What Happens to Closed Churches


It is quite obvious the rate of loss in Christian numbers is somewhere between steady and rising. There is an estimate that a record 15,000 churches will close this year. That is, of course, many every day. A church, or a denomination, does not exist because "what we believe is right." It exists because there is enough revenue to pay its expenses. 

Putting the business aspect in perspective, 15,000 closed a year is not exceptional. Many businesses close every day. Former churches are bulldozed to the ground just like former businesses and houses.

Readers know churches are different than run-of-the-mill businesses. Religion spills over into our politics and lives. When Christian numbers are rising many other things change. When numbers are falling, same thing. 

An overview of the entire tiny industry of church closing appeared in the long-standing publication, Christianity Today. I pay for a subscription so you may find a paywall to the link. According to realtors who sell a lot of church buildings, about 1/3 of them are purchased by other religious groups who can afford to buy a church building. The other 2/3 are bought for other uses, often I suppose demolished. The link points out that sometimes, maybe often, the new owners cannot keep the building and it is sold again. There is an example of one bought by a bar owner who later sold it to another church. 

All of this got me to remembering the folklore around repurposed church buildings. The Thanksgiving season recycles singer Arlo Guthrie's famous song, Thanksgiving Massacre, where the setting of the story is a former church. The site of The Grand Old Opry was originally a mega church. 

The link acknowledges that even though new churches are started every week, there are some locations where churches are so packed they need to expand and some old churches are bought by others, church attendance and membership is declining. If you would like to buy one there are opportunities.  A church steeple could hold a wind turbine. 

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