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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Changed Churches
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Not sure if this an Ecclesiantical or perhaps Heavenly subject, but Hosts will decide...
It occurred to me a while ago that several closed churches in this fair city had re-opened for worship in recent years, rather than being demolished, or converted to flats, or what-have-you.
However, the style of worship has changed dramatically, as the following list shows:
1. A former Anglican church, of mild Anglo-Catholic tradition, closed in mid-70s, and became a museum of local life for many years. It is now the Redeemed Christian Church of God's Victorious Family Parish, Abundant Life Centre (!);
2. A mediaeval hospital chapel, much Victorianised, out of hospital use for some years, is now restored, and in regular use by the wonderfully exotic Celestial Church of Christ;
3. A Primitive Methodist Chapel (1893), closed in 1962, used as a garden shed showroom (!) from 1975, is now a Christian Spiritualist Sanctuary of Healing with regular Sunday evening worship;
4. A Bible Church (Bethesda) of 1821, closed as early as 1886 , and used as a Veterans' Club until recently, is now owned/leased by the Christ Embassy Church....who last Sunday celebrated their first global Communion with Pastor Chris....
5. An Anglican church, of Evangelical tradition, which was closed 15-odd years ago, but joined with the nearby URC as a Local Ecumenical Partnership. I gather that the plan is for it to be refurbished as a community resource/worship centre, in conjunction with a new quasi-monastic set-up in the parish (but with the URC building likely to be closed - I wonder who'll buy it??).
All of which ISTM makes the idea of Christian unity an oxymoron, but nevertheless demonstrates the ongoing development of the Christian church as a whole, and the folly of destroying buildings unwanted by a particular denomination!
Without going into long lists, have other Shipmates tales to tell of churches - perhaps long closed - which have enjoyed a new lease of (perhaps quite different) Christian life?
(One sad local loss, IMHO, was a delightful little Church of Scotland kirk, last in use as a children's nursery, but very well-kept. Alas, it's gone, and replaced by a block of flatlets...).
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
I just want to say that what you describe is likely to be a regional development, dependent upon particular demographic patterns.
Also, I think the destruction of church buildings usually occurs once buildings have left church hands, so it's not something that denominations can necessarily control.
Anyway, in my city a closed church is now likely to remain empty for some time until being bought or rented by a new congregation, rather than being used for non-religious purposes in between. More likely still is that it'll be sold to an organisation from another religion, after which point it won't become a place of Christian worship again.
[ 10. February 2017, 15:03: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Mark Wuntoo
Shipmate
# 5673
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Posted
(snip)
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
All of which ISTM makes the idea of Christian unity an oxymoron, but nevertheless demonstrates the ongoing development of the Christian church as a whole, and the folly of destroying buildings unwanted by a particular denomination!
Without going into long lists, have other Shipmates tales to tell of churches - perhaps long closed - which have enjoyed a new lease of (perhaps quite different) Christian life?
IJ
Many church buildings around our area have changed hands from traditional denominational congregations to ones consisting mostly of newer communities. That's the demand. French-speaking, communities from Nigeria, Ghana, South America, various caribbean islands and so on.
I used to think that it was a shame that church buildings were destroyed when (at the time) black-led congregations which were thriving needed a home. Now I am not at all sure. Over the past 40 years or more there has been so much 'fission and fusion' as new leaders (almost always self-appointed) have emerged and split congregations. Often this is the result of very minor differences of doctrine, sometimes I suspect it is caused by jealousy. It is too simplistic to suggest that the struggling longer-established traditional congregations would benefit from the presence of those congregating in the new groups but it doesn't seem to me to be a good use of time, talents and treasure.
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Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light.
Posts: 1950 | From: Somewhere else. | Registered: Mar 2004
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
Yes indeed - to a great extent, the changes I have mentioned were brought about by demographic changes. Mind you, this town has always been cosmopolitan, and still has (small) Jewish and Unitarian congregations - alas, the Swedenborgians and Catholic Apostolics, and their churches, are long gone.
My intention was simply to highlight churches, long regarded as closed and/or derelict, which have in recent times received a new lease of Christian life.
There are churches in neighbouring towns which have been handed over to other faiths (we ourselves have a former Anglican mission church - replaced by a new C of E building - and a former Methodist church, both of which became Sikh gurdwaras), but I am really only interested, as far as this thread is concerned, in changes of Christian styles of worship!
