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When I lived in Maryland there was a big brouhaha over whether a public high school graduation should be held at a mega church. A handful of people griped and naturally, the small minority sought to have its way over the majority and the head school guy was caving into pressure. The reason for having it at the mega-church were the kids could get more tickets for friends and relatives, there was ample free parking, it was cheaper, the church was located right off the highway and if I'm not mistaken, there was a cry room for people who brought babies. For some reason, other space was unavailable because another school got to it first. I don't remember how it turned out. I heard about it on a local talk radio program where they spent a whole show discussing it.
I belong to a nonfiction book group that meets in a church meeting room as do 2 other book groups affiliated with a continuing education program (think retirees). The community college, where classes are normally scheduled for the program, isn't open all year and we meet every month. A Lutheran Church offered us its meeting room for free which I think was very nice of them. The other 2 book groups meet at different churches.
I don't see a problem with it. Oh, and my graduation ceremony (850 kids) back in 1969 was held in an arena right after the circus was there and it smelled like animals and animal poop.
Right now we are having a huge fight here over public high schools holding graduation ceremonies in churches. The arguments FOR having the ceremony in a church are:
1. The church is cheaper. It cost about $2000 vs $40,000 for a 5000+ seat secular arena.
2. The church does not participate in the ceremony and no religious literature is distributed.
The arguments AGAINST having the ceremony in a church are:
1. Non Christian students do not feel comfortable there. In fact one Jewish girl refused to go to her graduation.
2. Public money should not be going to a church in any amount.
I can see both sides of the issue myself. I understand why the Jews are upset. First of all, graduations here are ALWAYS on Saturday during the day which is the Jewish Holy Day. Secondly, they are ALWAYS in a Christian church. I don't think that is right.
On the other hand, if they have to be held in a secular arena, the schools will have to charge higher fees and probably charge for tickets for family members who attend the event. I don't think that is right either.
So I am in the middle.
Public dollars should NOT support a religion that is antagonistic or indifferent to a group or groups of taxpayers.
Churches are BUILDINGS...if they have usable space and want to provide it to others then whats the problem? I also have no problem with public schools being used for church services when school is not in session. That happens A LOT. It's a big old waste to let perfectly good buildings sit empty.
Our public high school shares a parking structure with the church next door and holds several events there during the year. Band performances, etc. Nothing religious about any of it but they have seats and a stage so why not? No Jewish person, or OTHER, has had a problem with it. It's not like anyone is going to preach to them or anything.
So, what I get from the posters here is that it's just a building so who cares where it's held. Would you all feel the same way if it was held in a Mosque, or a Buddhist temple, or a B'hia temple? After all, if it's just a building...
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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The "church" is not a building but the group of believers that occupy the building for worship as far as I'm concerned so I see no issues with utilizing the church facilities if using the church is cheaper and if the local decision-makers are ok with it. Why would taxpayers want to spend more having a graduation ceremony in a secular facility?
So, what I get from the posters here is that it's just a building so who cares where it's held. Would you all feel the same way if it was held in a Mosque, or a Buddhist temple, or a B'hia temple? After all, if it's just a building...
I would feel the same way. If religion is not being endorsed, who cares what the building is usually used for.
However, I still don't understand why you'd waste money renting a building from a private entity. Where I went to high school, the school district uses its football stadium for all 5 high schools' graduations (they stagger them over a week). In the event of rain, it's moved to the school gym (and attendees are limited). The neighboring school district - Denver Public Schools - uses the Colorado Convention Center for it's graduations. Other suburban school districts use public facilities at various state universities. In these cases, the state lets the school districts use the public facilities for free (except for cleaning costs).
I don't think you realize how large many of these high schools are. I graduated from a suburban Atlanta high school in 2006 and we had a graduating class of 800 (bigger than my college class). Our stadium would not hold the 6 people per graduate, much less the graduates themselves! Plus it's late May which can range from a humid 95 degrees outside to a monsoon. Not smart.
We graduated in the Gwinnett Arena, a venue about an hour away from my house with the traffic. It's an indoor stadium used to house concerts like Lady Gaga, for size reference.
I would not have attended my graduation had it been held in a mega-church. For many Jews and other minority religions in the South, those are symbols of trauma that we experienced growing up there. If you could find a church building with no crosses on the walls, the Bibles removed, no reference to religion then perhaps. However, are they going to cover all the crosses in the building? Probably not.
Megachurches are particularly odious and they are the only ones large enough to house the graduating classes.
So, what I get from the posters here is that it's just a building so who cares where it's held. Would you all feel the same way if it was held in a Mosque, or a Buddhist temple, or a B'hia temple? After all, if it's just a building...
Of course. Do you think the brick and morter hold some magical religious powers? Almost all the building around here can be multi-use. In fact, I think they plan it that way. If they have an auditorium large enough to hold a lot of people they will probably rent it out since they aren't using it all the time.
Our school, for graduation, either uses the football field or rents space at a nearby fairground that has permenant stadium seating and a stage. I hear it cost about the same either way.
My high school graduation was at the local high school football stadium.
I can see why a church would be bad (and I'm not so secular that I want nativity displays removed during Christmas), but I dont think they should be at churches
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