Church Membership Down: Churches Sell Property

Wow! We've heard  for a while now that church membership is way down.  But this story in the New York Times offers more proof that churches are in trouble.

Here the Rev. Peter Morales of the Unitarian Universalist Association walks down the grand staircase of the church's Beacon Hill property in Boston. Like church properties elsewhere, Unitarians are selling this property and moving to a less  glitzy part of Boston. Denominations like the Unitarians are selling valuable properties and downsizing for a number of reasons, according to the New York Times.

Those reasons include poor finances and the need for more contemporary office space.  But The Times suggests that the real reason for the sales has to do with the increasing secularization of the United States.

Unitarians are not alone. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are selling 34 properties in Brooklyn. The United Methodists are selling thier publishing house and other properties in Nashville. The American Baptist Churches in King of Prussia, Pa are renting part of their space. The Reform Jewish movement are sellling one of their floors in Manhattan.