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Mark Wuntoo
Shipmate
# 5673
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Posted
Meant to say ... the changes are taking place under our very noses in some cases! Many 'traditional' church buildings around here have small congregations of other flavours meeting on their premises. This 'helps to pay the rent' as well as to give a home to other Christians. (Not saying I approve.)
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Blessed are the cracked for they let in the light.
Posts: 1950 | From: Somewhere else. | Registered: Mar 2004
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
In our town centre there are several disused mediaeval and Victorian parish churches, remnants of the time was very densely populated. Today they are as follows:
1. Tourist Information Centre.
2. Community cafe run by a charity that supports people with learning difficulties (has the oldest peal of bells in the world, recently restored and rung every week.
3. Concert venue and home of the town's band.
4. Bought back by the CofE as a Diocesan conference venue.
5. Bought by Muslim entreprenuer as a multifaith community centre, now derelict following a fire.
6. Huge restoration project almost complete as a "body and soul" centre for MIND.
7. Empty with hopes of becoming a student music venue.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
The two Piskie churches I'm involved with do this. My home church rents to an adventist church three Saturdays a month. (They do proselytizing in the neighborhoods on the other Saturday.) Our homeless ministry church doesn't use the sanctuary most of the time but rents to two churches, one Spanish speaking adventist and one non-denom English speaking Sunday church. The rents support our food ministries. Also some twelve step groups pay nominal fees to use the parish hall. Some churches in our town have become Christian schools.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
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Arethosemyfeet
Shipmate
# 17047
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Posted
Most of the old churches around here are now houses, or in the process of becoming them. A few are ruined (some half buried in dunes, some still visible) and one is lying derelict with its roof removed because the remaining members of congregation didn't want it used for any other purpose.
Posts: 2933 | From: Hebrides | Registered: Apr 2012
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Wuntoo:
Many 'traditional' church buildings around here have small congregations of other flavours meeting on their premises. This 'helps to pay the rent' as well as to give a home to other Christians.
There can be problems such as:
- the "renting" congregation becoming bigger than the "owning" one;
- issues over time-keeping, parking, litter;
- matters of power (i.e. the "owning" church calls the shots.
Some situations of course work to the mutual benefit and education of both parties.
One Sunday lunchtime, when serving my last church, I was rung by the Pastor of a group who used another church to meet in. He was very insistent that I saw him at once. When I met him, he not only said, "They're putting us out" but "We'll be using your building next week".
However I knew the context. The other church was planning major building works and had, six months previously, given them notice to look for another venue; which they had ignored. I also knew that, in his culture, "all Christians are brothers and sisters" which meant that, to him, coming to us basically was their "right".
I explained that he had consistently ignored the notice he'd been given by the other church; and that all I could do with respect to my own church was raise it for discussion at our next leaders' meeting. To be honest, I was cross with him, but I realise that a genuine clash of cultures was involved.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
A former church near me is now a Hindu temple
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
The Methodist chapel in Great Walsingham is now an Orthodox church. So is the old Military Chapel at Colchester Barracks.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Of the ones round here I can think of off-hand,
1. Two CofE churches now underneath blocks of flats.
2. Chapel converted into flatlets run by housing association. Not sure what denomination it was.
3. Hall of above now a club.
4. Another chapel demolished about 25 years ago and replaced by commercial premises, now out of use.
5. Chapel that's been all sorts of things, a political club, a club for sports people etc.
6. CofE church now a concert hall.
7. CofE now used by Catholic monastic order as a church, café and homeless accommodation.
8. CofE church closed some years ago. I believe there were negotiations for another denomination to take it over but they never did. It has recently been badly damaged by fire.
9. CofE city centre church used as some Council Offices.
10. CofE city centre church that was until recently a diocesan resource centre, now closed.
11. Historic City Centre Methodist Chapel which no longer has a Sunday congregation but is a Heritage Centre and has some weekday services.
12. Two old city centre churches in hands of Historic Churches Trust.
13. Ruins of several CofE and other churches bombed in WWII.
14. Another chapel converted into flats.
15, There is also a chapel that was for some years a community centre, but that lost its funding and it has now become a chapel again and is very active.
16. There is another one a bit further away that is a circus school. The height of the building enables it to be used for people to learn trapeze.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Ceremoniar
Shipmate
# 13596
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Posted
This varies greatly by location. Here in the southeastern US, Catholic churches are growing significantly, due to both migration and immigration. The Catholic population has grown in areas that historically had few Catholics. Consequently, one does not see many church closings. In fact, both my own parish and my mother's parish are former Protestant churches purchased by the RC archdiocese.
