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.
No. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Maybe if you’re in a city? My local rural library does jack shit, it just has a few shelves and a computer lab. That’s not community, not the way the local rural church is with soup kitchens and holiday events.
It sounds like your library is underfunded, but you should check with them anyway because they probably are doing things, you just don’t hear about them for various reasons. Local governments love to cut library funds and then use the lack of use to cut it further, and making it hard to know what events your library does is part of that.
My local library suffers from the same issue, but we at least have a community center the town built with meeting rooms and a gym that you can use for events. The closest city just renovated one of their libraries to include a second floor with meeting rooms and a cafe. I think another one had kitchen space added to it.
Churches are really just community space that got a pass from conservatives and capitalists in the rush to commidify every part of the human experience.
Every library is underfunded, and yes, that’s because the right hates communal spaces. We don’t have a community center, there’s like, 1200 people spread out over a 15 mile strip of seven different villages. There’s the church, and nothing else.
Skill issue. The local library in my home town does a readalong every weekend and a bunk fund every month.