Some parishioners want to keep it; pastor and parish council defend sale as the right decision
The B.C. Catholic
Plans to close Star of the Sea Church are not sitting well with some of the people in its pews.
“A lot of parishioners have great concerns about closing Star of the Sea church down,” Hans Staals, a parishioner and a Knight of Columbus, told The B.C. Catholic. “There are some very upset people.”
The plan to close Star of the Sea Church in White Rock is not new. The Star of the Sea parish council announced this plan about two years ago, after the Archdiocese of Vancouver asked all parishes to upgrade their facilities to be earthquake safe.
The parish has three churches: Star of the Sea in White Rock, Holy Cross in Crescent Beach, and Good Shepherd in south Surrey.
The council’s master plan included selling the first two churches, both of which are more than 70 years old and would cost an estimated $6 million to upgrade, and using funds from the sale to expand the newer, seismically safe, Good Shepherd Church.
The Archdiocesan Infrastructure Renewal Committee approved the plan to sell Holy Cross in mid-2015, and Star of the Sea in May 2016.
“One of the key pieces here is an exercise of good stewardship,” said pastor Father Glenn Dion. “To spend multiple millions of dollars to fix old buildings that are past their expiry date doesn’t make responsible sense.”
The 22-year-old Good Shepherd Church has a seating capacity of 850-900. “This place is needing something to satisfy the programming for seniors, youth, the school community, and for the parish in general.” The Church is next door to Star of the Sea Elementary School.
Father Dion wrote a letter to his parishioners last month to answer questions about closing Star of the Sea and Holy Cross Churches.
He said of the 2,550 families registered in the parish, 18 per cent have White Rock addresses, and of those, only 20 per cent regularly attend Sunday Mass at Star of the Sea Church.
“I hope the parish realizes that these old buildings are no longer viable and need to make room for new facilities that will serve our families for generations to come.”
Parish council member Jim McKinlay said it was a difficult plan to make, but a good one. “They are tough decisions. We’ve agonized over this,” he told The B.C. Catholic.
Parish council members found out from city officials that between 2011 and 2041, White Rock is expected to grow by 3,500 people, while the Grandview Heights area in south Surrey is expected to grow by 63,000. “We’re using parish assets to support future parish needs.”
He added Star of the Sea parishioners only have 2.7 kilometres to drive to Good Shepherd Church, where adding a fifth weekend Mass would ensure enough room for everyone.
“We have been trying to operate in three different locations.” Inviting everyone to Mass in south Surrey could “create one unified family.”
Staals and some fellow parishioners have other ideas. They have published their suggestion that the Star of the Sea Church site, which includes their parish hall and parking lot, could be redeveloped into a complex with a hall, housing perhaps for the elderly, retail space, meeting rooms, and a chapel with the same capacity as the old church.
“It might be a little less money than outright selling it, but we would have a new church, new church hall, and some seniors housing out of it.” He added that many community groups enjoy the use of the church hall in White Rock.
Their proposal was originally publicized on their parish-based Knights’ website, sosknights.ca, but Arcie Lim, the state deputy for the Knights of Columbus of B.C. and Yukon, clarified that this is not a case of Knights versus parish, and The Knights of Columbus organization is not endorsing the suggestion by the Knights council of the parish.
“We are always in solidarity with our bishops and priests. That’s a motto that we have taken and honoured for many years,” Lim said. “Because this is a democratic society, the members of the Knights council, not acting as members but as parishioners, have the right to air their views.”
McKinlay said the parishioners with an alternative proposal have been asked to wait until the land goes on the market, which will likely be next summer.
“When it goes up for sale, they will be given the same opportunity as everyone else.”
The B.C. Catholic was unable to find a Holy Cross Church attendee available for comment about the sale of that building.
