With few parishioners, historic Chicago Episcopal church is closing

11/30/2011
By BEN MEYERSON

After nearly 130 years as one of the Near West Side’s richest landmarks, the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany is closing its doors.

The massive structure at 201 S. Ashland Ave. had a congregation that dwindled down to almost nothing. Only five to seven people were showing up every Sunday, and what few parishioners remained came to the decision in early November that it wasn’t sustainable to keep the building open.

With such a small group of parishioners, it was impossible to fill the coffers just to meet the basic needs of the church, according to one of the congregation’s leaders, Nikki Shields.

“While the Episcopal Diocese has been extraordinarily generous over the years, we’re faced with huge expenses just to keep the heating system up,” Shields said. “We’re going to disperse as a congregation and go our own ways.”

Indeed, in its last year, the church couldn’t even afford to keep a pastor in the church, and parted with its former leader, Rev. Meigan Cameron, in January. Instead, they went down the little-tried path of being a self-led congregation. the rest