“Oh, no, no, the popularity of our priests and our message isn't waning, it's just that their appeal has become more selective”

The Episcopal Diocese goes land developer

Episcopal Church plans to demolish Darien church, build four homes

DARIEN — The Episcopal Church of Connecticut plans to demolish an inactive church at 471 Mansfield Ave. and subdivide the property into four single-family home lots, according to plans expected to be submitted to the town this spring.

The Missionary Society of Connecticut, which owns the property, plans to submit a formal application to Darien’s Planning & Zoning Commission by spring, said Rosanna Rosado, the church’s canon for finance and operations.

The church stopped holding worship services at the Darien location in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when services moved online. [And haven’t returned in six years — just sayin’. Ed]

“We have a vibrant Episcopal community in the Fairfield County region,” Rosado said. “We have 30-plus communities of Episcopal churches," so members in Darien found other communities to worship in, she said.

Christian Charity

In addition to the church building, the property includes two single-family homes and a garage. One of the homes is currently rented to a family that helps maintain the property, Rosado said.

If the redevelopment plan is approved, the homes would also be demolished and the family would have to move, , Rosado said. 

(Somewhat related update) AI is getting scary good.

The article published in CT Insider and linked to here included a picture of the church as it exists today. I uploaded that to ChatGPT and gave it the following prompt: “Using this abandoned church as a model, show the building being razed with heavy equipment, perhaps by one of those claw-armed wreckers”. AI took it from there, tearing off the facade, piling rubble around the base, and even thought to add a traffic cone and runoff screening. Here’s the original photo: compare it with the one AI created — looking at the “enhanced” photo, I’d easily believe that the church is already in the process of being torn down.