In both cases the former Protestant congregations outgrew their buildings and moved to much larger facilities. The buildings were remodeled and became Catholic parishes. Both of them are growing, so at some point they, too, may outgrow the same buildings. Mom's parish was a Pentecostal church, and mine was Baptist. Mine is an FSSP parish, where the Traditional Latin Mass and sacraments are celebrated exclusively by priests of the FSSP, so needless to say, its interior renovation was substantial.
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
When my American cousins were told that abandoned British church buildings were often put to non-religious use (especially if used as bars or clubs) they were shocked. They come from New York. Would most Americans find such church conversions strange, or does it vary from place to place?
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
This is not new. As long as I can remember Sharon Full Gospel Church has been on Chorlton Road in Manchester. It was, therefore, a surprise when looking through I think the 1880 Congregational Yearbook to find it had once been the home of a Welsh Congregational Church.
I am not muddling it with the big Congregational church that was lower down the road and called Chorlton Road Congregational. That was where the factory owners went while their maids went to the Welsh Cong down the road.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Ceremoniar
Shipmate
# 13596
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
When my American cousins were told that abandoned British church buildings were often put to non-religious use (especially if used as bars or clubs) they were shocked. They come from New York. Would most Americans find such church conversions strange, or does it vary from place to place?
It's not completely unheard of in the states, but it is rare enough that I think it fair to say that most would indeed find it strange.
[ 10. February 2017, 21:58: Message edited by: Ceremoniar ]
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decampagne
Shipmate
# 17012
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Posted
There's a (grand and imposing) former church - actually the former chapel of a former Anglican boarding school that has now closed down and mostly been demolished - round here that now serves, mostly, as a dentists' surgery. It's retained some of the original fittings, and all of the stained glass and high ceilings, so is anything but a run-of-the-mill dentists. I think there had been hopes that it would become some kind of community centre after the school closed - but that really was a high and unrealistic hope in context. But if you want to have a tooth taken out in a beautiful setting....
Posts: 86 | From: Oxfordshire | Registered: Mar 2012
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
Eh? I have seen US churches converted into condos, into restaurants, and into community centers. Most of the smaller sadder ones get demolished outright. Because the property is usually zoned for a church it is far easier to convert it into a nonprofit of some kind but it is fairly common to see churches converted into residences. There was one in DC just recently, the building purchased from the congregation (which was moving out into the suburbs) and then divided into flats.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
I have to confess a slight queasiness when I see a church converted into residences. I'm not certain that I could live there.
There were an Anglican church and a Presbyterian church very close together - almost directly across the road from one another - and both quite large. The larger of the two, the Presbyterian church, quite a large complex, is now a Hare Krshna centre. I've been for dinner - "I love what you've done with the place."
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
The uses to which old churches can be put are, indeed, Legion (and sometimes very creative).
However, I was rather looking for examples of churches which have 'changed tack' denomination-wise, perhaps after a period of closure, dereliction or secular use. I noted one in my OP which was last used as a church over 40 years ago...
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
The uses to which old churches can be put are, indeed, Legion (and sometimes very creative).
However, I was rather looking for examples of churches which have 'changed tack' denomination-wise, perhaps after a period of closure, dereliction or secular use. I noted one in my OP which was last used as a church over 40 years ago...
IJ
I think the lack of such stories posted here indicates that this trajectory is not as distinctive as perhaps it used to be. Certainly, IME church buildings that are converted into something else don't become churches again. This is due to many Christians having left the area, or to simple secularisation.
Also, you're assuming that new churches are inevitably going to want to use traditional buildings. I think that's less and less the case. New evangelical groups often want something that's easier to maintain, or a modern, flexible space that's less off-putting to their target group.
However, I can think of church buildings that have switched from one denomination to another:
Baptist to Church of God in Christ
Salvation Army to Lighthouse Chapel International
CofE to Redeemed Christian Church of Christ
Christadelphian to United Christian Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
etc.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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WearyPilgrim
Shipmate
# 14593
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Posted
In Portland, Maine, there is a large downtown church that was closed several years ago when its Methodist congregation merged with another parish on the periphery of the city. A culinary entrepreneur bought the building, removed the pews and the chancel furniture, but otherwise retained the religious ambience. He established a restaurant called Grace, which has come to have a reputation as one of the best eateries in the state.
Posts: 383 | From: Sedgwick, Maine USA | Registered: Feb 2009
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Edith
Shipmate
# 16978
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Posted
In Woolwich the Hindu Temple used to be St Nicholas Mission Hall, the Gurdwara used to be the biggest Methodist church and the New Wine church used to be a cinema. The hall of St Patrick's school used to be a Baptist church. However, the mosque is purpose built.
