shepherd, according to a press release and posting on its website.

When caring for a building limits the energy a congregation has for ministry, its time for a change, the church posted on its website. The church is not a building. Any church, Ascension included, is really a group of people in close relationship with God and one another.

Officials stressed, though, that the two churches are not merging. The congregations have maintained a covenant relationship since 2011, the website continued, so sharing space made perfect sense to both churches when Ascension began looking for a new base. However, Ascension will maintain its own congregation and its 4:30 p.m. Sunday service and monthly Pet Food Pantry.

The Church of the Ascension is not closing, the website said. Rather, it is evolving, adapting to the 21st century reality of how to be the church.

Like many parishes, Ascension has been shrinking as the demographics around it changed. The parish had 338 active members in 1975, but membership plunged to just 39 in 2013, according to the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.

That created urgent financial pressures that threatened the churchs future. Over the past three years alone, the church has spent nearly $80,000 on building maintenance. If it had not taken these steps, it would have closed within six months, said Laurie Wozniak, spokeswoman for the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.

The congregation of the Church of the Ascension is committed to mission work. When the cost of maintaining the building on North Street began to negatively affect that work, the decision to move was made prayerfully and with much deliberation, said the Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims, Ascensions priest.

The congregation and I believe that in doing so, we are being good stewards of both our money and the building, which will go on to serve the surrounding community in new ways.

The 164-year-old churchs historic building will now be re-purposed for senior housing by Episcopal Church Home & Affiliates, which runs the high-end continuing care community Canterbury Woods in Amherst and is constructing a similar but smaller facility at the former Millard Fillmore Gates Circle Hospital site.

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Church of the Ascension to be converted to senior housing

Rep. Manny Pacquiao FILE PHOTO

GENERAL SANTOS CITY World boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao has set aside some P295 million from his earnings from big-time prizefights for the construction of a house of worship on a 5-hectare property here.

I owe to God everything that I have right now, said Pacquiao, a born-again Christian convert. The amount is nothing compared to what God has done to my life, he said.

The church lot alone could cost up to P95 million.

We came into this world bare and naked. In our final rendezvous with the Great Beyond, we can bring nothing, Pacquiao said. Building the church was also his way of glorifying and thanking God, he said.

Two hectares of the site would be devoted to a two-story church structure and annex, according to Rey Cortez, project engineer. Construction cost would be around P200 million, he said.

The building will serve as the main worship area, while the annex will house the Bible school, Bible study room, a pastors lounge and commercial offices.

We target to finish the project within an 18-month period. But he (Pacquiao) asked us to expedite the construction so it can be used by December 2015, Cortez said.

Pacquiao is currently renting the entire third floor of Maduramente building here for church services every Sunday.

When he retires from boxing, he said, he would turn to preaching and other jobs.

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Pacquiao sets aside P295M for new church

REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Worshippers attend Sunday prayers in Baraka Parish church on the outskirts of Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Christians say churches are being targeted in the Muslim-majority country.

An evangelical church in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, was raided by police yesterday and 37 young members of the congregation were detained.

The episode marked an escalation of attacks on the church by the authorities, which had already demolished parts of the building.

Church leaders believe that the move is part of a concerted campaignagainst churches in the country, though the authorities say that the land is owned by investors who want to build a shopping centre.

According to the minister of the evangelical church in Khartoum North, Pastor Yahya Abdelrahim Falo, the police arrived in nine vehicles at around 6am yesterday. He told Radio Dabangathat some of them started to demolish the outer walls of the building while others arrested the young Christians praying and fasting inside.

Falo said that the 37 detainees were divided into three groups. Two groups were taken to separate criminal courts and each member was fined the equivalent of $35 for "public disturbance and the obstruction of an official in the performance of his duties". The remaining 15 youngsters were tried at a different court, where the judge acquitted them.

Falo said that what had happened was "a blatant infringement of Christian sanctities, and a humiliation of all Sudanese Christians". He demanded an immediate halt to the current demolition of the church.

Yesterday's event was not the first time the church had been targeted. On November 19, the house of its senior pastor was confiscated and the 'youth house' was demolished.

In response, leaders from Khartoum churches, students and church members staged protests, and prayed in the adjacent church for a peaceful resolution.

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Sudan: Church destroyed and young people arrested, pressure increases on Christians

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From her humble beginnings in the Far East in 1914, the Iglesia ni Cristo also known as INC, has grown to be the largest entirely indigenous Christian church in the Philippines, and the largest religious organization that originated from the Philippine Islands and the largest independent Christian Church in Asia.

