What Do These Churches Have in Common?

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(This post was written prior to 2016, in a blog entitled “Jubal’s Jottings.”)

(In no particular order…and not necessarily agreeing with their theology…)
First Congregational Church, St. Louis, MO
Christian Science Church, Seattle, WA
Calvary Presbyterian Church, Portland, OR
Metropolitan United Church, Victoria, British Columbia
Church of Christ, Scientist, Yakima, WA
Calvary Baptist Church, New Haven, CT
Central Presbyterian Church, Rochester, NY
…and the list could continue.

What do they have in common? The Wall Street Journal recently reported that many churches are being decommissioned as churches and turned into concert halls and theaters. The article refers to “dozens” of “church-to-performance-hall conversions.” I don’t think that is the type of “conversion” that was intended for those houses of worship! It’s sad to think that the only redeeming value in some of these buildings is apparently their architectural qualities, or the inherent acoustical properties, or perhaps they happen to reside in an urban renewal area. I wonder how the “cloud of witnesses” responds to this apparent trend? It is a sad commentary on the heart and life of worship in our time…and the focus of ministry in the communities where these churches once lived out salt and light.

A couple of random thoughts about this…

Perhaps we should make SURE that our worship isn’t “concert-ish” in style now! There’s too much of that going on in the context of “worship!”

Maybe we should be more aggressive in hosting concerts and artistic performances in our churches at times OTHER than worship – while they are still churches!

Jubal, you know, your nomadic lifestyle didn’t have this problem, did it? Or maybe it did! That tent you had would be tempting to use for concerts, wouldn’t it?

Author
ed
Ed is a composer, conductor, orchestrator, worship consultant & educator, and author. He has been a director of a music institute at a seminary, a worship & arts pastor at a large church, a music professor at a university, and has written orchestrations as a profession. Ed has also traveled the world, sharing the gift of music in places like South Africa, Romania, and Argentina.

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