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Old 01-04-2014, 01:36 PM
 
Location: San Antonio Texas
11,431 posts, read 18,957,032 times
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Texas (where I'm originally from) is Bible Belt country. Churches build enormous buildings everywhere!! I notice that older churches seem to be much smaller, but more architecturally pleasing and distinctive. The newer churches are typically on the outskirts of a city, but become "in the heart of it" once the population grows. They are typically HUGE lots of land with gawdy, grandiose building styles. Do the church business owners have a strategy of buying cheaper property, holding on to it and then building when the time is right?
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Old 01-04-2014, 02:07 PM
 
19,942 posts, read 17,128,555 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wehotex View Post
Texas (where I'm originally from) is Bible Belt country. Churches build enormous buildings everywhere!! I notice that older churches seem to be much smaller, but more architecturally pleasing and distinctive. The newer churches are typically on the outskirts of a city, but become "in the heart of it" once the population grows. They are typically HUGE lots of land with gawdy, grandiose building styles. Do the church business owners have a strategy of buying cheaper property, holding on to it and then building when the time is right?
Is there a problem with the idea of an inner city church buying land in the anticipation of planting a new church or moving down the road? Other organizations are allowed to do the same thing...why not a church?
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Old 01-04-2014, 02:37 PM
 
18,217 posts, read 16,826,516 times
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Churches are corporations like any other corporation. Their Boards make business decisions based upon investment and return like any other corporation. I think this idea that a church is money-oriented is a red-herring. Jesus commanded us to invest our money wisely. I think that is what church leaders are doing: being good stewards.
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Old 01-04-2014, 03:06 PM
 
Location: New Jersey, USA
618 posts, read 539,033 times
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Originally Posted by thrillobyte View Post
Churches are corporations like any other corporation.
Hello thrillobyte.

They aren't quite "like any other corporation," are they? As folks here have pointed out on more than one occasion, they don't pay taxes like any other corporation would.

Thanks.
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Old 01-04-2014, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Northeastern US
19,802 posts, read 13,347,556 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wehotex View Post
Texas (where I'm originally from) is Bible Belt country. Churches build enormous buildings everywhere!! I notice that older churches seem to be much smaller, but more architecturally pleasing and distinctive. The newer churches are typically on the outskirts of a city, but become "in the heart of it" once the population grows. They are typically HUGE lots of land with gawdy, grandiose building styles. Do the church business owners have a strategy of buying cheaper property, holding on to it and then building when the time is right?
They don't "plot". That is a loaded term, is it not? They "plan", as any organization would. Sometimes more wisely than others, like any organization does.

Most viable churches understand their demographic enough to locate themselves for maximum effect. In my experience, though, a church's eschatology matters. The inside joke in many evangelical circles is that the mainline denominations build cathedrals for the ages, since their mission is to inexorably create the kingdom of god on earth. By contrast, believing as we did that Jesus was surely returning in the near future, we built pole barns to last no more than a generation.

There are also plenty of struggling storefront-type churches that are stillborn because the founders were chasing some imagined "word from the Lord" that made no sense in terms of actually attracting and holding families with $$ to support them. The truth is, it's all over the map.
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Old 01-04-2014, 03:33 PM
 
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From a property tax standpoint I believe they are only tax exempt if the property is used for religious purposes, and if they lease/rent it for any other purpose, they also have to pay taxes.

How many towns and cities that are bankrupt, or have had to severely cut essential services (fire, police) would be solvent if all churches, mosques, synagogs, etc. paid taxes.
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Old 01-04-2014, 03:49 PM
 
Location: San Antonio Texas
11,431 posts, read 18,957,032 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thrillobyte View Post
Churches are corporations like any other corporation. Their Boards make business decisions based upon investment and return like any other corporation. I think this idea that a church is money-oriented is a red-herring. Jesus commanded us to invest our money wisely. I think that is what church leaders are doing: being good stewards.
Where in the bible does it say that?
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Old 01-04-2014, 03:55 PM
 
Location: San Antonio Texas
11,431 posts, read 18,957,032 times
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Originally Posted by Vizio View Post
Is there a problem with the idea of an inner city church buying land in the anticipation of planting a new church or moving down the road? Other organizations are allowed to do the same thing...why not a church?
Nothing wrong with it, but why do they gobble up so much valuable land? This deprives cities of valuable tax base and contributes to suburban sprawl by using up land where presumably more homes could be built. Older churches seem more conservative in their approach.
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Old 01-04-2014, 04:02 PM
 
Location: Freakville
511 posts, read 489,539 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wehotex View Post
Nothing wrong with it, but why do they gobble up so much valuable land? This deprives cities of valuable tax base and contributes to suburban sprawl by using up land where presumably more homes could be built. Older churches seem more conservative in their approach.
Why wouldn't they?
If it's indeed valuable...that would make it a good investment.
I assume the land is typically sold on the open market so maybe you can put a group of investors together to buy up land to give you the vehicle to increase your tax burden. That should help your deprived city.
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Old 01-08-2014, 08:52 AM
 
19,942 posts, read 17,128,555 times
Reputation: 2014
Quote:
Originally Posted by wehotex View Post
Nothing wrong with it, but why do they gobble up so much valuable land? This deprives cities of valuable tax base and contributes to suburban sprawl by using up land where presumably more homes could be built. Older churches seem more conservative in their approach.
Define "so much". Honestly...I have no idea of the specifics you're speaking of.

However, having said that, I was once a part of a megachurch that started in a tent in a downtown environment. They met downtown in a building for quite some time before buying some land in the suburbs and moving out. So you had an 80 year old church moving to the burbs. Just like any organization wants to move where the people are, is it wrong to think a church would want to be where the people are?
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