Anglican congregation returns to Cranberry Township
CRANBERRY TWP — A Cranberry Township church and its parishioners have a new home following a split from its parent diocese.
The All Saints Anglican Church established itself after splitting from the Episcopal Diocese in 2008, a move that left the congregation in search of a permanent location to host services.
The church, formerly known as St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, began staging services led by the Rev. Paul Cooper Jan. 5 at 1510 Haine School Road.
“This is a homecoming for us because we are very happy to be back in Cranberry Township,” Cooper said. “We are starting over in a way and we are not afraid of that.”
According to Cooper, the congregation lost the building where St. Christopher's members worshipped following a dispute over Scriptural authority and doctrine with the Episcopal Diocese.
Cooper said the Episcopal Diocese began to lean toward the left on certain issues, and his church tended to be more conservative.
The church decided of its own accord to leave the Episcopal Diocese and started a new Anglican Church in Mars in 2010 at the former home of St. Kilian, a Roman Catholic Church, on Sheraton Drive, and held worship ceremonies there until December 2013.
“St. Kilian's was delighted to have us there on Sunday mornings,” Cooper said. “They were very generous and welcoming.”
Cooper, who has been with the church since December 2000, added it was a hardship for the congregation to travel to Mars because a majority of the congregation was from Cranberry Township, and the new location helped alleviate that burden.
“We made it and that is a very happy thing,” Cooper said. “We're in a place now where we can be who we are and take a neighborhood identity.”
Cooper said one of the toughest parts of the move was getting into patterns because people are settlers and generally not pioneers — and moving a congregation multiple times over five years did not help.
The Rev. Charles Bober of St. Kilian Parish said the Anglican Church members were good neighbors and their presence was a great experience.
“We are very happy to have hosted them,” Bober said. “The people I met were very good people and I wish them well.”
The new Haine School Road location was the former home of the Crossroads Community Church.
All Saints church officials plan to buy the property from Crossroads when their lease expires in early June.
Cooper said the church hopes to expand the facility immediately after purchase to facilitate a community meeting place.
Zachary P. Hubbard, who has been a member of All Saints for more than a year, said there was a great deal of anticipation of the return to the Cranberry Township community.
Hubbard said the doors to the community are open and encouraged new people to come to the church.