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Edith
Posts: 256 | From: UK | Registered: Mar 2012
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Rumour has it that this bar as well as previously housing a steeplejack's business was originally an independent chapel.
Previous churches do not necessarily conform to our preconceptions.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Brenda Clough
Shipmate
# 18061
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Posted
There is a Korean Christian church in this area which I think has the right pig by the ear. They simply built a shopping center and attached office building. (I am certain someone in the congregation is a smart developer.) There is a bustling grocery store, a row of thriving restaurants, dentists, etc. at the front. The church has the office building at the back. They worship on the bottom floor and the upper floors (it is only 4 stories high) are a church preschool, offices, etc.
This has many advantages. Catering is easy; offsite meetings can take place in any of the restaurants. The younger set always have a place to hang out; the seniors know where Coffee Hour is. There's masses of parking, especially on Sunday mornings.
The costs of the entire thing are supported in great part by the tenants. It is hugely flexible; any time they need more rent then can throw some of the offices onto the market and rent them to accountants or dentists or something. Whenever their congregation ages out or moves further into suburbia they can up sticks and move, renting out the rest of the space to somebody or other and finding new digs in the new area.
The only down side is that there is no architectural indicator that says 'church' -- no statue of Jesus, stained glass windows, steeple, etc. The gigantic banner spanning the width of the building with the name of the church on tells you where you are.
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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page
Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
I read somewhere that occasionally chapels were built to look like houses so that they could be easily converted if they didn't take off as places of worship.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
There's an old church in Devonport which has been converted into a rather impressive library, for the local community and also to house a sizeable naval collection. There is a very high ceiling, so room for a mezzanine floor with a small chapel. Therefore, church services can still take place, for the two or three who gather together. But the main focus of the church building is now for community use and education.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
To return to the OPer's intention. 40 odd years ago saw the establishment of the Uniting Church here. That took in virtually all congregations previously Methodist or Congregational, and most Presbyterians. A natural result of that was to leave many suburbs or towns with surplus buildings. Around here, in one suburb the Uniting Church retained the forme Presbyterian, a rather attractive and substantial romanesque construction, while the continuing Presbyterians got the old Methodist building, very drab and a suitable place to think of dour Scots towns etc. In another suburb, the former Presbyterian church has become a Korean Baptist building. This has occurred in many other suburbs as well.
The prime example of a change to non-church use is the forner Mildura Methodist Church which is now, in a fruit-growing district with seasonal work, the local Labour Exchange; not a style of building one would normally associate with Methodism, more the Amalfi coast.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Cathscats
Shipmate
# 17827
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Posted
The Baptist church my family attended when I was a child needed a larger building. Down the road there were two Church of Scotland buildings, both large, literally next door to each other (thanks to the Disruption). They were merging and one building was offered to the Baptist church at a nominal fee. On the day the Baptists moved in they gained half a dozen elderly worshippers, who had always sat in these pews and had no intention of going to church anywhere else, nor even sitting anywhere else in the building!
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"...damp hands and theological doubts - the two always seem to go together..." (O. Douglas, "The Setons")
Posts: 176 | From: Central Highlands | Registered: Sep 2013
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
A neat arrangement - I wonder if the old stalwarts noticed the change of management?
I suppose they might have done, if the Baptists proceeded to dig a hole under them, new full immersion baptistery for the installation of...
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
You may say that ,,, but the church I serve basically did just that, when a URC and Baptist congregation came together in the former's building. (The Baptist Church was demolished and senior housing built on the site, however we still get ground rent on the site).
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
When I visited Tobermory (isle of Mull), there was a beautiful building which had been a church at one time and was later a shop.
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
The Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Ennismore Gardens, London was an Anglican church, although now Orthodox for many years.
The Orthodox church of St Anthony, Holloway, was a Welsh chapel. The wonderful Archimandrite Ephrem Lash was parish priest there at the end of his life.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
There is a Greek Orthodox church in Wood Green which was once a Catholic Apostolic church.
I knew Ephrem; he had a certain "presence" about him and a keen mind. He was once wearing a rather nice pectoral cross which had got a bit bent ( like the one on the Hungarian crown). I asked him if there was any significance in this. "Oh", he said, "It must have got a bit biffed".
