Religious communities often face a choice: Sell off the buildings they can no longer afford, or find a way to fill them with new uses.

NOV 25, 2018  Jonathan Merritt, Contributing writer for The Atlantic

http://timesofahmad.blogspot.com/2015/03/usa-more-than-3000-people-leave-church.html

 Many of our nation’s churches can no longer afford to maintain their structures—6,000 to 10,000 churches die each year in America—and that number will likely grow. Though more than 70 percent of our citizens still claim to be Christian, congregational participation is less central to many Americans’ faith than it once was. Most denominations are declining as a share of the overall population, and donations to congregations have been falling for decades. Meanwhile, religiously unaffiliated Americans, nicknamed the “nones,” are growing as a share of the U.S. population. Any minister can tell you that the two best predictors of a congregation’s survival are “budgets and butts,” and American churches are struggling by both metrics. As donations and attendance decrease, the cost of maintaining large physical structures that are in use only a few hours a week by a handful of worshippers becomes prohibitive.  A church building is more than just walls and windows; it is also a sacred vessel that stores generations of religious memories.  Read more HERE.