[Ann Alison]

I was looking at Vermont houses on realtor.com and a couple of them were...churches. I understand why - a lot of younger people don't go to church. But can someone tell me if the churches are closing willy nilly or if they're just downsizing and the people are congregating (haha) in the larger towns? Depending on the sect, of course, is it planned downsizing or is it just "we gotta close because nobody's coming"?

[harry chickpea]

I'll try to keep this from veering into politics, but it has to touch on that briefly.

The smaller churches are closing up all around. Even here in Alabama there are numbers of abandoned ones. In the day, travel was restricted and churches served the local community. Five or ten extended families might make up the core of a church. Economics no longer supports those, and the elderly church goers have died off.

There is some consolidation, and the churches that offer schooling and a variety of activities do well. It is common to see the multiplex movie theatres repurposed into churches, if that gives you an idea of scale.

The Catholic Church in Vermont has been shriveling and closing locations. Part of that relates to the sex scandals, part to changes in demographics.

The increasing venturing of churches into political platforms has been hailed by some, but infuriated and disenfranchised a lot as well. That is best discussed elsewhere.

Something else that you may not be considering - in many areas of the country, buildings are expendable and abandoned to rot. This is much less prevalent in Vermont, and repurposing is a tradition. There are homes that used to be barns, I know of people living in old railway stations, and past camps have turned into full time dwellings. It is inevitable that churches would be included in the shifts.

[Ann Alison]

Thanks, Harry.

[Suesbal]

Church attendance in Vermont has been low for quite a while.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/181601/...t-vermont.aspx

[Ann Alison]

Originally Posted by Suesbal

Church attendance in Vermont has been low for quite a while.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/181601/...t-vermont.aspx

Wow, I had no idea. And that's from 2015; it's probably lower now.

[Suesbal]

The Protestant denominations that dominate New England (Congregationalist, Unitarianism) have experienced membership decline over the decades. Which is ironic since they tend to be the most liberal.

[Riley.]

There are several churches up my way in northern VT that used to be fairly well attended by the older crowd. Methodist and one or two Catholic churches.
I don't know of any younger people who attend church or express any belief in a God. I believe they are taught that there is 'no such thing.' The trouble I see is that these folks have no spiritual underpinnings to 'guide' their lives - not that you need religion to be a moral and good person, not at all, but they have nothing. They are swimming in the void with no anchor in sight. IMO

[Boston_Burbs]

The town I live in is 2,000 people and as of a few years ago had 6 churches ( 3 congregational, 2 Methodist, 1 baptist). That’s way too many for a population that size to maintain 1800s buildings. One church has given away one of their two buildings because they don’t want to spend all of their energy maintaining them.

[Hollytree]

Originally Posted by Riley.

I don't know of any younger people who attend church or express any belief in a God. I believe they are taught that there is 'no such thing.' The trouble I see is that these folks have no spiritual underpinnings to 'guide' their lives - not that you need religion to be a moral and good person, not at all, but they have nothing. They are swimming in the void with no anchor in sight. IMO

They don't have to have "nothing". Moral codes can be readily taught by parents and not tied to religion. I don't know of any atheists who are "swimming in the void with no anchor in sight". As others have pointed out, church attendance has been declining nation wide.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

They don't have to have "nothing". Moral codes can be readily taught by parents and not tied to religion. I don't know of any atheists who are "swimming in the void with no anchor in sight". As others have pointed out, church attendance has been declining nation wide.

A void would have been better than my experience with the Catholic church.