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Former Churches: Deconsecration / 'Decommissioning'?

R

raven186

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Nov 25, 2002
Messages
78
Hello

I have a query about churches – I’ve just moved house (go me, have swapped student-dom for a life of cleaning and unpacking!) and my new flat is in a converted church. I was just randomly wandering if churches can be somehow ‘decommissioned’. I should add that I’m not particularly religious, but was just curious if I was living on still consecrated ground? I could make a fortune hiring my living room out for weddings! :lol:
 
I think it might depend on the denomination of the church. Catholics and High Church Anglicans certainly deconsecrate churches when they are to be put to secular use.

I doubt if the "low churches" do any such thing as their emphasis is on the congregation rather than the buildings and ritual. At a guess, I'd say if the church had a priest it will have been deconsecrated but probably not, if it had a preacher.

:_omg:
 
I lived in an old Kensington house that had once been converted to an orthodox russian church and then converted back to a family home. Strange things happened to me there that are worth a whole new thread. Don't know if it was due to it having been a church though...
 
*gives Dingo a friendly nudge* Go on now, start that thread... :)
 
I went to school in a converted Baptist church. Our auditorium was a stripped central cathedral and the schoolmaster gave announcements from what used to be a pulpit in front of a baptismal. Now, having gone to a coed boarding school, I wouldn't say that auditorium was all that consecrated, considering its after-hours use. ;)
 
Thanks for that guys!

I know little about my new home, which is a shame - but it was built in 1812 and I love it dearly!

Thanks again for the info
 
No offence to you Raven - we all need a home - but i always think it a great shame when such buildings are given over to private hands. Even if the building is no longer a place of worship it should still be kept as a 'public edifice'. A derelict church nearby was turned into a shelter for the homeless, for example. Of course, in an ideal world they'd be study centres or non-denominational spiritual sanctuaries and keep a useful public role. Of course, we don't live in an ideal world. I confess, conversion is still far better than demolition to make room for more homes which has been the fate of many.
 
I agree with Yith, but sometimes the sadness can be mitigated by tasteful conversion. A friend of mine lives in a converted Methodist chapel in a tiny village near Newmarket. She has a large studio (she's an artist, potter and sheep-footstool maker) as well as large rooms and she wanted to be 'sympathetic' to it's previous use.

The trouble is, most of the good churches were built when there was a large attendance at church, so the building had to be large and there was the money for upkeep. But now, with dwindling church attendance, the old buildings - inefficient to run - are worth more to the church sold as real estate. The new churches (when built) are energy efficient and of a modernist design, not everyones cup of tea but understandable. Churches are architectural 'dinosaurs' but some are worth preserving, despite being expensive and space wasteful.
 
escargot said:
Yith, you probably don't approve of this then. http://www.crewe-limelight.co.uk/ :lol:
Click to expand...

Is that where the Slimelight goth club is held? Didn't see any mention on the site so i my be making t all up...

That said, at least in some sense a venue is still public...
 
S'funny, 'Slimelight' is how the venue is known locally. Sounds like a good spot for a snail to hang out!

Here are two of the terrifying staff. :shock:
limey.jpg
 
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