On Sunday, May 16, 10:00 a.m., the bell in the tower will ring one last time. The congregation at Canborough Grace United Church will reminisce about special occasions, celebrations ~ weddings, baptisms and deaths. Children will take their favored places in the Sunday School room. Sweets and tea will be served. There will be scrapbooks and photographs for reflection.
The small country church often serves not only as a place of Christian worship but also as the hub of social life in a community. Folks meet Sunday after Sunday, catching up on who is well, who is ill and who is away ~ sharing good news and bad.
What has changed so drastically in our culture to silence and close a church? Will folks in a rural area still meet and ask how life is, who is well and who is ill? What need existed for over 186 years that exists no longer?
Photos: by Lorna. To view larger image, click on photo.
