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Churches also suffer in bad economy

Pastor Mike Rhodehamel speaks to the congregation at Faith Alive Church on Sunday, Aug. 29. The church lost its building, the former Ridgeville Community Church, in foreclosure.

E.L. Hubbard/Contributing photographer Pastor Mike Rhodehamel speaks to the congregation at Faith Alive Church on Sunday, Aug. 29. The church lost its building, the former Ridgeville Community Church, in foreclosure.

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Churches not exempt from nation’s foreclosure problems

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By Lawrence Budd, Staff Writer Updated 10:11 PM Saturday, September 4, 2010

CLEARCREEK TWP. — Within two miles along Ohio 48 in northern Warren County, “For Sale” signs in front of two churches advertise the expected end of more than 200 years of history.

Pekin Road Baptist Church and the former Ridgeville Community Church both lost their properties in foreclosures and are looking for smaller facilities.

“We’re tenants and not landowners,” said Pastor Don Rhodehamel from his office in Ridgeville at the newly renamed Faith Alive Church. “It’s a tough life.”

Around the country, congregations are struggling to stay vital in a bad economy as people continue to change when, where and how much they worship.

In response to shifts in population, dwindling financial resources and declining memberships, two of the Dayton area’s oldest synagogues — Beth Abraham and Beth Jacob — are in the midst of merger talks, while Catholic dioceses in the Miami Valley and nationwide have been closing parishes and merging memberships.

“Churches in our country are voluntary organizations. They are supported by their members,” said Ava Chamberlain, a professor of American religious history at Wright State University. “In order to stay in business, they have to attract members just as a business has to attract customers. If churches stop attracting members, they go out of business. In a sense, you’ve got this competitive marketplace in the U.S.”

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