The Church in Post-Christian America
Posted by Jordan on March 18, 2009
Much has been said about the recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, The Coming Evangelical Collapse. Now, it isn’t just evangelicals who are in trouble, but Mainline Protestant denominations find themselves in similar circumstances. In coming years, many churches will be forced to close shop because of dwindling attendance . These churches will be forced to close because they will no longer be able to afford the cost of their buildings or their staff. One solution to this new scenario is something that Church of the Apostles, the church I’m currently working at, is doing quite well: Open the building to the community.
COTA meets at the Fremont Abbey, a building that we are currently in the process of buying from the Lutheran Church. The building for most of its life was St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. After St. Paul’s closed down, the building was used as a homeless shelter for a few years, and then 3 years ago, COTA moved in. Instead of slapping our name up on the building, and making the building a “church”, the COTA community decided that this building was going to be for all of the Fremont Community. And they thought the best way to serve the Fremont Community was to make the building a place for the arts. Because of this the Fremont Abbey is home to two separate non-profits: Church of the Apostles and the Fremont Abbey Arts Center. Because of the Arts Center, the Fremont Abbey is occupied 7 days a week with a music school, dance lessons, a jazz band, concerts, mediation weekends, kids art classes, etc, etc… And because our building is occupied 7 days a week, supporting (and paying for) the building does not fall entirely upon the church congregation.
I need to make something very clear, the Art Center does not exist as a bait and switch (i.e. “Let’s get people in the building so we can convert them”). The Art Center is its own non-profit that lives in the Fremont Abbey. And secondly, the Arts Center does not exist to support the mission of the church. The Arts Center exists because the community of Fremont values the arts, and because so many people in the community volunteer their time, expertise and money to support the arts in Fremont and in the Fremont Abbey.
Now what is taking place in the Fremont Abbey is a mutually beneficial relationship between a church and a community arts center. Neither of the missions are more important than the other, and we try and treat each other that way. And because of this relationship we can both continue to exist, own property, and pay a staff in a very expensive urban area.
If the church wants to continue to have buildings and paid staff, but can’t attract large enough numbers to pay for these things it will have to figure out ways to open up their buildings to their neighbors. And it will need to do this in a mutually beneficial way, avoiding a patronizing, bait and switch relationship.
Robert said
By some twist of serendipity, I came across your blog while searching for something in Queen Anne. While I am not sure I agree with blurring the line between the Church and the community at large (though I don’t think you are necessarily suggesting this), I want to point you to something you may find interesting: Karol Wojtyla, before he became Pope John Paul II, used to put on plays at the churches in Poland during WWII believing them to have a therapeutic role for individuals going through such harsh times. Bernard Lonergon, who believed he was, in a sense, beyond post-modern, really sought to develop this idea and to incorporate it into his philosophy. In his magnum opus, “Insight,” he constructs a theory of “Cosmopolis,” which is the visible Church’s manifestation and provision of a creative framework in world. A large section of this is devoted to the role of the Church in the community and arts.
Just something to check out if you are interested.