Facing a $26 million earthquake repair bill and years of persistent deficits, the iconic Washington National Cathedral will start charging visitors in 2014, an abrupt change that cathedral officials had long resisted.
Adults will be charged $10, and seniors, students, children, veterans and members of the military will be charged $6, according to cathedral officials. Regular worship services and Sundays will remain free of charge; the ticket plan is scheduled for a six-month trial run starting in January.
Outrageous. The fact that they didn’t have appropriate insurance to cover the loss is bad enough. But a Christian Church in the US charging admission is is, well, outrageous. We are truly becoming a European Socialist nation!
They are just being informed by culture is this area too.
If they had the “courage of their convictions”, there would be no exemption for worship services. After all, tourists could sneak in and observe the cathedral free of charge, while simply ignoring the liturgy taking place around them.
It’s also a bit much to put the seniors/childrens level at $6.00 A family of four would have to pay $32.00, and a senior couple $12.00. That may not seem like much, but to those on a fixed income or those with a family it can indeed be a big deal.
I’ve traveled extensively in Europe, and never once has a church I’ve visited (including the huge cathedrals) charged admission. There have been highly visible offering boxes, but no gates or turnstiles at the doors.
Well, perhaps they can continue the deficit spending on the projected income before they gather any funds and demonstrate that they are in fact, not just politically, the Democratic Party at prayer?
With the current state of preaching and teaching, they would have to pay me to go in there.
Just occurred to me–What about concessions? They could probably charge $5 to $7 for a beer, $4 or $5 for a hotdog, etc. That may be a bit over the top, so how about velvet paintings of KJS blessed by Bp. Budde?
#6 David Keller,
If that happens, they better watch out!
Matthew 21:12
Underground, That is an apt comparison. Although I’m not sure Jesus would be overly happy about the admission charge, either.
3. Ditto from me! We visited Catholic cathedrals in Germany while we were stationed there, and never once were we charged admission, though as you said, there were offering boxes strategically placed.
Never been charged admission to a functioning church anywhere, including Moscow pre-gasnost. But, I hear they charge admission to the Muslim Mosque at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Correct me if I’m wrong. Anyway, who would want to visit this cultural collaborationist Mecca even for free?
After their bishop authorized same-sex “marriages” and their dean affirmed that, you could not pay me to enter the place again. An utterly defiled whitewashed tomb.
A nice bookshop for browsing, though. I wouldn’t buy anything there, of course.
When I last visited the Dome of the Rock (the iconic mosque that sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem — it appears in virtually every commercial photo of the city, even the Israeli ones, since it has a huge gold dome) admission was free. That was, admittedly, 20 years ago. I have never been in a functioning place of worship that charged admission. The probable reason is that they *want* people to visit. 🙂
This is an earthshaking development
#1, so far as I am aware, European churches do not charge for admission. Certainly I have been in many churches in Rome and wider Italy, some containing the most fantastic and valuable art work, and there are no charges. The RC churches are maintained entirely by the contributions of the faithful. Its a great witness.
However, in England (I will leave it to you whether you define this as ‘Europe’) entry charges are the norm for many Church of England cathedrals. It sounds like Washington Cathedral has copied this idea directly from the CofE. The Church of England has been facing financial restrictions for years as faithful practitioners desert it due to its embrace of liberalism. So, they end up charging for people to come into God’s house.
Incidentally, this is the most likely reason that attendance at CofE cathedral services has increased in recent years – tourists are savvy enough to enter during services and do their sight-seeing then, and the liberals can then pat themselves on the back and say that attendance is up.