In an exciting move, the OSMTJ-USA Grand Priory has purchased a castle-like church in Canaan, Connecticut, to be their National Headquarters. Click the link below to read the article from The San Francisco Chronicle:
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Knights Templar purchase Christ Episcopal Church in CanaanBY RUTH EPSTEIN Republican-AmericanJune 28, 20191The former Christ Church Episcopal on Main Street in Canaan has been sold and will become Castle Church Canaan. Ruth Epstein Republican-American The former Christ Church Episcopal on Main Street in Canaan has been sold and will become Castle Church Canaan. Ruth Epstein/Republican-AmericanCANAAN — Christ Episcopal Church has been sold.
The stately stone building and its adjacent bell tower, which have sat prominently
on a rise on Main Street since 1846, once again will be home to a religious order.
Castle Church Canaan purchased the property this week as its national headquarters. According to the land transfer at the town clerk’s office, the price was $100,000. The sale went from the Episcopal Church to the Mission Society of Connecticut to the Knights Templar.
The church has stood vacant since 2012, when it closed due to declining membership. Many congregants who had attended the church for years — some whose families went back generations — were saddened by the move.
Tears flowed at the final Sunday service on Sept. 10, 2012, when Connecticut Episcopal Bishop Laura Ahrens delivered the final sermon.
Bryant Jones, the national leader of the Knights of Templar, said it is a national group that is ecumenical, meaning open to all denominations of Christians.
The members have been searching for a headquarters, and because most of them are from the New York-New England area, Canaan was the perfect choice, he said. They also were enticed by the building’s history.
It […]