MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The pews were rocking at Holy Trinity on a recent Sunday as worshipers from the Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation sang and danced…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The pews were rocking at Holy Trinity on a recent Sunday as worshipers from the Minnesota Swahili Christian Congregation sang and danced beneath the lofty, dark-wood-trimmed ceilings and lively stained-glass windows. Established in the 1920s, the magnificent house of worship once hosted one of the largest Lutheran congregations in the country but has dwindled to just 200 regular Sunday worshippers today. To remain vibrant, the founding congregation has increasingly opened its historic doors to serve a variety of community needs, from the Swahili-language services to functioning as a makeshift emergency medical center during protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. “In the last two years, it’s become even clearer to me that the Spirit has been guiding us in places where we never imagined going on our own,” said Ingrid Rasmussen, Holy Trinity’s lead pastor. Across the U.S., historic urban churches built decades ago to accommodate hundreds or thousands of worshippers and bulging Sunday school classes have struggled with shrinking flocks and rising preservation costs. Many are finding new ways to use their buildings that let them keep those sacred places viable while serving the neighborhoods they’ve anchored for decades. In Minneapolis, landmark churches have hosted everything from food pantries and Finnish language classes to tai-chi practices and group discussions on reparations. Elsewhere in the country, they’ve rented space for events or programs like preschools, bringing in much-needed revenue, and also made their buildings available for free to community group gatherings as diverse as nutrition clinics and arts workshops. Historic religious buildings are not just civic and cultural landmarks but crucial social centers, with non-congregants making up an estimated 90% of the people they serve, according to Bob Jaeger, president of Partners for Sacred Places. The nonprofit helps religious institutions nationwide make plans and raise money to repurpose their spaces for a different era, and Jaeger sees plenty of room for more to be done in that area. “Congregations have enormous civic value but are often underused,” he said. Surveys show the United States keeps growing more secular, with overall membership and churchgoing on the decline. Fewer souls in the pews means less money coming in to pay for staffing, upkeep and programs, forcing many smaller congregations to sell their buildings. The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated those problems by further shrinking attendance.
