This is the final segment of a three-part series covering the history and impending closure of St John's Episcopal Church.

Parishioners of St John's Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook will be gathering for their final Eucharist next week. The church's vestry decided earlier this year to close the doors of 5 Washington Avenue after nearly 150 years of services.

Regular Sunday services will continue through September 3, at 9:30 am. A formal closing Eucharist has been scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, September 7, at 7.

Recently, the church's members and leadership have been looking at both its history and its future. The Reverend Mark Moore looks back with pride at the small parish's offerings to the community.

The church had been threatened with closure eight years ago, around the same time that Rev Moore arrived, but parishioners fought back. They went before the Episcopal Church of Connecticut (ECCT) and offered multiple reasons why the diocese should rethink its consideration of closing one of Newtown's oldest churches.

The diocese listened, and St John's was given a reprieve. Its membership has remained small, but dedicated.

"At one time I would have thought a congregation of this size could not possibly, ever be a viable parish, even for a single year," Rev Moore admitted in mid-August. He has changed that opinion, however.

"One thing I've learned is that so much of it is the people," he continued. "One of the things about this place is that all the people who attend regularly are vital Christians whose faith very much is alive," Rev Moore said August 14. He and a few others sat down after that morning's worship service to talk about their church. "There is a lot of outreach into the community.

"We are part of the town. We are visible," he added, "worshipping every Sunday. We are witness to the love of God in this place."

St John's has for many years offered Christmas Eve services, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Suppers, potluck suppers, and other special events that have brought parish members and town residents together regularly, he said.

Rev Moore believes "one of the reasons why God maintained this parish" was 12/14. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School led people around the world to seek houses of worship near the school.

Churches have always been a place of refuge, a place where people seek peace and calmness.

"We are one of just two churches with a Sandy Hook address," Rev Moore said. St John's property abuts a western portion of the school property. The other church within Sandy Hook proper is Newtown United Methodist Church, around a corner and less than 1,000 feet away from St John's.

"We got so much attention after that day. I left my cellphone number on the church's voicemail," he added. "I felt it was important for people to be able to reach me."

And they did. Rev Moore said he heard from people in 40-45 states in the aftermath of the school shooting.

"People just wanted to tell us they were praying with us, and for us," he said.

JoAnn Hornak remembers a call that was placed to the church office on December 15, 2012. St John's opened for a special memorial service that morning, and its pews quickly filled with those seeking solace and comfort.

"I picked up the phone and we had received a call from Glasgow, Scotland," Ms Hornak said. "Of course they went through their own experience, and this was a firefighter, expressing his condolences, and letting us know that we were in their hearts and prayers.

"People needed to do something at times like that. They need to speak, or contact, or send something," she said. "It felt good - if I can put it that way - that we were able to be a point of contact for people during a time like that. So many people poured out their hearts."

Rev Moore agreed on both points.

"This tiny, really, really tiny church, in some ways, was able to speak to, and touch people around the world," he said. Rev Moore made the decision to allow the media into his church that Saturday morning to show the world the strength he was already seeing among residents and visitors.

"I wanted people to see that we were responding, and we were alive and well, even though that terrible situation," he said.

The pastor is proud that his church was able to be there for residents and strangers during Newtown's darkest hours.

"We have been able to survive 3½ years after that," he said. "I believe the message is this: God is alive in this place. Even in this horrible devastation, He has been alive in this place."

Rock Of Angels

Three years ago, a number of St John's members and a few town residents arranged to have a sculpture, called Rock of Angels, installed in the small field behind St John's Church. The 10-foot by 4-foot stone sculpture traveled from Maine to Sandy Hook in August 2013.

Envisioned by Florida resident Rich Gray and presented to Newtown by craftspeople and residents of Maine, the sculpture honors each of the 26 children and women slain at SHES.

Following the shooting, town officials had repeatedly asked that those who wanted to send large physicals gifts to honor those who had been killed - sculpture, benches, bells, and other large-scale items that would be put on permanent display somewhere - wait on those wishes. A formal permanent memorial is being worked on by a town commission, but something about the proposed Rock of Angels struck a chord with a number of people. So the private group moved forward, and welcomed the 22,000-pound monument onto the church property.

With the announcement of St John's closure, another question arose: What would happen to the sculpture?

Cheryl Moulthrop, a lifelong member of St John's, said the church vestry earlier this year asked for permission to donate Rock of Angels to the Town of Newtown.

"The Diocese approved our request," Mrs Moulthrop said August 12. "We are also giving the property it sits on. We felt it would be a good buffer."

