The Observation Deck

A topic was raised as a story idea to follow the transformation of a church on Madison to a business. As of the last year this was not the first church to go this route of course, I am referring to the church across the street from the library. I am an atheist and you might think I would be jumping up and down cheering, but I am not. I am wondering if this trend is good or bad. I do see the good that many churches bring to our community. Money coming out of a property that before yielded no direct income for the city is a positive. Of course churches yield much for the social welfare of a community. Is this current trend good or bad ?
(I mean is it good financially for the city, not in terms as one might respond saying “of course its bad, the less Christians we have the worse our city will beâ€Â￾)

Financially of course it's good for the city, they're earning tax revenue on land that they didn't before. The Christ Scientist church on Detroit and Arthur is another example.

Churches also do a lot of good on a social side, but unfortunately in today's world many don't do enough actual outreach or service in the community. I think that's mainly due to the fact that most churches are barely surviving themselves financially.

I'm a very strong Christian, but I believe the loss and/or merger of a few churches in the city is a good thing, it makes them more viable to do the good that they should be doing. Rather than a bunch of half-dead congregations, I believe it's better to have fewer strong ones. Lakewood's population has shrunk (not to mention American church attendance is just down in general) and much like the schools, we have an over abundance of buildings based on the actual population and demographics of the city.

I think the issue is a bit more complex then merely the transformation of a non-taxable entity into a tax paying one. I would certainly agree that it make a good deal of sense to occupy empty churches with facilities that go on the tax rolls. But, I fear that what we're going to be faced with is not as simplistic as turning churches into tax generating entities. There are a number of factors:
By and large, church facilities were designed with one purpose in mind; to serve as churces. There isn't a great deal that can economically be done to convert a 400 seat sanctuary into a site for another purpose. The Christ Scientist on Detroit and the Witness' Hall on Madison are probably exceptions to this rule. I don't think you'll see such conversions as a general outcome.
There are a number of closed and closing churches with large "school" buildings attached. There are also a number of relatively healthly churches that no longer will be hosting their parochial schools, as a result of the Catholic Academy reorganization. So we are facing a number of vacant schools.
There are a number of churches that have either colsolidated or discussing consolidation and there will be further empty church facilities as a result, some with attached "educational wings".
The concern is that these facilites, while difficult to deveolpe for normal commercial endeavors, are particularly well suited for use as "charter schools". And while there hasn't been a huge demand in Lakewood for the alternative to the public schools system, one could envision a charter school at St Clements or St. James with a resulting financial drain on the Lakewood public schools.
So, I don't think the question is so much about whether the change in churches is good or bad, but rather, given the reality of closures and consolidation, how do we channel redeveopment in a way that is productive and complementary and does not sap needed tax revenues from existing facilities.

Jeff
“The difference between a liberal and a conservative is a conservative prays in public and drinks in private and a liberal prays in private and drinks in publicâ€Â￾

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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