Experts project an estimated 100,000 churches in the US will close or be repurposed over the next decade.
Many churches will be unable to escape this “tsunami” of closings — a grim trajectory one pastor described as, “Every year the pews are getting emptier and the collection plates getting lighter.”
I wish there were something like community centers to replace the void they’ll leave behind. As a kid we had rec centers with game rooms and courts and stuff. I remember getting a computer lab and thinking it was the coolest thing.
Obviously not the exact same anymore but something similar. I do believe people are becoming lonelier and isolated because of the pandemic and the rise of social media.
Yeah, it’d be awesome if these could be community centers. Local worshipers could still even request the space on occasion!
Replacing them with smoke shops and carwashes and cash advances or a Subway isn’t the net positive we’d hope for. =\
I’ve heard this referred to as a “third space”, a place not home nor work where people can hang out and not be hassled for not buying anything. Like parks and libraries.
They’re quickly disappearing. :(
I’ve seen some churches becoming breweries, I think it was in Germany or Sweden.
I like that idea, just a space people can exist together. I wouldn’t mind my tax dollars going to that.