Porcupine United Church sells pews to make way for future

Timmins church selling its pews A northern Ontario church is selling its pews to money to create a safe environment in a time of COVID. Lydia Chubak reports.

TIMMINS — The Porcupine United Church is 83-years-old. Most of its parishioners are over the age of 60 and it's one of the reasons the board has decided to put its pews up for sale.

"The pews are very difficult to move back and forth, and people are using walkers…and with COVID and distancing, the pews weren't adequate for our small space to work so the congregation voted to get rid of the pews and open up the church," explained Lester Cudmore, chair of the Porcupine United Church board.

Money from the sale will go back to the church.  Cudmore says he loves the pews, and polished them when he was a boy, but says it's time to move forward.

"We have to let go of the past. We have to live in the present and look to the future. And if we don't look to the future, churches are all going to disappear," said Cudmore.

Paster Brynn Carson was planning to meet with her congregation this Sunday, but due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the region, services are back online.  Still, she remains optimistic.

"Our faith does realize that we are not alone--that as a matter of fact--is the thought of the day that God is always with us,” said Carson.

“So I think the fact we know that we're not alone--that we are faithful stewards not only of our finance but also of our building and of our programs that we run within the church, that in itself is a very positive aspect."

She's excited about the church's future.  Other upgrades include:  making the washrooms accessible and installing chair lifts.

They also plan to turn this church into more of a community centre.

It's already a meeting place for several local groups, and say seniors in the area need a place they can use that's close to their homes.