St. Paul's members give up property rather than fight

Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009
By Sue Nowicki

Retired pediatrician Doug Chadwick remembers the first service at St. Paul's Church when it opened in Modesto. It was raining on that Christmas Eve in 1971 and the parking lot was unpaved, "just part of a field. It was very muddy. One man guided us by flashlight, walking over boards so we can get in."

No one in that service could imagine that 37-plus years later, most of the congregation would walk away from the multimillion-dollar church on Oakdale Road just south of Briggsmore Avenue. But the split between Episcopals and Anglicans has grown so wide and litigious, Chadwick and others will do just that.

Their last service at St. Paul's will be held as usual two Sundays from now, on June 28. Their next service, on July 5, will be as Wellspring Anglican Church in the old J.S. West building in downtown Modesto. the rest