Faith Today - September/October 2012

in the public interest
Why should the public pay for our
churches?

europe is filled with beautiful historic churches, from Iona to Istanbul, from St. Peter’s to St. Paul’s, from Gaudí’s to St. Giles. Too many of them, alas, are now empty or close to it, even on Sunday mornings. Most have stood for hundreds of years, but this next century will see many more of them succumb to acid rain, deferred maintenance, urban renewal or a vanished congregation.

Tourists often confront a collection box at the back of
such churches with a sign eliciting help from the public
for the church’s upkeep. Having toured an architectural
wonder, or perhaps at least a curiosity,
What, however, can be said on behalf
of Canada’s churches? What argument
can be made for public support for them?
A few warrant preservation for historical
or aesthetic reasons, important elements
of our cultural heritage. But most don’t.

Evangelicals like to say, however, that the church isn’t the building – it’s the people. And most Evangelicals build churches accordingly – not as enduring monuments of faith, nor as richly endowed encouragements to worship, but as functional auditoriums, educational facilities, social rooms and the like.

That’s fine by me. Such buildings accurately represent our priorities, just as the churches of Europe’s past centuries represent the values of their sponsors.

Yet many of us want public support for our church buildings in Canada today. We want favourable tax codes, zoning and parking regulations. We want to be free to serve the hungry in our kitchens and the homeless in our gymnasiums in whatever way we think best.

As Canada continues to move away from its Christian century (1860-1960), however, many Evangelicals are still not prepared to make a public case for this public support.

Growing congregations complain they can’t get approval for the bigger parking lots they want, but also can’t articulate why their neighbours should put up with dozens or even hundreds more cars moving through residential streets.

Socially minded churches want to care for the needy of their cities, but then complain about complying with civic codes of health and public safety.

Worship leaders whine about persecution from “the world” when area residents insist noise bylaws be enforced as the worship band kicks it up to jet engine levels.

Street evangelists claim the protection of free speech when they set up anywhere they like – including leafy residential blocks or quiet city parks – with amplifiers blasting sermons into the ears of fellow citizens who didn’t sign up for a gospel rally.

And Christian organizations feel the financial bite of their employees failing to qualify for clerical allowances in income tax when few or none of their employees actually work as pastors.

As Canada approaches its 150th birthday, we Christians need to work with our fellow citizens to forge the bonds of a better multiculturalism, to shape a new community of diversity that will keep the State from over-regulating our lives while allowing it to do its proper job of framing a context in which we all can flourish. Certain groups such as The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (the publisher of Faith Today) are already hard at work in that regard, and we need to support their efforts.

Let’s all of us, and particularly leaders of Christian organizations, keep learning how to think publicly. Let’s keep putting the shoe on the other foot, turning the tables, making sure we are not asking favours for ourselves that we would not grant fellow Canadians of a different outlook.

There is often much to be said for public benefits to be given and allowances to be made for Christian churches and other organizations. So let’s offer such an argument whenever we can. Few of our churches are lovely relics of a bygone time, but most are vital sites of important community life.

If we can’t come up with a good reason for the public to support what we do, we should no longer expect public support. It’s as simple as that. FT

Most Evangelicals
build churches –
not as enduring
monuments
of faith, nor as
richly endowed
encouragements
to worship, but
as functional
auditoriums,
educational
facilities, social
rooms and the like.