Thursday, December 6, 2012

By The Way, What Happened To St Aidan's Des Moines?

In the process of tracking down Fr Nicholas Taylor, formerly of that parish, I've discovered that St Aidan's Des Moines, which is or was the home parish of former Archbishop Louis Falk, former Cathedral of the ACA Diocese of the Missouri Valley, is no longer listed as a parish on the ACA DOMV web site. Whether this is an oversight or whether there's a reason for it I simply don't know. Nor is there a current listing elsewhere on the web with a contact -- I wanted to confirm the dates that Taylor served as rector there, which so far parishes and dioceses in The Episcopal Church, at least, have been willing to provide when I've inquired about former TEC priests now in the ACA.

But to provide further context regarding the ACA, I note a review of the parish from about 2001:

St Aidan's is tiny, prefabricated worship construction on a well-tended lot, with mock-Tudor exterior. . . . [attendance was] probably around 40 in a church which may hold 60. . . . Apart from the server's ghastly running shoes, there is that matter of the imitation pre-formed strips that formed the reredos on which the crucifix is hung. I realize that this congregation possibly could not afford real polished wood, but for me the invasive influence of IKEA-dom seemed supremely unneccessary. If anyone from St Aidan's reads these words, please consider removing that stuff behind the altar, and hanging the crucifix directly on the wall.
And this was the mother church, the Bodhi-tree as it were, of the TAC. This estimate from the Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen of parishes potentially joining the Ordinariate (St Aidan's finally stayed out) puts its 2011 membership at 25. This is the actuality of the TAC and the ACA.

In July, Fr Chori Seraiah, who was apparently rector between 2010 and 2012, posted

My former parish St. Aidan's here in Des Moines has made its final decision and chosen not to join the Ordinariate after all. They will remain Anglican and Bp. Louis Falk is remaining with them (any questions about the parish itself should be directed to them and not to me).

However, as I've discovered, there doesn't seem to be any current way to contact them. If anyone can provide further information on the current status or fate of St Aidan's, I'd like to hear it. (Update: I did find a listing with a phone number on a yellow pages-style site. I called the number, which still works, and left a message asking about the parish's status with the ACA, but as yet haven't heard back.)

Partly to satisfy my own curiosity, I intend to expand my inquiries on this blog to cover the actual current state of the ACA and the TAC.