Visit any large city in the East and some the most impressive church structures you see will be Episcopal. But the congregations who frequent those edifices are graying and dwindling. Without heavy endowments, those old churches would not be able to keep their doors open. In Pittsburgh, one gorgeous stone church has been converted into a restaurant/brewery (The Church Brew Works). These old churches will be nothing but stones around the corporation's neck.
The action is in the suburbs, where newer, more alive churches have been started. Those newer churches are the ones located on valuable property which the corporation will fight for. Also overseas in poorer countries, it would be a crime for those congregations who decide to split to lose their property (in Africa, e.g.).
We need to pray for our kindred in Christ who find themselves in a very difficult situation because of the direction this convention is taking. Their paths will not be easy ones.
Not to dispute the spirit of what you wrote, but The Church Brew Works was a Catholic Church - St. John the Baptist. Been there...
In New Haven, Connecticut, the beautiful church I was baptized in is now a "gentleman's club"
Very sad!!
There is only one downtown church that is thriving in Pittsburgh. It's an ELCA church.
Don't underestimate the creativity of the interior decorators who are taking over TEC(The Episcopal Church, their new official name). Add some ferns, a gourmet kitchen, a few massage tables and some hot tubs, and you have a very toney urban 'members only' bath-house.
Converting a liberal Episcopalian church into a brewary has got to put a smile on God's face! Wish it would happen more often.