Bishop Blesses Octavius Catto Statue, St. John's Reopens, National Association of Episcopal Schools, Church Farm School 100 Years

The Rev. Andrew Andy Kline, left, who arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church in April as the new vicar, with Deacon Dennis Coleman, is ushering in a new "open door" era for the church, which had been shuttered for more than two years.

NORRISTOWN >> Joking that Sunday's communion service at 10:30 a.m. will mark a "soft opening," the new vicar of Norristown's oldest church admitted that he has no idea who will show up to worship.

"We have no congregation. Maybe some of the old congregation will come back, but we just don't know," said the affable Rev. Andrew "Andy" Kline, who arrived at St. John's Episcopal Church in April with Deacon Dennis Coleman to usher in a new era for a church that had been shuttered for more than two years.

Prior to the upcoming debut of Sunday services, the men initiated a Wednesday service at 12:15 p.m.

"We planted the flag and tried to figure out what we're going to do," said Kline, the former pastor at St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church in Norristown, who was directed by the Diocese of Pennsylvania's newly elected bishop, Daniel Gutierrez, to reopen and preside over the stately church at 23 E. Airy St.

"We haven't encouraged anyone to leave the church where they are and come here. That would be wrong. If you have a church where you're happy that's where you should be," Coleman said.

It was June 28, 2015, that a "final service," with former St. John's pastor, the Rev. Vernon Austin, had been celebrated, after a letter, signed by rector's warden Bill Kilgour and seven other members of the church's vestry, was sent to congregants stating that the vestry had voted 6-1 in favor of petitioning the Diocese of Pennsylvania to formally close the church.

Depleting finances and dwindling attendance were among the reasons the vestry gave for the closing.

Longtime member Cecil Bean estimated at the time that the church had about 35 members.

Kline said he's not concerned about numbers, at least not for the present.

"We just want to serve those who come," he said. "The decision to close the church, for whatever reasons they had, was made by the congregation, and by doing that they decided to go to church somewhere else. At that time, we had an interim bishop until we elected someone else. But with our new bishop, who is a man of great vision, he said, 'No, we don't close churches.' "

Like Kline, Coleman, formerly of St. Peter's Episcopalian Church in Phoenixville, is optimistic that "God will bring the people who are supposed to be here," especially given the message of commonality and accessibility that the church is hoping to convey.

"We want people to know that it's a new thing, so come and get in on the ground floor," Coleman said. "My ministry has always been to the hungry and homeless folks and I've been in Norristown and Phoenixville for quite a long time working with the shelters. One of the ideas for the service is ... you know how every church has a sign out front that all are welcome, but then the doors are locked? We now have the service for the people of Norristown and we really want to encourage anyone who would like to come and spend some time in prayer.

"We don't need to create ministries for the Latino population of Norristown," he added, "but we can support what exists, and that's why we're beginning to forge a relationship with ACLAMO. We have high hopes that the Latino community, which is within walking distance, will be here on a regular basis."

According to the church's website, St. John's was founded Dec. 17, 1812, with a charter granted Jan. 4, 1813, by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Ground was broken for the church later that year, and the building was constructed the following year. The church was consecrated on April 6, 1815, by the Rev. William White, first bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Having been founded nine months after the incorporation of the borough, St. John's is considered to be the oldest church in Norristown.

As the first church organized in Montgomery County following the American Revolution, at the time of its closing in 2015 St. John's had stood as the oldest church building in continuous use by an Episcopal congregation in the county.

Despite the decision to close the church in 2015, the well-known soup kitchen, now rechristened the Grace and Cecil Bean Soup Kitchen Inc., continued to operate, serving more than 600 meals a week.

"The day-to-day running of the soup kitchen had to become its own nonprofit because there was no other way to administer it," Kline explained, adding that the diocese owns half the block, including the Hospitality Center at 530 Church St.

"Every morning we have devotions there. In the '90s, Father Watson, who was here at the time, encouraged us to buy that Hospitality Center, and said that this should be a campus dedicated to the ministry of less advantaged folks," Kline said. "We are blessed to work with that population. Reopening the church is re-establishing and re-strengthening our partnerships with our two key partners, the soup kitchen and the Hospitality Center. They're both their own freestanding nonprofits."

Kline and Coleman are well aware they may be taking on a Herculean task but are passionate about opening up the church to a diverse group of folks.

"I tell people I understand all the reasons you don't go to church, so come to St. John's and don't do that," Coleman said, laughing.

Kline's vision is to create a "sanctuary of healing and reconciliation," he said.

"Healing has always been important for me in all the churches I've ever been, and we do healing prayer as much as we can. The idea is that if we can truly be open to the entire community then people who don't normally get together might be getting together on different levels and that would bring reconciliation. That's our vision statement," Kline said. "If we don't put the effort out nothing will change. The way we're branding ourselves is a house of prayer for all. So I see those doors always being open. Everybody is welcome ... and it's our mission to make people believe that."