God ≠ Church Building

I absolutely love church buildings, especially ones that are ornate with stained glass windows. But even in the “plain” church buildings or in the buildings that were repurposed to be a church but were originally a storefront, cafe etc, there is beauty. Church buildings-whatever their shape and form have been witnesses to baptisms, funerals, weddings, and to the ordinariness of daily life.  Memories and history are tied to church buildings. And as someone who has studied history, I know the importance of preservation. 

And yet…at the end of the day, a church building is still…just a building. Again, don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to feel attached to a building and to be heartbroken when the building falls into disrepair, is sold, or is destroyed. The problem arises when the church building becomes an idol leading us to hold onto-theology or take actions that are at best problematic and at worst oppressive. 

For example, many Mainline Protestant Churches are grappling with the reality that the heydays of the 1950s and 60s are truly over. Sure there are examples of individual congregations thriving and growing, but many other congregations are having to make difficult decisions about the future.

 And in this scenario it is easy to want to grasp onto the church building and the status quo for as long as possible.  And this desperation can contribute to those within the congregation making decisions that will keep them alive for the short term but may only hasten their demise in the long term. 

Imagine a  congregation that may have a healthy endowment but only a handful of worshippers. This congregation can see that their end is near and yet if they just hold onto the building and onto their endowment, they can pretend that everything is alright. Only five people attend Sunday service? That’s fine, the building and endowment still exist.

They hold onto their endowment and pay their pastor and staff a pittance, they support one or two community programs but refuse to even entertain the possibility of new ones. The gospel isn’t preached in the community. And let’s be honest, it’s barely preached within the church walls as the congregation's sole goal is maintaining the building-though how it will exist without volunteers or paid staff is not quite explained. 

In this scenario, the church building is slowly but surely becoming a monument to the glorious past: the 10 or 20 years where it seemed Mainline Protestant Christianity was growing and would never stop.  The building serves as a bitter reminder of better days and a naive hope that things could go back to the way they were. 

But this belief not only hurts individual congregations, but it ignores the way God is moving. For a faith based on death and resurrection, many Christians remain terrified of death. But the letting of a church building, as painful as it may be-does not mean that God is not working nor does it negate all the beautiful memories in that church. Instead, we might have to search a little bit harder and listen a little bit deeper for how God can turn death into new life. 

While some congregations and denominations have decided to sell their buildings and land to companies that build expensive condos that lead to the continued removal of the marginalized and a scarcity of affordable housing (a decision based less on the gospel and more on greed and selfishness), others have put their faith into practice: they have used the profits of sold buildings to create nonprofits or support existing ones, or to provide scholarships, or to support new and nontraditional ministries that do not always get denominational support. Or they have sold their buildings at a loss to other congregations serving predominantly Black and brown members, or to local community groups advocating for a more just future. 

Congregations who have taken such steps love their church buildings and cherish the histories and memories made. But they know that such memories and evidence of God’s faithfulness need not be tied to the physical building. They also trust in a God who has defeated death.

Mainline Protestant Christians need to understand that while God has worked in and through them, God has also been found outside of their denominational boxes. The death of white Protestant Mainline Christianity is not in fact, the death of Christianity but only one subset.  The “death” of a church building is not in fact the death of the Church. 

Yes, God continues to do new and beautiful things within Mainline Protestant Christianity and within traditional church buildings. But God is and always has been working outside those walls.  When congregations and denominations neglect that reality, they only harm themselves.

Another example of how harmful it is to turn a church building into an idol can be seen in the responses to a Catholic Church that survived the wildfires in Maui even though everything else around it has been scorched. And some Christians are claiming that this is a “miracle” and evidence of God’s care.  To be honest, this viewpoint only makes sense with a theology that a) views God as a puppet master that controls all and 2) values property (sacred property but property nonetheless) as more valuable than human life. 

The Maui fires led to the deaths of over 100 people, with that number expected to rise over the next few days. The Maui police chief describes the devastation: “When we find these – you know, our family and our friends – the remains we're finding is through a fire that melted metal. We have to do rapid DNA to identify them.” He also explained that walking through the devastation one not only encounters ashes and debris but human remains: “It’s not just ash on your clothing when you take it off. It’s our loved ones.”

Those who survived have lost their homes, their livelihood, their pets, and friends and family members. Their lives as they have known it is irrevocably disrupted. And yet, according to the theology espoused by some Christians, God, who could have intervened in saving the lives of over 100 people, decided instead to save a church building? 

Again, not to diminish the importance of a 100-plus-year-old church. But a church building-no matter how old or ancient,  is in no way comparable to even one of the people killed in the Maui fires. Each of the people killed was precious, made in the image of God.  No matter their age, gender identity, sexual orientation, or economic status. A church building can be rebuilt. But the lives lost are gone forever. 

A God that would save a church building while allowing people to die a horrific death is not a God worth serving. 

The church standing is not a sign of “hope” or of God’s presence, but instead a demonstration of the vapidness and shallowness of many Christian responses to suffering. Yes, I believe in a God that is everywhere. But instead of looking for God in a church building that just happened to survive such devastating loss, look for God in those seeking to help those suffering. Look for God in the anguished screams of those who have lost everything. Look for God in those spending hours sifting through remains. 

For too many Christians, church buildings have become idols that instead of reflecting God, are a hindrance to truly seeing and experiencing God. The desire to hold onto church buildings has led to dying congregations desperately hoping for a bygone era to emerge as they increasingly become irrelevant. It has also led to horrific theology that says that God saved a church building while allowing everything and everyone else to be destroyed. 

Image: Inside of a beautiful, ornate church. Text: At the end of the day, a church building is still…just a building