Amazing. Grace Episcopal and Franklin's St. John's Consider Merger

Above, Grace Episcopal Church in North Attleboro

The current age is not being kind some religious congregations. Trapped between the forces of declining membership and the cost of maintaining properties, church closures and congregation mergers are a fact of life.

According to a newsletter shared with Observer, that's what may be happening with Grace Episcopal Church, 104 North Washington Street,  North Attleboro, which has a church building that is no longer safe to use and  St. John's Episcopal Church on Pleasant Street in Franklin, a more modern structure but also one that houses a somewhat diminished congregation.

The two already share a minister, Rev. Kathy McAdam. In the newsletter addressed to the congregants of Grace, McAdam noted, that exploratory conversations are also underway with All Saints' in Attleboro.

Grace would require some $2 million to make the building usable again, she noted.