Carolla
wondering & wandering
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
Interesting article from CBC today. Not news to most of us in churches, but interesting to note the widespread nature of church closings.
Canada to lose 9,000 churches in next decade, warns national heritage group | CBC News
copied from the article -
Pajot, who is always saddened when old buildings get torn down, says it's important to recognize how emotionally attached people are to their faith spaces and that conversations about the future must be handled with sensitivity.
A conversation, he suggests, every town and city in Canada should be having at the moment.
"It ends up being very gut-wrenching for the community," Pajot said of the realization that a church must be closed and either reduced to rubble or revitalized as something other than a place of worship.
"There is sometimes a mixture of shame ... embarrassment and anger. It's a real volatile cocktail mix of emotions that needs to be, very gently, worked through."
In my large urban city, there are currently 10 United Churches - too many concentrated in some areas, well spaced in others, most struggling financially, all renting space in their buildings to a variety of community groups. We've started to engage in facilitated group discussions about where we see the UC in our city 10 years down the road. It's a challenging discussion. Anybody else undertaking similar exercises?
Canada to lose 9,000 churches in next decade, warns national heritage group | CBC News
copied from the article -
Pajot, who is always saddened when old buildings get torn down, says it's important to recognize how emotionally attached people are to their faith spaces and that conversations about the future must be handled with sensitivity.
A conversation, he suggests, every town and city in Canada should be having at the moment.
"It ends up being very gut-wrenching for the community," Pajot said of the realization that a church must be closed and either reduced to rubble or revitalized as something other than a place of worship.
"There is sometimes a mixture of shame ... embarrassment and anger. It's a real volatile cocktail mix of emotions that needs to be, very gently, worked through."
In my large urban city, there are currently 10 United Churches - too many concentrated in some areas, well spaced in others, most struggling financially, all renting space in their buildings to a variety of community groups. We've started to engage in facilitated group discussions about where we see the UC in our city 10 years down the road. It's a challenging discussion. Anybody else undertaking similar exercises?