A typical house is tough enough to sell in a recession-hampered housing market. But when a house is a house of worship, the job often becomes one that smacks of the Biblical trials of Job. The challenges just seem to multiply.
Take the case of Trinity Episcopal Church, an imposing, steepled stone structure boasting elaborate stained glass windows that was a longtime center of worship in Bristol. It fell victim to the split in the church and was put up for sale for $850,000.
“It needs some work,” says Jack Spaeth, the canon for stewardship and administration for the Episcopal diocese of Connecticut. “But the right buyer is out there, whether that is a faith community or a transformed use.”
Spaeth knows of which he speaks; a former real estate agent who manages property and finances for the diocese, he has handled several church sales in the past few years. “Many of these are Gothic structures that are expensive to maintain,” he says. “It’s not just your standard cinderblock.”
A house divided against itself. Very sad.
I wonder if Bishop Douglas is planning to dig up other peoples’ grannies here as well.
This is near my mother’s house, I have been in the building a number of times. With the repairs which are needed, it would not be a surprise if the value on today’s market is zero.
Looks like the diocese can’t even afford to keep the landscaping maintained if the grass and shrubs are overgrown. And the tree out front with few leaves is probably dead or dying. All is well?
Some time ago I was corresponding by E-mail with the (then) BIshop of California about the changes in the TEC. Amongst other things I questioned what the Episcopal church was going to do with all of the left over churches that would be closed due to lack of a viable congregation. I mentioned to him that Grace Cathedral, because of its location, would bring a decent price as it could be demolished and replaced with high priced condos or rental units. But, I asked, what would be done with the likes of St John’s in New York or Sts Peter and Paul in Washington as, eventually, they will become unsupportable (if there is such a word)?
But the problem isn’t just with the TEC. Today, driving to Trinity Cathedral in Miami I notced the nearby Church of Christ Scientist for sale. Nice looking building from the outside, sort of looks like it would make a good court house (with appropriate change in the signeage). And by the way, the congregational head count at Trinity for the 10AM service this AM was probably less than 100 in a building that can probably hold close to a thousand people. Unfortunately for the diocese and unlike Grace, its location is probably not in demand.
In my part of the world, the general pattern is that these churches are acquired by non-denominational congregations, frequently those that predominantly African-American. In St. Louis, there is two or three block area in the Central West End neighborhood that contains a strip of grand edifices of Greco-Roman design built around the turn of the last century, with seating capacities of near a thousand, that were built as churches for mainstream denominations (and, in one case, a synagogue), but are now occupied by independent black churches. In this case, the transition was a result of white flight, not theological divergences. A couple of denominations, such as the United Methodists, kept a congregation in this area going for a long time, in hopes that the congregation would transition demographically. Unfortunately, instead, the consequence is that they now own the two or three church buildings that are empty and likely unsaleable.
I suspect that the current occupants of these buildings picked up the premises for a song, but I would also think that the upkeep is a strain.
To me, the most interesting aspect of the above article is the fact that the UU church was sold to a congregation that, by its name, seems to be a non-denomination church. I checked its website, and no denominational affiliation is noted. It may also be significant that the acquiring congregations appears to be largely Spanish speaking.