Conference on Unused Church Property Held
Diocesan Press Service. May 28, 1975 [75206]
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- Declining church membership plus increased maintenance costs are creating a crisis of unused and underused church buildings according to speakers at a two-day conference on The Challenge of Underused Church Properties sponsored by the Cheswick Center of Cambridge, Mass., at Trinity Parish in New York, May 13-14.
The conference provided a forum for a search for alternatives for use of church properties as 150 people from church, commercial and governmental sectors shared their concerns and involvements.
International concern was voiced by the Dowager Countess of Radnor, a member of the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches. Two others concerned with unused churches in England explained the involvement of their government in finding alternate uses.
"Between 1969 and 1975, there were 128 Anglican churches with new uses," according to Patrick Brown, of the University of Bristol. Some of the uses included residential, civic, cultural, museums, storage, education, light industry, restaurants, music, drama, and worship by other Christian bodies.
Dr. Ezra Earl Jones, Director of the research office of the National Division of the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, described the underuse of church properties as a national and world problem. It is not the same across the country, but it is inevitable."
He said that the problem varies from denomination to denomination, but that it lies primarily with the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches. "Those that have been here the longest are most established in population areas that are declining. This puts the responsibility on them to find solutions now," he said.
Dr. Jones gave some principles for action:
"When a building is no longer used by a congregation it is appropriate and sometimes desirable that it be converted to non-religious use or be demolished. " The decision to enter into a commercial real estate venture by a church will succeed if the motivation is to extend the ministry of the church. If it is to make money the chances for success are poor.
"There is a tremendous problem when you try to merge two congregations and it should be the last thing considered. Mergers are usually from weakness rather than strength. In five years, the new church will be no larger than the largest of the two that merged.
"We will build churches in the future that will be more adaptable than in the past; multi-use facilities that can be easily converted to non-church use. "
Dr. Jones gave one of the few theological approaches of the conference when he said that just as death of people is a difficult problem, so is the death of a church. "It receives almost no theological attention," he said. "It is critical that we have a theology about the closing of a church. "'
Another theological perspective was given by the Rev. Ralph Peterson of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York, who said that all considerations for their new church and program were people related.
St. Peter's sold its mid-town property to the First National City Bank with an agreement that it would have a new building in the same location with the City Corp building built on supports above it.
"We felt that a free-standing church is important for visibility," Pastor Peterson said. "We want inside and outside space where people can gather to meet, worship, and explore their relationships through the arts," he explained.
"St. Peter's is a church on the move, but we are moving with people in mind," Pastor Peterson said. All programming now is planned from the temporary headquarters on 56th Street while worship takes place in the Central Presbyterian Church on Park Avenue.
Governmental concern was voiced by John E. Zuccotti, Chairman of the Planning Commission of New York and the keynote speaker, who answered "yes " to his own question, "Can we involve the city in saving or recycling church buildings ?"
Mr. Zucotti said that the city had a legitimate role, just as it has had a role in renewing neighborhoods and installations such as Yankee Stadium. "This city does not need more destruction and more parking lots," he said.
Recognizing that the city does not have the resource to bail out defunct churches, Mr. Zuccotti called for a community effort through a task force that would include representatives from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, City Planning, Social Services and Real Estate Departments, community planning boards and religious institutions.
"The task force's job would be to explore the dimensions of the crisis by making an inventory of churches and synagogues that are in difficulty with a precise evaluation of the nature of the difficulties."
Mr. Zuccotti said that there are 7,500 religious parsonages and houses in New York City with an assessed valuation of one billion dollars; 2,450 churches and synagogues. "We have no idea of how many are threatened," he said.
The Archdiocese of New York, according to Msgr. William J. McCormack, chairman of the building commission, has made an attempt to return some church properties to the tax rolls through "consolidation, outright sale, or transferral of air rights." St. John's Church, on First Avenue, running the entire block from 55th to 56th, was felt ideal for redevelopment according to Fr. McCormack.
"A plan was evolved to sell the Cathedral High School at 50th Street and Lexington Avenue, and to incorporate the school into a new 40-story building to be erected on the site of a razed St. John's, " he said. A 40-story variance could not be obtained, but a 20-story Cathedral center was built and the old high school has been leased to the city university.
Speaking for the city government, Beverly Moss Spatt, chairperson of the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York, outlined four problems facing the church:
"Social: people moving so much that churches cannot sustain themselves; ideological: churches are not the central force they once were; economic: endowments are insufficient. Property might be too valuable for non-productive economic use; and management and organization."
Insofar as designating churches as landmarks, she said that a church cannot be preserved on its own accord. "It must be needed and loved to be saved. If modern society does not understand a pressing need of religion, the church has to preserve itself," she said.
Ms. Spatt said that designation is not an assurance of preservation so that judicious designation must be made. She said that those designated should get national recognition and possible funding by listing in the National Registrar of historic places.
"Churches represent a sense of history that is needed, and a sense of eternity. They do not lend themselves to other uses," she said.
One church that is finding other uses for its property is St. Mary's Roman Catholic in Boston's north end. Its high point in membership was in 1870 when it reached 10,000; today it has 265 parishioners. Its building seats 2,300.
St. Mary's has two parcels of land which will be developed in a home for the elderly, will include the church, and a nearby family housing unit. The case history was presented by the Rev. Frederick C. Bailey, S.J. and Anthony M. Cataldo, President of Casa Maria Housing Project.
An example of how a church faces a changing neighborhood was learned first-hand by conferees who went by bus to the Buswick section of Brooklyn, one of New York's most impoverished areas.
After touring the neighborhood, viewing burned-out buildings and deteriorating tenements, they gathered in the beautiful St. Leonard of Port Maurice building to talk with the Rev. John H. Wilkinson, Administrator, and the Very Rev. George T. Deas, Episcopal Vicar of Brooklyn.
Fr. Deas said that 24 years ago Bushwick was a section of individual homes and tree-lined streets. In 1914, St. Leonard's parish had 15,000 members.
Today, about 600 attend on Sundays, the only day the 1200 capacity church is used. Although it is open every morning, it is locked at noon as a protection against vandalism and theft.
Fr. Wilkinson said that maintenance costs are from $15,000 to $20,000 a year; heat is $12,000, insurance $13,000. Income in 1974 was $26,000. The remainder of the $117,000 budget came from bingo and the Diocese of Brooklyn.
St. Leonard's along with three other Roman Catholic churches in the area, asked the Cheswick Center to help formulate new plans. Schools will be consolidated and alternative uses for church space are being contemplated. At this time there is little or no commercial value for the land.
Fr. Deas said, "Our mission here is to people; they are more important than property or things. Preservation of property is of no value when it drains the ministry to people."
After Bushwick, the conferees went to Roosevelt Island, a new city, where the Rt. Rev. J. Stuart Wetmore, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of New York, told of the planned ecumenical ministry that includes the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the United Methodists.
Standing alongside the Church of the Good Shepherd, formerly an Episcopal Church and now being converted into a community center, Bishop Wetmore said that it would be used for all sorts of services: elderly, day care, arts, recreation.
Diane Porter, chief planner for the Island for the United Development Corporation, said that the building is being financed by UDC with a $700,000 mortgage as "it is primarily to be a community center which could sometime be used for religious services. It is not a church, " she said.
The Rev. John M. McCarthy, the Roman Catholic pastor on the island, said that a coordinator would be employed by the three cooperating churches to assure that schedules would be kept in order to meet their needs.