On April 12th, 2026, the congregation of St. Augustine’s Parish, 1 Westerland Road, St. John’s, joined together to say their final farewell to their beloved church and parish in a Liturgy for the Closing and Secularizing of a Consecrated Building.
The decision to close the parish after sixty-three years in existence evolved from a process of discernment involving all parishioners over the past three years. In recent years, the parish had experienced a significant decline in membership to the point that it no longer had sufficient funds to support full-time clergy or to carry out its mission to promote outreach, fellowship, learning, and growing together as a parish. The decline in the number of worshippers and income also resulted in it becoming extremely challenging to make much-needed repairs on the aging building.
The parish had become a “senior congregation” of faithful worshippers, clearly realizing—as one lady expressed—”we are older, small in numbers, and we cannot do the things we did in the past.” The once-vibrant church community was simply no longer able to involve themselves in leading and managing the many ministries they had enjoyed participating in during years gone by. Over the past three years, the church lost its Men’s Group, Craft Group, ACW, and other services and ministries.
In May 2023, the Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, Samuel Rose, appointed Archdeacon Greg Mercer and Archdeacon Edward Keeping to the Parish of St. Augustine on a shared half-time basis. At that time, the parish entered into a period of discernment to consider the situation facing them: fewer worshippers, a significantly decreased level of income, and minimal community engagement and outreach. Archdeacon Greg Mercer completed his tenure at the church in September 2024. The Bishop then appointed Archdeacon Keeping to a half-time position as Priest-in-Charge, and the discernment process continued.
In the fall of 2025, parishioners were informed of the parish’s situation, and following extensive discussion and feedback, the vestry made a motion to “write the Bishop and ask him to dissolve the parish.” This motion was accepted by the vestry, and a letter was forwarded to the Bishop. A congregational meeting was called with the Bishop present on Sunday, February 1st, 2026. The Bishop listened to members of the congregation as they shared that they were ready to move forward with closing the parish. The congregation accepted the recommendation of the vestry that the church be deconsecrated and secularized.
Following this meeting with Bishop Sam, a letter was shared with the congregation indicating that the church would hold its last service on Sunday, April 5th, 2026. Having accepted this decision, the vestry decided to hold a Closing Banquet of Thanksgiving on Saturday, April 11th, 2026. This was a time to acknowledge the parish’s journey from its humble beginnings, celebrating in Brinton Memorial School in Churchill Park in 1963, to the first service celebrated in the then newly constructed St. Augustine’s Church on March 4th, 1969, to the present time. The banquet was an opportunity for thanksgiving, praise, and celebration. All present acknowledged the church’s history, the faithful clergy, and the dedicated ministry of the laity and all who called St. Augustine’s their spiritual home for the past sixty-three years.
On Sunday, April 12th, 2026, the Parish of St. Augustine of Canterbury was officially closed and secularized. While this was a somber and sad occasion for many, parishioners are accepting of this decision, having participated in a prayerful and rational process of discernment. As parishioners move forward to find their new places of worship, they are assured—as stated in the Liturgy for the Closing and Secularization of a Consecrated Building—that they are “comforted by the knowledge that the presence of God is not tied to any place or building.”
