Churches fight to stay open as attendance dwindles
abcnews.go.com
Churches faced with empty pews are fighting to keep their doors open, while former houses of worship are being converted into bars, clubs and luxury condos.

Summary

Churches across the U.S. are grappling with dwindling attendance and financial instability, forcing many to close or sell properties.

The Diocese of Buffalo has shut down 100 parishes since the 2000s and plans to close 70 more. Nationwide, church membership has dropped from 80% in the 1940s to 45% today.

Some churches repurpose their land to survive, like Atlanta’s First United Methodist Church, which is building affordable housing.

Others, like Calcium Church in New York, make cutbacks to stay open. Leaders warn of the long-term risks of declining community and support for churches.

  • KoboldCoterieEnglish
    43·
    6 days ago

    Where I live, the library serves this purpose. They even have advertised game nights for various age groups on weekly to monthly basis. Maybe reach out to your public library and see if they would host.

      • KoboldCoterieEnglish
        9·
        6 days ago

        Do you mean that you have no library, or the library doesn’t have a game night? If the latter, you could try to start it; it’d just be a matter of getting their permission to use the space, setting a schedule, and putting up a sign. It might not take off immediately; it’d probably help if you brought a friend or two the first few times, but if there’s interest in your community, I bet folks would start coming once it became clear something was happening.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
          83·
          6 days ago

          I mean my local library has, like, six tables and 10 book shelves. My town has 1200 people. What you’re talking about isn’t realistic.

          • KoboldCoterieEnglish
            3·
            6 days ago

            We’d need something like a communal boardgame hall, supported by donations that anyone can come to without needing to pay anything.

            All I’m getting at is, you have this - it’s the library. If you have the population to support a boardgame hall, you have the population to support a gathering at the library. Even if this doesn’t apply to you, it surely applies to other people who might not have considered the possibility.

              • LimeZest@discuss.tchncs.de
                5·
                6 days ago

                My library has board game rentals, multiple meeting rooms, and maker spaces with 3d printers, sewing machines, and other equipment along with the traditional rooms of books for different ages and interests. You can have social spaces within a library, it doesn’t all have to be silent.

              • KoboldCoterieEnglish
                61·
                6 days ago

                Sure, and I mean, I’m not suggesting you just roll up at random with a trunk full of board games and set up shop. You talk to the library staff, arrange a time when they’re okay with you using the space and being a little louder, and advertise that time. It feels like you’re being argumentative just for the sake of being argumentative; in towns and cities with actual, functional communities, this is a normal thing. Heck, I grew up in a town with 1700 people in it; we had scheduled special events in the library and it was never a problem, so this isn’t just exclusive to big cities.

        • chingadera@lemmy.world
          4·
          6 days ago

          Seconded. This would be far more productive than a religion with an obvious agenda/motive, you could build real communities without ties to guilt, tithing, less freedom, etc.

          I like the way you think!