From the Far East to the Far West: It was in this island state of Hawaii, located in the Far West, where the Church would establish its pioneering mission for its worldwide expansion was not a matter of coincidence, but of divine providence. Biblical prophecy decrees:

"From the far east will I bring your offspring, and from the far west I will gather you" (Isa. 43:5, James Moffatt Translation)

And so, it came to pass that in this Aloha State in the Pacific, particularly in its capital and economic center, Honolulu, theChurch of Christ that emerged in the Far East made its propitious entry into the a Western hemisphere. As prophesied, thegathering of God's children started in 1968 when the Iglesia ni Cristo launched its mission overseas which resulted in the establishment of two pioneering congregations in the Far Westfirst in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 27 and then in San Francisco, California, on August 18, 1968. This laid the groundwork for the rapid establishment of many more congregations on foreign shores.

Countries and territories with official INC presence

Countries and territories with no official INC presence Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:INC_presence_2012.jpg

MANILA, Philippines -- Two Guinness World Records have been broken by the Worldwide Walk of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) over the weekend in Manila. On Sunday, an official of the Guinness World Record has announced that the INC event also set a new record for the largest charity walk in 24 hours (multiple venue). "Thirteen time zones, 54 countries, 24 hours....Iglesia Ni Cristo reached a number and that number is 519, 521 participants," said Kirsty Bennett, Guinness World Records adjudicator, Sunday afternoon at the Diamond Hotel in Manila, where the announcement was made. "On behalf of Guinness I'd like to award Iglesia Ni Cristo for the largest charity walk in 24 hours multiple venue. Congratulations you are officially amazing again ," she added. The previous record was set by Canada involving 231,635 participants who walked for a minimum of 1 kilometer (.62 miles) at 1,011 different locations around Canada on October 2, 2007.

Saturday's event also surpassed the record for the largest charity walk in a single venue with 175,000 participants beating the record set in Singapore in May 2000 with more than 77,000 individuals. The walk for a cause of INC was staged in 135 sites across the globe in the USA, in Europe, in Australia/New Zealand and in Asia including the Philippines. The event in Metro Manila started at the grounds of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) along Roxas Boulevard up to Rizal Park. Source: InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5 http://www.interaksyon.com/article/80854/iglesia-ni-cristos-worldwide-walk-breaks-2-guinness-world-records .

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IGLESIA NI CRISTO - Church of Christ - Iglesia de Cristo

LUTZ Tampa Bay area parents who want to give their children a Catholic education have another option to consider for next school year: a new K-8 school being built on the grounds of St. Timothy Catholic Church in Lutz.

Next fall, students at Tampas Mother Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School formerly Most Holy Redeemer will relocate to a larger building under construction 12 miles away at St. Timothy. It will draw from three area parishes and be big enough to serve twice as many children.

Its a relocation of an existing school that is also an attempt to address needs for Catholic education in that part of the diocese, said Michael Tkacik, secretary of ministries for the Diocese of St. Petersburg. The demand for a Catholic education remains strong and consistent.

The new school, which will draw from Most Holy Redeemer, St. Timothy and Our Lady of the Rosary parishes, is being funded by the dioceses Forward in Faith campaign, which aims to raise $50 million for schools, seminarians and individual church projects. More than $25 million has been raised.

Also underway is an expansion at St. Anthony Catholic School in San Antonio that will allow the K-8 school to take on about 50 more students, bringing total enrollment to 300. Cost of the school projects will total $11 million.

Additionally, $18 million will be set aside for tuition assistance: $10 million for individual parish projects, $3 million toward seminarian education and retired priest care, and $5 million for renovations to the St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach.

The Mother Teresa school, which opened in 1954 as Most Holy Redeemer, serves 236 students. The new building at St. Timothy will be able to accommodate nearly 600. Roughly 325 students are already registered for next fall.

Theyre going to bring a great spirit here, said the Rev. Ken Malley, pastor at St. Timothy. The dynamics are going to change. Its really going to be a breath of life. There seems to be a lot of excitement in the whole neighborhood.

Construction on the school began in February. The building was originally slated to open this fall, but issues with securing permits delayed the process, said diocese schools Superintendent Alberto Vzquez-Matos. Construction now is on schedule to wrap up next summer.

The one-story school, designed by Holmes Architects and being built by Herman Construction, will include classroom pods for each grade equipped with computers and other devices for students.

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Catholic diocese to open new K-8 school in Lutz

Published November 28, 2014

The McMass Project aims to attract worshipers through the lure of McDonald's burgers.(The McMass Project)

As church attendance falls, one group believes that the lure of a burger and fries might make church more appealing.

McMass Project, which is the brainchild of Paul Di Lucca -- a creative director at the church branding agencyLux Dei Design -- is raising funds to put a McDonald's franchise inside a place of worship.

"Christianity is unable to capture modern audiences," Di Lucca told NBC News. "There's a lack of innovation and lack of design thinking in Church communities."

The multi-denominational group has launched a campaign on the crowdfunding site IndieGoGo and hopes to raise $1 million to build the first McDonald's church. As of Friday, only $104 has been raised.

The groups says that the money will go toward purchasing a franchise and construction. The group is currently looking for a church to partner with.

