34 replies to this topic

[sjdawg]

Storm Rider, on 03 May 2012 - 07:42 AM, said:

You have not had the pleasure of reading the same silliness that I have in the past.  Would you actually be surprised that this type of drivel is said?  Stop pulling my leg!

So some so called anti-mormon actually said "  whole church buildings are sitting vacant on Sundays"

I'd like to see that thread

[Pa Pa]

sjdawg, on 04 May 2012 - 07:12 AM, said:

So some so called anti-mormon actually said "  whole church buildings are sitting vacant on Sundays"

I'd like to see that thread

You never will, unless it has been sold.

[sjdawg]

Pa Pa, on 04 May 2012 - 10:25 AM, said:

You never will, unless it has been sold.

I don't know what that means.

[calmoriah]

I think Pa Pa misunderstood you...he was saying, I think, that you will never see an LDS Church vacant on Sunday unless it has been sold, not replying to seeing a thread that makes this claim.

[Buzzard]

We build a lot of churches, every now and then circumstances combine to empty one. I have known of two. One was across the street from a "Indian High School". When the government compelled Sunday attendance for the students boarded there, it was full. On the Sunday after mandatory attendance was rescinded, it was quite a bit emptier. Today a YSA ward meets there, but the High School students who wish to attend church go to a ward a mile or so down the road.
And a branch where I served in Belgium had it's own meetinghouse, but was consolidated with another ward that had undergone an apostasy (The bishop's wife cheated on him, about half the ward went inactive).
Considering the number of chapels I have seen constructed in my lifetime, it's not a bad ratio.

[Nathair]

In my hometown, there is an empty chapel because a larger, more modern one was built to replace it.  I was one of the first two priests to bless the sacrament in the new building.

[CQUIRK]

Off the subject, The Association of Religion Data Archives has already put up the 2010 religious stats for each state and individual counties.

http://www.thearda.c...32&county=01001

[ERayR]

Nathair, on 04 May 2012 - 07:53 PM, said:

In my hometown, there is an empty chapel because a larger, more modern one was built to replace it.  I was one of the first two priests to bless the sacrament in the new building.

How long has it been empty?  It has been my experience that when the church builds a new chapel to replace an outdated one they sell the old one.  Over the years I know of two that have been purchased and turned into residences and one was sold to a different denomination.  How about having a home with a chapel size living room and a basketball court?

[Nathair]

ERayR, on 05 May 2012 - 04:57 PM, said:

How long has it been empty?  It has been my experience that when the church builds a new chapel to replace an outdated one they sell the old one.  Over the years I know of two that have been purchased and turned into residences and one was sold to a different denomination.  How about having a home with a chapel size living room and a basketball court?

My dad's company bought it and use it for storage.  It's still in the same condition.  No court, it is really old and not built on a standard plan.  We still think of it as the old church.
Edit to add:  To somebody not in the know, it might look like it was simply an empty church.

Edited by Nathair, 06 May 2012 - 01:03 AM.

[ERayR]

Nathair, on 06 May 2012 - 12:42 AM, said:

My dad's company bought it and use it for storage.  It's still in the same condition.  No court, it is really old and not built on a standard plan.  We still think of it as the old church.
Edit to add:  To somebody not in the know, it might look like it was simply an empty church.

Your post led me to think the church was just leaving is sit empty.  My experience is that idle properties are left unless there is some future plan for it.

Edited by ERayR, 07 May 2012 - 08:16 AM.

[cdowis]

CQUIRK, on 05 May 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

Off the subject, The Association of Religion Data Archives has already put up the 2010 religious stats for each state and individual counties.

http://www.thearda.c...32&county=01001

Thanks very much.  Very interesting.

From 2000 to 2010 in the state of Georgia, the growth of the LDS church was 77%, Catholics 59%, and the Southern Baptists 2%.

Of course, the SB is well-established with 39k adherents, and the growth of the RCC to a total of 220k, the largest group in Georgia, was driven by the influx of hispanics during the last decade.  The LDS church was 33K.

Some surprises -- the SBC and LDS church are close in total membership, but the total Protestants are about 70k.  In the next decade we could see the church surpassing the SBC.  I did not realize that the RCC is the largest church, but this may reflect the number of practicing vs normative Catholics.

In my particular county, the church grew from one branch with a rented a building, and now has four wards and a Spanish branch, with two buildings.  The new pair of elders in our ward are really doing great.

Edited by cdowis, 07 May 2012 - 11:07 AM.

[Pa Pa]

sjdawg, on 04 May 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

I don't know what that means.

We do sell building sometimes...sometimes to other churches.

[Pa Pa]

calmoriah, on 04 May 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

I think Pa Pa misunderstood you...he was saying, I think, that you will never see an LDS Church vacant on Sunday unless it has been sold, not replying to seeing a thread that makes this claim.

Pa Pa misunderstand something...high probability.

[Nathair]

ERayR, on 07 May 2012 - 08:15 AM, said:

Your post led me to think the church was just leaving is sit empty.  My experience is that idle properties are left unless there is some future plan for it.

I apologize for my lack of clarity, I was trying to make the point that chapel buildings sometimes are no longer used as such because of growth, not loss.  

[calmoriah]

Nathair, on 07 May 2012 - 01:30 PM, said:

I apologize for my lack of clarity, I was trying to make the point that chapel buildings sometimes are no longer used as such because of growth, not loss.  

Also, sometimes it is cheaper to build or buy a newer one than attempt to bring an older building up to code.  There was a big debate in one of my old wards whether to upgrade as much as possible and have to build in about 20 years anyway or demolish and build now.  My dad was on the upgrade side as he felt the building had many, many more years to go (not just 20) and as an engineer he may have been right, but the other party won and we got a very quiet chapel with no outside light replacing our rather noisy but brilliant older version.  I never really could decide which one I liked better.