“Churches: A Time to Die – Hope for New Life” is a deeply personal and honest reflection on faith, loss, and renewal. In it, Anthony Gifford looks back on his journey through the church, from being raised within its walls to becoming an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada during the hopeful 1970s. Those early years were alive with questions and possibilities. But over time, Anthony watched that openness fade, replaced by institutions more focused on preservation than growth. After twenty years in ministry, he stepped away, realizing the spirit that had once inspired him was stifled by the structures meant to nurture it.

By 2016, after a long recovery from depression, Anthony returned to writing, driven by a clear conviction: for something new to live, something old must first die. Drawing on history and faith, he explores how the Church and the human spirit move in birth, decline, and renewal cycles.

In this thoughtful and impudent book, Anthony Gifford challenges the idea that churches must survive at all costs. Instead, he suggests that letting go may be the only way for faith to breathe again. It’s not a rejection of God, but a call to rediscover the living Spirit that still moves beyond the walls.