"It's time for churches to engage with entrepreneurship," writes the group on its IndieGoGo site. "By combining a church and a McDonald's we can create a self-sustaining, community-engaged, popular church, and an unparalleled McDonald's restaurant."

The site states that three million people leave the faith every year and that 10,000 churches closed down in 2013, while 70 million people eat McDonalds every day. To attract potential donors, the group is offering T-shirts, hats and vinyl stickers to adorn your laptop, hymn book and more!

Di Lucca believes that fast food is one way to build faith in the modern era, but concedes that not everyone will be wild about the idea.

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FAITH WITH FRIES Group hopes fast food will boost church attendance

CONSIDERING the grandness and intricacies involved in building a neo-gothic construction using the limited funds and technologies of the early 1900s, a turnaround of about 19 months from ashes to commanding structure must seem quite incredible to The Block-watching public of today.

The determination demonstrated by St Mary's Grafton Parish to get its "house" back up and running so soon after it was destroyed by fire on April 29, 1913, is testament to the importance the community placed on having a fitting venue to congregate and worship the Lord.

Opened by Bishop O'Connor, of Armidale on Sunday, November 29, 1914, in the presence of church hierarchy from as far afield as Melbourne, the "new" St Mary's Church will celebrate its 100th birthday this weekend with a special mass to be conducted by Bishop of Lismore Geoffrey Jarrett on Sunday at 9.30am.

And as the church continues to cut a towering figure over Victoria Street a century later, the state in which its 1867 predecessor was found back in 1913 on the same site seems foreign to those that pass by the St Mary's we know today.

As reported in the Examiner at the time, the blaze that destroyed the original church occurred in the early hours of the morning offering no opportunity for intervention between the first couple of witnesses sounding the alarm and its total destruction.

"The church bell was rung at once. A number of citizens were speedily on the scene, but their assistance was of no avail to save the edifice from destruction as the fire had complete mastery. A table and two chairs were all that could be got out, and the organ, vestments, altar appointments and pew were totally consumed," the report said.

After describing how the fire took hold, the article went on to say "The generally accepted theory as to the origin of the fire is that the altar lamp, which continually kept burning, must have fallen from its suspended position by the small chain becoming worn from long usage. The oil and wafers becoming scattered over the floor, would cause ignition, and account for what occurred."

Whatever its fate, this was a "serious loss to the Roman Catholic community" and apart from the destruction of the building there were also costly uninsured contents to replace.

Insurance would pay 500 pounds which only covered a small portion of the loss and in the meantime services were held in the school room while initial work began on planning a replacement. (All while Grafton was without a Catholic Church it still managed to conduct 41 baptisms, 21 weddings and some 12 burials).

Given the amount of correspondence that flowed between the clergy and the appeals that needed to be orchestrated in the Clarence and around the region to have the church resurrected, again the timeframe seems spectacularly short in these days of red tape and budget blowouts. But the people of the area were generous and felt the Grafton community's loss and within weeks the mighty cogs of the church community began to turn and turn.

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Revived church hits a century

A Cape Cod church plans a groundbreaking ceremony this weekend exactly two years to the day after an arsonist burned it to the ground.

The ceremony at the site of the Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church in Brewster is scheduled for noon on Sunday.

Pastor Myron Heckman tells the Cape Cod Times the new building will be bigger and more fire-resistant. The first phase of the project will include construction an 18,000-square-foot sanctuary, office space, classrooms, kitchen and a lobby area.

Construction should take about 18 months.

Much of the work will be done by volunteers from the congregation, many of whom have construction experience.

A 30-year-old local man was sentenced for setting fire to the church in 2012. His family said he suffered from mental illness.

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Cape Cod church burned to ground rising from ashes

Published Thursday, 27 November 2014

The Gateway project is planned for 97-acres in Ballymena, Co Antrim. (Gateway Project)

Green Pastures Church is one of five partners involved in the Gateway project, alongside the Wright Group, Gateway Social Investments, Compassion Ministries, and Connect Ministries.

The development, adjacent to the Seven Towers roundabout, will feature a new church for Green Pastures, social housing and retail outlets.

At a launch event on Thursday, the plans were described as "ground-breaking" and with the potential to have a major impact on the local economy.

Project board member Trevor Dunlop said the site would support the NI Executive in delivering key government commitments and contribute to economic development in the Ballymena borough.

He added that it would "permit the development of a new headquarters for the Wright Group".

According to those behind the project, the Gateway has been built on a sustainable public-private partnership model and will be 100% sustainable in commercial, social and economic terms.

It is understood that 250 full-time jobs will be created during the construction phase and 2.8m will be injected into the Ballymena economy.

The group says the project will have the potential to support over 1,000 jobs and annually contribute 40m to the local economy while also providing 485 care places.

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'1000 jobs' in Ballymena church scheme

11172014 on Church construction

By: Rev. Fr. Jessie G. Somosierra, Jr

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11172014 on Church construction - Video