John,
Even if you're not the religious type, you'd probably be a little melancholy about the idea of tearing down a beautiful, historic church. I've been surprised by the number of people who have reached out to me about Chapter 10 (An Intentional Life) of my book, Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity
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where I write about my neighborhood church. Religious sites are places of the heart. We all intuitively get that.
Yet, melancholy turns to shake-your-head sorrow when you learn that one Michigan town is not only losing its historic church, but the site is being redeveloped with (subsidized) storage sheds.
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This is a story of self-harm, a community intentionally devaluing itself with its development practices until it reaches the logical (near) end game.
Tearing down an historic cathedral to build storage units that will house our excess material goods is about the perfect metaphor for modern society. And, too often, the modern Church. Those of us who value the yolk of a parish—the calling to dwell beside, in communion with others—must recognize how fragile it is, how the work is essential to both the experience and also the future we all like to believe we’re passing on.
We can all do better with a Strong Towns approach. I'm happy you're here with us, joining thousands of others working to make it happen.
-Chuck
PS - Some of those thousands are making their way to our community site at community.strongtowns.org
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. I spent some time this weekend answering questions there. You can ask your own or, if you've got an insight, make the world a little better by providing answers to someone looking for them.
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