No, this is not a blog post about Ohio Stadium, a place deemed “sacred” by many for its association with the Fiesta Bowl-bound Ohio State Buckeyes.  It is rather a continuing look at an issue affecting both urban and rural Ohio communities -- the fate of traditional religious buildings erected by mainline denominational congregations that now face declining numbers and declining resources.

Last October, we introduced this challenge in a discussion of historic church buildings in Lebanon, Cleveland Heights and Columbus.  The intervening year has seen the continuation of this trend with differing results, some dependent on the nature of canon law in a particular denomination.

The Roman Catholic Church in Ohio is facing this problem head-on.  The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland launched a “Vibrant Life” initiative some seven years ago to address the problem of declining congregations.  At present, in fact, some 37 percent of Diocesan parishes operate in the red, most of them custodians of large buildings at least 100 years old.  Plans submitted by local congregational clusters, such as that recently completed by Catholic churches in Summit County, call for the closure of multiple congregations with such buildings.

In several denominations, canon law dictates that church buildings belong not to local congregations, but rather to the diocese, conference or presbytery.  In such “non-congregational” denominations, such as the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church, local congregations actually hold their buildings in trust for the larger body.  In Pottersburg, a rural Union County community, this arrangement means that the three remaining members of the local United Methodist Church have transferred their landmark building to the larger body, which may sell the property to fund church efforts in the area, according to this recent Columbus Dispatch story.

Two such transactions in the last five years demonstrate the ability of local congregations and denominational bodies to recognize the ties between their buildings and local communities in such situations.  As profiled this October, Preservation Ohio’s first preservation easement was obtained on a church building in Genoa, Ottawa County, whose independent congregation was faced with selling their building for likely demolition.

A unique and pacesetting arrangement was recently completed in Galion.  This past year, the landmark Grace Episcopal Church, an 1875 structure designed by well-known Episcopal church architect Gordon W. Lloyd, faced an unknown future when the local parish faced declining numbers.  Realizing the inevitability of the situation but at the same time seeking to preserve their historic church structure, the local parish worked closely with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio to achieve a first-of-its-kind arrangement leading to the long-term preservation of the building.  In this arrangement, Grace Church itself was deeded to the Galion Historical Society in exchange for cash proceeds to the Diocese and a perpetual, rent-free lease for the sanctuary space given to the local parish for as long as it is in operation.  The Society, in turn, has moved ahead with building improvements, and will be turning the parish hall area into a permanent meeting facility.  The result is a win-win solution for everyone involved, and was celebrated shortly before Christmas with a community-based music concert.

Photo: Concert at Grace Episcopal Church, Galion, December 2008 - Preservation Ohio File Photo