c. 1997 Religion News Service

(Tom Ehrich is an Episcopal priest in Winston-Salem, N.C., an author and former Wall Street Journal reporter. E-mail him at journey(at)interpath.com)

UNDATED _ As I make the journey from pulpit to pew, a nagging question keeps arising: How did Christians become so wedded to their buildings?

The word”church”has become so linked with physical property that if you said,”There’s a church ahead,”people would look for a steeple, not a gathering of believers.

It has been like this for centuries _ ever since newly acceptable Christians began converting Roman temples into places for Christian worship. Even church”planters”launching new congregations take it for granted they will need facilities some day, believing they won’t be a”real church”until they undertake”bricks and mortar.” I know I bought into that mindset. As a pastor, I considered it essential not only to care for inherited facilities, but to expand, to renovate, to create larger and larger sanctuaries, classrooms, parish halls and offices.

I now believe I was wrong. More than two years after leaving parish ministry, I am convinced our facilities hold us back.

Buildings do much good, no question about it, from housing the homeless to providing the faithful a friendly place to honor God. Many a heart is turned just sitting in a hushed sanctuary as sunlight filters through stained glass. Many a pilgrim has fallen to his knees beneath a Gothic vault.

Church buildings house our memories _ weddings, baptisms, funerals _ and are themselves baptized by our tears.

But on balance, I have come to believe church buildings do us more harm than good.

Buildings propel the wrong people into church leadership. We choose property managers as leaders: men and women who have demonstrable skills in managing money, conserving endowments, keeping debts and expenses in line, and anticipating building repair needs.

The impractical, dreamy and foolishly generous whom Jesus himself chose for leadership never make it in church elections. Parishioners with gifts like healing, prayer and teaching are certainly valued, but they are rarely put in charge because the property requires lawyers, bankers and businessmen to make the important decisions.

Leadership meetings focus on property, not on the congregation’s spiritual well-being. Property dominates church spending. The budget share devoted to property maintenance far outweighs spending on missions, children, the hungry, the naked, or any of those mentioned in Matthew 25.

We build churches the same way we build houses and office towers: to proclaim ourselves. Church buildings reflect our tastes and our wealth.

We say we do it for God, but Jesus called people away from property, not toward it. It’s hard to think of a single teaching requiring construction of a five-story steeple, or an interior adorned with gold and marble, or thrones for bishops, or altars so high and inaccessible the”heavy laden”wouldn’t think of drawing near, even if the doors were unlocked.

Jesus said his followers would have no homes _ we build bastions of permanence and then argue about who gets to use them. Jesus broke down barriers _ we build churches resembling castles. Jesus told the rich young man to give away his wealth _ we amass, display and polish, then lock the doors.

Jesus gave honor to the humble and self-sacrificing _ we honor the proud with plaques. It doesn’t make any sense.

Worse than being illogical _ and non-biblical _ our buildings put us at risk of losing our calling. Jesus sent his disciples out with no pack or protection, so that, by traveling light, they would be free to speak truth and the world couldn’t control their message. By traveling heavy, we find ourselves catering to the wealthy or powerful _ the very ones whom Jesus seemed so determined to offend. We become allied with Caesar, whose tax policies are the real foundation of church giving.

If property were neutral, we could gather in our tax-exempt castles with the same freedom that marked the first Christians. But property isn’t neutral. Property rules and distorts all else. As a result, church councils argue about building-use policies and paint selections; lay leaders rein in clergy whose preaching endangers large pledges; finance committees keep wealth intact rather than giving it away; and like a homeowner trying to make an impression, congregations go deeply into debt in order to pile stone upon stone.

Christians need places to gather, but our focus should be on the gathering, not the place.

MJP END EHRICH