An all-too-familiar story... However......

[KB7DQH]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111117/NEWS01/111170331/Parsells-Avenue-Community-Church?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CNews

Tucked away in the basement cupboards of Parsells Avenue Community Church, across from a 20-burner stove that hasn't worked for years, are enough plates and utensils to serve a meal to several hundred people.

A large concrete room, which used to host community basketball games, lies beneath the church's sanctuary, and several multi-use classrooms are scattered throughout the complex.

And looming over the oak-laden sanctuary, which seats more than 500, is a rare and historic pipe organ, still in its original working condition.

Built in 1909, the structure is a throwback to a time when church buildings were houses of worship, community centers, and gymnasiums, all rolled into one.

But today, even on its busiest Sunday mornings — the only time the church holds worship services — the congregation only fills about one-tenth of the seats.

At 102 years old, the church is showing serious signs of wear. The roof is leaky, and water damage is visible on many walls. Last week, the furnace broke, and the staffers are using space heaters to keep the offices warm.

Fixing every part of the roof that needs repair could cost in the range of $600,000, said the church's pastor, Rev. Peter Grinion.

It's a daunting total given the demographics of the area. The poverty rate in the Beechwood neighborhood is 32 percent, and 94 percent of students in the area are eligible for free or reduced lunch, said church officials.

But the church, an understated brick building which looks smaller than its actual size, still plays a vital role in the community, members say. Volunteers host after-school homework programs, where students can get help with reading or math. A technology center, with free internet access, is available for use whenever the building is open.

"We're well aware that the church is situated in a disadvantaged neighborhood, but we see people who come every Sunday, who have come for 50-some years and are still attending," said Rev. J. Claud Stewart, an assisting pastor at the church. "It's still this beacon of hope."

So the church is trying to take small, manageable steps towards its goal. Its first objective is to raise $25,000, which will be matched by a grant from the New York Landmark Conservancy's Sacred Sites program.

"If we can rebuild this church," said Stewart, "we can rebuild lives."

Challenges

Sixteen years after it was built in 1909, the church underwent a major expansion. At that time, architects were drawing up buildings that could be used as "seven-day-a-week" churches, said Cynthia Howk, architectural research coordinator for the Landmark Society of Western New York.

"They didn't have neighborhood centers, so they needed classrooms for community groups, and schools weren't allowing children to come for (athletics), so they had basketball hoops, dressing rooms, and showers," said Howk. "You had community dinners, you had basketball practices for boys and girls, you had use far beyond the membership."

A pipe organ, constructed by noted organ builder Ernest M. Skinner, was installed above the sanctuary, and the vast complex was heavily used in its early years.

But by 1975, the neighborhood was starting to lose residents, and the church's parishioners were dwindling. The congregation merged with that of the nearby East Side Memorial Presbyterian Church, but membership continued to fall.

Such challenges are being experienced by large historic urban and rural churches all across the country, said Howk.

"We could have 400 other ministers sitting here and they'd all be telling you a similar story: Big buildings, small congregations, and money that isn't coming out of the sky," she said.

The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, but with fewer contributors, keeping up with maintenance has become more difficult, and the recent problems with the roof are now impossible to ignore.

"The older it is, the more problems we got," said Bob Bunch, 81, of Rochester, who has been attending Parsells Avenue Community Church for 30 years. "Everything seems to be giving out at the same time."

Future

For the church to become viable again, the building needs to find a way to return to the "seven-day" community center that it once was, said Howk.

One reason for hope is the church's historic organ, which is one of only two Skinner organs in western New York which have never been modernized, said Matt Parsons, project manager of the Canandaigua-based Parsons Pipe Organ Builders, a family business which has been helping to maintain the church's organ for generations.

"Sometimes (modernizations) are done in a negative fashion," said Parsons. "It's good to hear what Skinner originally designed."

The church has hosted students from the Eastman School of Music, and has held several small organ demonstrations which have drawn people from throughout the region. The acoustics in the sanctuary make for spellbinding concerts.

"It's all oak in there," said Howk. "It's like crawling inside of a cello."

But with all the repairs that are needed, the church has a long, tough journey back toward viability. Grinion, who has been the church's pastor for nearly four years, was frank in his appraisal of the road ahead.

"We need some people who can really afford to give us some checks."

So... A church which recognizes the value of their pipe organ... :o ;D ;) :)

It looks like they need to get busy with some "spellbinding organ concerts" which may be used to raise some of the badly needed money they need to maintain the building... and the organ...

Eric
KB7DQH

[diapason]

The situation is one with which we are only too familiar with in England.  Our parish churches are struggling financially just to pay the diocesan quota, and the free churches, which are usually the buildings with school and meeting rooms in as an integral part of the church are really struggling with membership and many are closing ever year, with the organs being lost forever.  What is different in your report, Eric, is the sense of vision and a determination to keep going and raise money.  I only wish that we could see that vision more often this side of the pond.  Good luck to the congregation of Parsells Avenue - I hope and pray that they succeed.

N