Historic Shelburne church property on real estate market
'From a church point of view, God didn't want us spending any more money on a building'
The historic Trinity United Church property in downtown Shelburne is for sale.
Listed for $279,000, the church building and hall “is one of the most recognizable buildings in downtown Shelburne,” reads the real estate listing.
The Trinity United Church building was constructed in 1891, replacing a smaller church built in 1805 that was located just up the hill. The church hall was built in the 1950s.
“A beautiful, shingle-clad, wood-framed structure sitting on a granite block foundation, the church's steeply pitched gable roof, stained glass windows, and towering steeple speak to the grandeur of the past," reads a description. "The wheel-chair accessible hall includes a large main room, commercial kitchen, stage, meeting room and washroom. The lower level consists of nine large classrooms, two washrooms, and more space for storage. A short walk from the historic waterfront, restaurants, museums, shopping, and entertainment. This amazing property has many opportunities and endless potential.”
The Shelburne Pastoral Charge made the difficult decision to sell the property several months ago.
“We couldn't honour the building anymore. We couldn't maintain it,” said Sandra Walsh, administrative assistant for the Shelburne Pastoral Charge in an interview. “The size of the church and hall is too much for the congregation to manage financially, but person-wise too."
“Even though the building is not going to be ours anymore, our congregation is still going to be active,” added Walsh. “From a church point of view, God didn't want us spending any more money on a building. It was time to put money into people and the community and not to try to keep this building that is way too much for us to keep going.”
The last service at Trinity United was the Palm Sunday service on March 28, where long-time music director and organist Bill Smith, who retired last year, was recognized.
“I think the big thing Trinity did was its music ministry,” said Walsh. “Our music director and organist Bill Smith, between him and his mother they have over 70 years of music ministry. We had a choir, a handheld bell choir, there used to be a junior choir when we had a lot of kids and Bill also led the Shelburne Festival Choir… music ministry is certainly part of the church that was really important to people.”
Walsh said the congregation will still be able to meet at the Lower Ohio Union Church in Ohio. “We've been sharing services. In Ohio, there have been services since that church was built. There used to be an Ohio service and a town service so now we're just all going to meet up in Ohio,” she said, adding given congregation numbers about 30 people, “that church is going to fit just perfectly.”
One thing Trinity United became known for in the community for was its soup lunches, noted Walsh. “We used to do a lot of different ones, spring soup lunches, planked salmon, harvest soup lunches. A big project we did in the last 10 years our congregation with a lot of support from the community we sponsored one the Syrian families that are still in town and doing quite well.”
Walsh said the congregation is still going to try to do those things. "We are just going to find a new home for them whether we start doing them in Ohio or approach one of the other churches (to) use their hall. We still plan to be active. We just have to find a new way to be active.”
The Shelburne Pastoral Charge has kept the manse in town so it has an office. It also participates in outreach programs with the other churches in Shelburne, including an emergency fund where collectively, with the other churches, people needing help with groceries, heat and electric bills can receive assistance.
Since being listed on the real estate market in midMarch, the property has attracted some interest. “But we have no idea what's going to happen to it,” Walsh said. “We are hoping whoever takes it on can make good use of the space. Everybody has a different vision of what it could be. We just hope it will be something the community can take some pride in.”