Sharing church buildings

philologos

I was reading this article on the Times website, concerning how the Catholic Church has begun to give permission to the Church of England services taking place in Roman Catholic church buildings in France.

On a personal note I think that sharing church buildings could be a positive for the development of Christianity and it could encourage better ecumenical relations between different denominations.

Although issues such as same-sex unions, and gay priests have left many Catholics wondering about how ecumenical relations with Anglicans can work, there has been a closer relationship between the two churches recently.

Just wondering, what do the rest of you think? Sharing church buildings between denominations, yay or nay?

karenk83

On a personal level, I have a lot of issues with the doctrine in Roman Catholic teaching as I feel it takes the emphasis away from Jesus Christ as our saviour. I am referring to the action of praying to the virgin Mary and many saints. Surely the only person we should be praying to is God in Jesus' name? I feel that this doctrine is reflected in the building in a Roman Catholic church i.e. the statues etc. I feel that this is a reason which would prevent me personally from using a Roman Catholic building for worship, as I want to focus on God not an image of the virgin Mary.

There is also the symbol of the crucifixion. As a believer in the risen Christ I do not like the use of the symbol of Jesus on the cross, but prefer the plain symol of a cross. The crucifixion itself is over. Jesus is risen. We should symbolise his risen life, not his death and focus on salvation through him. As a Roman Catholic building generally has crucifixes in it this would also prevent me using it for worship.

I am saying this as a personal opinion and I hope that nobody takes offence from it.

homer911

This is a phenomenon we are seeing more of in Ireland, but I havent seen any instances of it involving the Roman Catholic churches - probably because these tend to be very large churches and new churches interested in sharing existing premises will be smaller by definition.

The Presbyterian and Methodist churches have a long history of going one step further and rotate their ministers in a single combined church where numbers are small.

I know of a few Presbyterian churches which open their doors to African churches on a Sunday afternoon or evening (if no evening service)

Most of the newer churches are happy to rent space in hotels or community halls, or even space in an office block. There is one evangelical church in Templeogue that meets in two converted semi-detached houses! (Bethany Church??)

Its also a great way for dwindling congregations to share the cost of maintaining listed buildings.

Are we likely to see more of it? Absolutely!

Is it likely to involve the Roman Catholic Churches? Quite possibly, if it hasnt happened already, but likely to be limited to some of the African churches who would be used to the iconography of the RC church.

philologos

amoro65: It's fine that you have a disagreement with Catholicism, I was more discussing about how Christian denominations should work together and if sharing church buildings was acceptable.

mdebets

I attend a church (Lutheran) where we are both on the receiving and giving end of church sharing. Our church building is leased from the Church of Ireland and we have other churches using our church building (at the moment we have only other Lutheran churches like Latvian, Estonian, Polish, etc. using our church, but we had other denominations using the church building before). We are also using church building of other churches outside of Dublin for our services.

I find that is a great opportunity, especially for smaller churches, which couldn't normally afford their own church to worship in a church rather than some other buildings.

I can't really see, how anyone could object to using a church from another denomination, as there are not too many differences in the church buildings itself (at least as long as non RC and Orthodox churches are concerned) and even with the RC and Orthodox church, I can't see too many real problems, at least as long as one is aware of what the iconography means.
The church in my home village in Germany is one that is shared by the Protestant church and the Roman Catholic church. It;s divided in the middle and the one half is used by the Protestants and the other by the Catholics. Works all very well for over 300 years.

PDN

Abbey Presbyterian Church (in Parnell Square, Dublin) allows a Romanian Pentecostal Church to use their building on Sunday nights. Also Naas Presbyterian Church allows a Brazilian Pentecostal Church to use their building on Saturday nights.

Such arrangements are mutually beneficial in that older churches with smaller congregations can get a bit of extra rental income to help with the upkeep of the building, and newer ethnic churches (which find it difficult to rent or buy property as they often have no legal standing or financial track record in Ireland) get a place to worship.

I participated in a Romanian service at a Presbyterian Church where the Presbyterian minister shared the preaching with me at a Pentecostal baptismal service.

I also had a very positive experience where a large Roman Catholic Church in County Dublin allowed a Congolese Pentecostal Church that are under my supervision to hold an all-night funeral service in their main Church building on Good Friday. The priest even came to the service, preached a short sermon and prayed with the bereaved family.