The church would also like, according to Mrs Moulthrop, to donate the upper part of the church's rear driveway to the town, which would then provide public parking for those visiting the memorial.

First Selectman Pat Llodra acknowledged this week that the church is taking steps to donate Rock of Angels. Mrs Llodra has heard from ECCT concerning the interest of St John's to donate the memorial, "and about a third of an acre behind the church," she said August 30.

Mrs Llodra announced during the Board of Selectmen meeting on August 15 what she had heard from St John's.

"It's a very generous, very kind, and thoughtful offering to the Town of Newtown," Mrs Llodra also said this week.

No formal action has been taken yet, she stressed.

"There are more actions to be done by the Diocese," she said. "It's at the very beginning stages; there has been no decision made."

The diocese is planning to sell the church, according to St John's Warden Bruce Moulthrop.

"They have said they will not sell to the person with the most amount of money to offer," he said August 12. "They want to sell to who will do the best for the community.

"They want what's best for the community, but they also want fair market value," he added.

Making Do, Getting Creative

Its membership may be small - the Moulthrops estimate there are currently five active families and a handful of individuals who regularly attend services - but there is a sense of resilience and tenacity among those who call St John's Episcopal Church their religious home.

Members recently recalled a period when the church did not have a formal pastor.

The Reverend Rick Losch led the church during the early to mid-1960s, followed by the Reverend Joan Horwitt, who arrived in 1982.

"He drew a lot of families during his time here," Mrs Moulthrop said, "and Joan started FAITH Food Pantry." Until its recent relocation to Tier One at 31 Pecks Lane, FAITH was located in the basement of St John's, and since 1983 has helped residents of Newtown put food on their table regardless of religious affiliation (or lack of). It has been a non-ecumenical offering that counts on the generosity of residents for donations, and volunteers to organize and fill bags for those asking for some help.

After Rev Horwitt moved on in 1987, St John's went into a regional ministry.

"We went through interim ministers for a while, and lost people then," JoAnn Hornak said. "It was difficult because we shared resources, and the churches were very spread out."

There were even Sundays when Ms Hornak was the one leading the morning prayers.

"People were very patient," she said, smiling.

The congregation's size has fluctuated over the years.

"It has not been a very large congregation for a very long time," said Ms Hornak, who joined in 1987. "We've gone up, we've gone down, and we've just survived.

"There is something, and I think it's divine, I really do," she continued. "I think it's divine intervention that keeps this core group of people going."

The transitional period for St John's continued until the arrival of Rev Moore in 2008.

"We were fortunate to have Father Mark arrive, who has truly been a blessing for this church," Ms Hornak said. "I will definitely miss the spiritual direction I have found here. I think about my faith during the week because of Father Mark's sermons."

In addition to working through a period without steady leadership, St John's members laughed on August 14 when they thought back to a short time when worship service music was a little less than traditional.

Karen Springer has been the church's organist for the past seven years. She is joined on Sundays by Carl Dalzell on recorder, Cecilia Dalzell on guitar and vocals, and Peter Ruscoe on guitar.

"The ensemble has been priceless," she said.

Prior to the ensemble's formation, Ms Hornak said, the church was without an organist "for a long time."

To work around that, one member did what she could: Cecelia Dalzell carried music into the church each week.

"I brought my boom box in each week, with taped music," she said, drawing laughter from those seated around her.

Most church music is so old it is out of copyright protections, Mrs Dalzell explained.

"There is an organist in Australia who has been recording the tunes, played on the organ very nicely, so I was able to bring music in that way," she said.

"Hey, it worked," her husband said.

Rev Mark Moore appreciated the effort, he said, but added that one of the first things he announced upon his arrival was that a live ensemble was needed.

Ms Springer has been grateful to have the opportunity to share her time and talent, and for those who have worked with her.

"They have all made such a contribution," she said. "They've all gone out of their way to share their gifts."

Like most, Ms Springer is unsure what she will do after the final Eucharist is celebrated at St John's. She is looking to for a new position, she said, another opportunity to put her master's degree in organ to good use.

Mr Ruscoe, who attended Christ Church in Redding before moving to Newtown in 2010, may go back there.

Mrs Dalzell may take some time, she said, to just visit other churches, "to see what's out there in the whole wide world of religion."

Rev Moore, who has a full-time job as a legal aid attorney, said he would be open to another assignment.

Looking around the table at her fellow Episcopalians recently, JoAnn Hornak was the only one who was able to share a definite answer.

"We've talked about becoming groupies," she said, drawing laughter. "We'll be following Father Mark."