Repurposed

Two weeks of driving on the left side of city and country roads of Scotland could lead a person to prayer or to drink.  And because so many churches have been repurposed as pubs in the land of bag pipes and plaid, drinking might be the better bet.

Scotland is lovely; but the more gorgeous it gets, the more twisting and narrow the roads which transport the traveler.  And throughout this nation, in village after town after city, churches no longer are places for conversion of souls.  Many are closed; many others have themselves been converted….. into shops, restaurants, information or community centers, and taverns.

There are websites devoted almost exclusively to listing properties once occupied by the Church of Scotland.  For sale are hundreds of buildings without sufficient congregants to be sustained.  Approximately 60 percent of Scots now identify themselves as non-religious…..a 50 percent increase in less than 20 years.  More weddings are performed outside any church than in.

Scotland may be among the leaders but is by no means alone in these trends.  We have observed much the same in many Western European countries, and we see it often in the USA.

Recently, just off the main road in the small town of Milton, Wisconsin, I spotted a 130-year old church building which once housed a Methodist congregation but has recently been converted into several specialty shops.  You can get breakfast, lunch and Charming B’s coffee, facials by Laura, and “body work” at the Cat Walk Salon.

After 138 years of operation, nearby Milton College closed due to financial pressures in 1982, and those buildings have been incorporated into a historical district, which Milton has reason to celebrate.  A hexagonal stage coach inn built in 1884 is said to be the oldest concrete building still standing in the USA.  It’s also one of the 14 recognized stations of the Underground Railroad which facilitated passage of freed or escaped slaves.

Milton, Wisconsin is named after “Paradise Lost” poet John Milton which, noting the demise of the town’s college and central church, is either ironic or prophetic, depending on your orientation.

JER