Here is a picture of the former Christ Church (Episcopal) in downtown Baltimore. It is an absolutely stunning church that has three Tiffany windows, and other stained glass windows imported from England. There are huge wood carved angels going down each side of the nave up near the clerestory windows. The pulpit is intricately carved with all of these tiny, medieval looking figures. The floor has intricate mosaics all over it. It is a masterpiece of a building. Apparently it was once pretty anglo-catholic. My former spiritual director who was quite spikey used to preach there every once in a while when he was a military chaplain. The church's rector at the time, I understand, eventually went to Rome after ECUSA began ordaining women, but not after letting the congregation die, and running through the various endowments the church had by constantly throwing lavish parties. My feeling on priests like that: I don't care how "orthodox" they are, or how anglo-catholic they are... who needs lazy people like them. I presume this priest - now a Roman priest, as he was never married - is presently busy destroying some Roman Catholic parish somewhere out there. Eventually the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland sold the building in the 80's.
It is now called the "New Refuge Deliverance Cathedral", and it is completely falling apart. Quite sad. I guess they do not have the money to properly maintain the building. Honestly, I don't know why groups like these buy buildings like this when they can't maintain them! So year after year it just continues to rot. The most intriguing thing about the group there now is that they use all of this catholic terminology for their staffs' titles, and their pastor is called: "Her Eminence: Archbishop Naomi DuRant". They even make up such interesting titles as "co-Archdeacon". I can only figure that the "archbishop" must have an Anglican or Roman background, even though the church itself was organized as a Holiness church. Anyway, it all seems pretty weird to me... but what do I know.
Maybe one day churches like this will become Anglican churches once again, and the Holy Sacrifice will once again be offered on the altars within these grand edifaces. Maybe one day we will be able to buy back buildings like this in order to minister to people in the cities. But until then, they will continue to sit and decay.
