St. Alban’s congregation files protest of sale, conversion

LYNN – Worshippers at a small East Lynn church hope paperwork filed a half century ago will keep St. Alban’s Church from being sold and converted to a child care center.Congregation members at the Waitt Avenue church off Eastern Avenue filed an affidavit in the Southern Essex Registry of Deeds protesting the sale and underscoring language in a 1962 trust document stating that “the advantage of the congregation” must be weighed when the Episcopal diocese considers future plans for the church.Lynn Economic Opportunity and the Episcopal Diocese of Boston are negotiating LEO’s purchase of the church to help the local agency expand child care services.”No deal has been made, but the Diocese is negotiating with the intention of selling the property and working with the congregation to provide administrative and pastoral support,” Diocesan spokeswoman Tracy Sukraw said last week.The affidavit filed by St. Alban’s senior warden Barbara Clayton claims the Diocese notified congregation members of sale plans but, “At no time did the Trustee (of the Diocese) consult with the Church or any of its members.””The decision of the Trustee will leave the congregation homeless, as well as many others, including the AA and a Spanish-American church group,” the affidavit stated.LEO serves 350 children at centers located downtown, in West Lynn and in Lake Shore United Methodist Church, but Director John Mogielnicki last month estimated 700 more children need services.The affidavit also states church members voted “unanimously not to have the property conveyed or in any manner encumbered.”St. Alban’s is the name given to the former All Saints Episcopal Church on Waitt Avenue in 1975 when All Saints and Church of the Incarnation merged and combined 300 congregation members. St. Alban’s is classified by the Diocese as a mission congregation, meaning it is under direct Diocesan oversight.