SF’s 167-Year Old Church Risks Closure
Sadly, SFGate shared the news that Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco’s oldest church (and California’s oldest cathedral), is in danger of closing.
The church as stood at the corner of Grant and California for the past 167 years, but soon may have to shut its doors.
As a result of the ongoing pandemic and forced closures, the cathedral’s funding has dropped. Offerings made to the church every weekend have plummeted, half of which usually come from tourists.
Recently, the church had to close its preschool and the bookstore, and over 20 staff were let go including two priests.
The church has set up a GoFundMe to help with their survival.
Their GoFundMe page, says the Cathedral is in desperate need of infrastructure repair, and owes $250,000 in insurance payments. They’ve raised over $50,000 thus far.