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Many parishoners of St. James sent letters to Bishop Blair after hearing about the possibility of closing.
Our Church means different things to different people, but the common theme is that a small parish is "the right size".
"In small churches, more people know more people, and know more about more people, than in most larger congregations...When
compared to other kinds of caring groups, the small church is larger than it "ought to be." When church size is measured
by human relationships, the small church is the largest expression of the Christian faith!"
Carl Dudley in Making the Small Church Effective. (Nashville Abingdon Press, 1978), 48.
We continue to pray for our church family each day, asking God for spiritual guidance that we may continue to be a community
of faith.
St. James, as all churches are; is a foundation upon which a community is built. Our stories and reasons for
being here are diverse, but we share a common bond, which is that we are all a part of the St. James family and care
about the future of those who live in our community.
What life have you if you have not life together?
There is no life that is not in community,
And no community not lived in praise of God.
T. S. Eliot, "Choruses from 'The Rock,'" The Complete Poems and Plays,
1909-1950 (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1950), 101-2.
Click below to read the Decree of Suppression:
Decree of Supression
(it is worth noting that Liberty Ohio is south of Dayton. Perhaps he means Liberty Township? Throughout the
"consultation," the only territories that were mentioned to us were St. Andrew, Liberty Township and St. Mary, Millersville.
St. Joseph in Fremont was never mentioned.
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