| Earlier this year, the Archdiocese
of Boston announced that 80 of its parishes would be closing.
There are currently 357 parishes in 144 towns that are under
its oversight.
When Archbishop Sean O’Malley met with the pastors from the
churches to be closed, he gave them a 168 page manual that would
guide the them through the closure of their parishes. The manual
was similar to those that are used when a large business is
to be closed down. It covered a number of subjects, including
the layoff of employees, the removal of sacred items from the
building, and the disposal of the property.
Many of the parishes also include schools, parish
halls, convents or rectories.
The reasons given for the closures including
declining memberships and attendance, relocation of parish members
to suburbs, maintenance costs and population changes. Even parishes
that were financially solvent did not escape closure.
As part of the disposal process, the church
buildings will be deconsecrated so that they can be sold, but
there is not much of a market for church buildings because they
are so uniquely designed. This is especially true for Catholic
churches, whose design follows the liturgy of the Catholic church.
Many of the buildings are old, and have historical
value. In addition, the buildings have sentimental value to
the community and remaining parishioners.
According to an article in the November 2004
issue of Architectural Record, the Statewide Historic Preservation
Conference in Salem, Massachusetts, the Boston Preservation
Alliance, and Preservation Massachusetts met in the fall of
2004 to determine what could be done with the old buildings,
conducting a charette. Traditionally, a charette is an intense
design session involving sketching and discussion to create
an architectural design. (The word means “to char” or “to burn
out”. Most architects have done charettes, some of which lasted
for days – usually with no sleep - as part of their college
education. )
During the charette, architects, planners and
preservationists met with other concerned citizens to produce
a guide that would assist those who wanted to save the buildings
by finding new uses for them.
In one case, the group agreed that the “highest
and best use” for a particular church building would be to find
another religious group to buy it. Continued use of the building
as a church required the least of amount of effort to upgrade
it to meet current code.
However, they also agreed that it was unlikely
that the building would be purchased by another religious group,
and that the most likely scenario was that the building would
be converted to residential condominiums.
In this scenario, the building would be deconsecrated,
all of the sacred objects would be removed, and the stained
glass windows would be removed. Even though the interior of
the building would be divided into condominium units, the exterior
of the building would be preserved
Boston is not the only place that churches are
closing.
Several churches have been closed by the Archdiocese
of New York, and more closings are being planned as part of
a reorganization effort. Catholics there are protesting the
closures in the hope that they can prevent any more from taking
place.
Last year, the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, closed after 102 years of services.
The congregation of 200 families merged with another church.
The reason given for the closure was dwindling membership and
a lack of priests. The building will probably be sold.
The architect who designed the building forty
years ago attended the last service, but could not bear to stay
until the end.
In 1998, the Delafield Lutheran Church, a 125
year old church in Delafield, Minnesota, closed its doors and
auctioned off its contents. The building was then dissembled
and moved to a new site 22 miles away where it now stands as
a tourist attraction.
The practical problems that go along with a
church closure are difficult enough on their own. The more difficult
problem is that people form a unique emotional bond with their
church buildings because of memories of significant events in
their life, relationships with friends and family whose lives
have been lived in the building, and the deep spiritual bond
that they associate with the place.
Hopefully the memories of the buildings can
be preserved somewhat by finding dignified uses for them.
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