[ 13. February 2017, 07:15: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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ostrich84
Apprentice
# 18691
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Posted
Near us, though not sure exactly how it happened, it appears a CofE congregation swapped their large historic building with the nearby Elim Pentacostal church, who had a much smaller modern (maybe 1970s) building. Then at some stage, Elim seem have divided up the church vertically, so there is now a large day nursery (not run by the church) above the main worship space. I've never been in the lower level (ie the bit that's still a church), but am guessing it must look a bit odd.
Posts: 1 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2016
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
The Baptist Church in a small town near here sold their building to a developer and it's now flats. They bought the URC church nearby which was on its last legs; the URC denomination in fact wanted to gift the the building to the Baptists but this was scotched by the Charity Commisison who said that the URC had to "realise its assets". Nevertheless, due to certain local factors, it was able to be sold at a very reasonable price. Since then the Baptists have carried out an ambitious and tasteful refurbishment and extension programme.
[ 13. February 2017, 09:20: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Bishops Finger
Shipmate
# 5430
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Posted
A credit to both denominations, I think.
Locally, the Catholic Apostolic Church was closed in 1948, used as a paper store until 1959, and finally taken over a couple of years later by the Seventh-Day Adventists (quite a change of style!). Alas, the rather neat little Catholic Apostolic building was subsequently demolished, and replaced by a new SDA church on much the same site.
A stone's throw away, the former Presbyterian Church ceased to be used after the formation of the URC, and was eventually taken over by the King's Church, with whom it remains and flourishes (they've taken over nearby buildings for their community outreach work).
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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american piskie
Shipmate
# 593
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Posted
Has anyone done a comprehensive account of what became of the Catholic Apostolic church buildings?
The Dundee one was acquired by the Scottish Episcopalians:
St Mary Magdalene Dundee
Posts: 356 | From: Oxford, England, UK | Registered: Jun 2001
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american piskie
Shipmate
# 593
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Posted
In Marston parish in Oxford the daughter church outgrew its premises and moved to a new building; for years the old building was used as a sort of workshop/garage; but is now
St Nicholas the Wonderworker
Posts: 356 | From: Oxford, England, UK | Registered: Jun 2001
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Forthview
Shipmate
# 12376
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Posted
The first Catholic apostolic church in Edinburgh was in Broughton St,but the community outgrew the building. It has been for many years as commercial premises. The community built a larger church down the road from its first church.
When the Catholic Apostolic church community came to an end, the building or at least the baptistery was used by a Baptist group and then the building became a sort of cultural centre and wedding venue.It retains the wonderful (religious )murals by Phoebe Traquair as well as a splendid baldacchino over the spot where the high altar was.
In keeping with the wishes of the Catholic Apostolic community the altar, the lectern and the episcopal sedilia were given as a gift to the nearby St Mary's metropolitan cathedral.As this was just at the time of the remodelling of the cathedral in the wake of Vatican 2 the altar was of great use. The sedilia can still be seen but are rarely used for present day pontifical functions.
Posts: 3444 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Feb 2007
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georgiaboy
Shipmate
# 11294
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Posted
For many years in Louisville KY there was a RC convent & girls' school. The school eventually closed and the sisters returned to their mother house. The school wing was put to commercial purposes but the (rather large) red-brick gothicky chapel remained empty. It was eventually opened as a (fairly posh) restaurant called 'The Chapel.' The sanctuary remained as it had been, but roped off from public access. The food servers were dressed more-or-less as Franciscan friars. The project had some success for several years, but the lack of adequate parking and the not-so-great neighborhood eventually did them in.
Building stood vacant for several more years.
Recently driving by, I saw that the sign had been changed to 'Messianic Synagogue'; exactly what this means I know not.
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You can't retire from a calling.
Posts: 1675 | From: saint meinrad, IN | Registered: Apr 2006
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Bishops Finger
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# 5430
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Posted
Presumably, something to do the movement described by Wikipedia thus:
'Messianic Judaism is a syncretic movement that combines Christianity — most importantly, the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah — with elements of Judaism and Jewish tradition, its current form emerging in the 1960s and 1970s.'
That would be an interesting place for a Mystery Worshipper to visit, no?
IJ
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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)
Posts: 10151 | From: Behind The Wheel Again! | Registered: Jan 2004
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Enoch
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# 14322
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:
... That would be an interesting place for a Mystery Worshipper to visit, no? ...
Don't you mean 'nu?' ![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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venbede
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# 16669
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Posted
And the Methodist church at Great Walsingham is now the Russsian Orthodox church of the Transfiguration.
The former church of the Agapemonites in Clapton is now a church of the Georgian Orthodox.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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