Ministry News

Church Sells Stained Glass to Stay Open

Details

Tuesday, 15 December 2009 16:59

Despite a 140-foot tower showcasing its building's grand Victorian Gothic-style exterior, the First Baptist Church of Brattleboro, Vt., is crumbling on the inside. What once was a thriving church has dwindled to a 35-member congregation hit hard by dipping finances and attendance amid the economic recession. Yet for all the signs of decline in recent years, the latest is an unsentimental punch in the gut for remaining congregants.

With the church down to its last $8,000, leaders have decided to sell the building's 9-foot-tall stained glass window to keep the church and its wintertime homeless shelter afloat. Crafted in 1910, the Roman arch-style window piece is a Tiffany original depicting John that may fetch up to $80,000. Though the mostly older congregation knows it's the right move, it doesn't make the potential parting any easier.

"No one wants to see this Tiffany go," says pastor Suzanne Andrews, the church's only paid staff member-and a part-time one at that. "But when it came down to the question of do we sell the Tiffany to keep our doors open for the ministry of God, then the decision became quite clear to all of us, that this Tiffany window-as beautiful as it is-is a material thing."

The church currently relies mainly on volunteer help, including homeless men who stay in the shelter in exchange for helping to clean the facility. The increased reliance upon volunteers to compensate for minimized staff is widespread, according to Phill Martin, deputy CEO for the National Association of Church Business Administration. It's also a great sign of churches keeping ministry, rather than administration, the main focus.

"Probably the largest thing churches have done is terminated positions, frozen salaries, reduced benefits and some have even stopped making retirement benefit payments," says Martin. "Most churches, like this one, are more concerned about maintaining their ministry and their involvement in the community than they are about their own specific needs about buildings and staff." [AP, 12/6/09]