Thousands of Churches Will Likely Close Down. What Happens to All That Real Estate?

credit:

"If experts were predicting that 100,000 library buildings were going to be empty in small and large communities, someone would probably sit up and take notice," Religion News Service quotes the Rev.

Mark Elsdon as saying.

"We are not getting the same response when we say that 100,000 churches are going to close."

Elsdon is the editor of Gone for Good?: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition, a book of essays about the future of houses of worship.

Elsdon says the 100,000 figure is an estimate based on trends in worship attendance.

Those who go to church prefer to be part of large congregations, flocking to packed-out megachurches while driving by a host of struggling congregations with 60 people or fewer.

There is little data about how many churches close or what happens to houses of worship when they are no longer needed by a congregation.

But even a half or a quarter of that number, Elsdon says, would be significant.

"The bottom line is that there are fewer and fewer people identifying as Christians and attending traditional church activities in church buildings," Elsdon said earlier this year at an event introducing his book.

"Therefore, there are far more church buildings today than will be viable or needed in the future."

The Read the Entire Article

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

Who Serves Humanity &Amp; Strives to Make the World a Better Place?
Foundation: Indianapolis Foundation

Lynne Arriale's new album, Being Human, is all about "people who exemplify Passion, courage, love, curiosity, and other human qualities," the Florida pianist tells Rita Kohn of the Indianapolis...more

As Some Question Higher Ed'S Value, Colleges Work To Fix The 'Time Trap'

"Time-trap thinking seems logical," writes Lori Carrell in the Los Angeles Times, "but it's short-sighted: Degrees mean real earning power and career growth, and many students do work during...more

Empowering Music Education: Insights from South Australia

Kids who learn to play musical instruments are more likely to be successful later in life, according to a new survey out of Australia. The survey of 115 primary school teachers in South Australia...more

Lon Hodge Headed for Vets Creative Arts Fest in Denver in Gulf Shores &Amp; Orange Beach

A Vietnam veteran from Alabama has won first place in a creative writing competition for his poem about his father's death from injuries in the war, and second place for his poem about his service...more

Bowman Celebrates Poets and Artists

"Every story of redemption is a story of hope and struggle. Through our hardest times, we discover things about ourselves that we never knew." That was the introduction to The Redemption of...more

Santa Barbara Public Library Receives Library Innovation Lab Grant Award

"We strongly believe in a Library that serves every member of our community, and we thank California Humanities for recognizing our talented and diverse Library staff." Those are the words of...more

Leaders in Sustainability Share Their Perspectives on the Future of Workplace Wellness as ...

During the Covid-19 virus, many businesses took a hard look at how they do business and realized they needed to do more to attract and retain top talent, Forbes reports. According to a report...more

Fidogreen, an Alternative to Esg Projects Was Launched

Italian crowdfunding site Ener2Crowd has just launched a new service called FidoGreen, which it says is the first "sustainable finance platform for sustainable investments," Quartz...more

This Working Mom Overcame Decades of Employment Bias to Become The Ceo of Her ...

"A lack of paid leave, exorbitant childcare costs, and discrimination made my early career difficult at best, and for the majority of Americans, makes it nearly impossible to have a family," writes...more

Creativity and Innovation Highlighted during Huskie Trek Talks

Northern Illinois University's first-ever "Huskie Trek Talks: Ideas in Motion"a series of one-on-one "meet-and-greets" that the school says was designed "to foster a community of innovators driven...more