Manastirea Chiajna - Virtual Tour

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DOCUMENT- Bisericile demolate de Ceausescu (1977-1986)

Demolished churches in Bucharest, Romania during the communist regime

Unholy Conversion As Church Becomes A Tesco

Temple of commerce: A Tesco Express store has opened in Bournemouth, Dorset after the supermarket giant purchased a former Methodist church


Prophet exchanged for profit as Tesco opens latest convenience shop in a church!
(Bournemouth, Dorset, UK)



Shoppers who pray for cheaper groceries might just get what they wish for after a branch of Tesco opened in a former church. The building has been drastically altered to sell groceries underneath its original ornate stained glass windows. The former Westbourne Methodist Church is now selling food, alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets after the retail giant moved in. Pews have been stripped out in favour of checkouts in the controversial conversion to a Tesco Express. The move has upset some members of the community, who have criticised the latest expansion of the multi-national supermarket. The Reverend Dr Bob McKinley, former minister at the church, said it was 'sad' to see the building become a shop - but that the church had no control over whom the building was sold to. He said: 'Our main concern was the people. Although it is sad, it is only a building. 'You could say it is not appropriate to have a Tesco Express in it but once it is sold it is no longer under our control.' James Rippon, a 36-year-old accountant who lives nearby, said: 'It just seems such a shame for this beautiful building to be turned into a Tesco. 'It seems like you can't go anywhere in England today without being within spitting distance of one. 'I understand that having the building empty is no good for anyone, but it seems odd that a former church is being used to sell cigarettes, alcohol and lottery tickets. 'It feels like just another step in the increasing marginalisation of Christianity in our community. 'I suppose it represents people's priorities nowadays - the convenience of being able to buy their bread a few miles closer is more important than prayer and religion.' The decision to open the store has been supported by some members of the Westbourne Traders Association, who hope it will attract more shoppers to the area. But Rob Forbes, owner of family-run Seamoor News, said the Tesco store 'spooks you out.' He said: 'I have to cross myself every time I walk past it.'

Tills ringing, not bells: A worker hands over change to a customer

Altar-ing the church: A customer pays for his purchase at the new shop which has caused some concern in the local community

Biblical characters depicted in ornate stained glass windows now look down on shoppers browsing the aisles in the historic building near Bournemouth. But the conversion of the former Westbourne Methodist Church has divided opinion. Christians opposing the scheme have highlighted a passage in the Bible detailing Jesus' efforts to rid the Temple of Herod, saying 'Get these out of here! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise'.

Source

House (of God) for Sale (II)

3BR, 2.5BA, Pulpit, Bell Tower, $7.5M

SAN FRANCISCO
The century-old church has a pulpit, a pew and a bell tower. But instead of a congregation, the historic, red-brick structure has a single occupant, the homeowner. Siamak Akhavan purchased the 20,000-square-foot building five years ago and transformed it into an unusual single-family residence. Now, he's ready to sell. He has put the former Golden Gate Lutheran Church on the market for $7.49 million. "Some people say that it's weird and eerie, but my perspective is that this is a house of the Lord," Marcus Miller, a real estate agent representing Akhavan, told AOL News. "What better place to re-purpose and live than a house that has been blessed. One could say it's a step toward heaven."
.......
The city of San Francisco condemned the church. Attempts to sell it were unsuccessful until Akhavan, an engineer who ran a seismic retrofit company, stepped in and paid $2.25 million for it in 2007. "Face it, in our society, our values are changing and people are spending the Sabbath day differently," said Miller, the son of a Lutheran minister. Akhavan spent nearly $3 million converting the church into a 12-room single-family residence, with three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a meditation room at the top of the bell tower, a chef's kitchen and a very large living room. He said the conversion of churches to serve other purposes has become common in many parts of the world. "I travel a lot, and I see a lot of churches being transformed into houses, restaurants, even nightclubs in Europe," Akhavan told AOL News. "In Montreal, I have seen them turned into galleries. There is not as much demand for churches. The congregations hang on to it until they have to do a lot of work, and then they decide it's not worth it." The church is in a neighborhood that is zoned residential, so Akhavan could not turn it into a commercial structure. Converting the space into condominium units would have meant substantially altering the character of the building and damaging such features as the high ceiling of the nave and chancel. So he decided to turn the church into a single-family home and maintain as much of its original character as possible. He hired artists to hand-paint the coffered ceiling and restore the stained-glass windows. He spent $200,000 to put on a new roof and $400,000 to replace windows and doors. He installed skylights, restored wood floors and paneling, and created a six-car garage in one corner of the vast ground floor.

Source

 Living Room

 Master Bedroom

 Bedroom 1

 Bedroom 2

 Dining Room

Garage

 Floor Plans

Formerly the Golden Gate Lutheran Church for Sale on Zillow.com (I)

Take a look at this former church in San Francisco’s Mission District that has spared no expense for its re-do and furnishings.
It’s for sale for $7,490,000.

COMING SOON! Formerly the Golden Gate Lutheran Church, this stunning Gothic Revival style building is now one of the most extraordinary and largest single family homes in San Francisco. This one-of-a-kind property features an enormous living area that includes the original sanctuary with soaring, coffered and hand-painted ceilings, arched windows framing Dolores Park as well as most of the original stained glass windows, custom mahogany wood finishes, four fireplaces (2 wood-burning & 2 gas), a new chef's kitchen and a spacious dining room. The Master suite level features a marble Roman tub room, dressing room and incredible 360 degree views from the tower meditation room and deck. The home includes an expansive ground floor level that could be used as exhibition space, recording studio, gym and/or home office. There is also a garage that accommodates 4-6 cars.…

This is an amazingly warm and inviting space, in spite of the square footage due to all the warm wood. Incredible neighborhood with Dolores Park directly across the street and some of the hottest cafes and restaurants in San Francisco just a short block away.

Zillow.com

Falling Through Cracks / City churches are closing because they can't afford earthquake retrofitting

Even with its parapets and stained glass, Golden Gate Lutheran Church on the corner of 19th Street and Dolores in the Mission isn't the prettiest building around. Truth be told, the red-brick edifice built in 1912 has a bit of the humble workhorse about it. Nor does it attract the most worshippers. According to Pastor Ed Miller, the congregation of active members amounts to only about 35 or 40 people.
But like so many inner-city churches, it made itself relevant -- and for some people indispensable -- by filling gaps in our yawning social safety net. Until recently, it was a bustle of activity morning, noon and night. Over two dozen 12-step programs met there weekly, some with hundreds of participants.
In the past few years, the church housed a homeless shelter and a preschool. Four afternoons a week, it sponsored a drop-in program for anyone who needed a hot meal and a place to come in off the streets.
Three other churches -- two Pentecostal churches (one gay and one straight) and a Mennonite church -- shared the sanctuary for worshipping services. In the purest sense of the word, despite the small congregation, the church had become a refuge. For those without family, it offered fellowship. For those without government assistance (or enough of it), it offered food, shelter and other basic needs.
Now the building grows ever quieter as its many groups search for other places to meet. Soon the doors will close altogether. Then the church will enter a real estate no-man's-land. Why? Because it's caught between a seismic building code and a very hard place.
Golden Gate Lutheran Church is only one of over 25 places of worship and an estimated 2,500 buildings around the city that have been affected by new seismic codes for unreinforced masonry buildings. In the years since the unreinforced masonry building code was written in 1992 (generally referred to as the UMB code), most of these buildings have been brought up to code or demolished.
But an estimated 300 buildings -- including several churches and synagogues -- remain noncompliant. Feb. 15 was the deadline for bringing all buildings in San Francisco into compliance, so the city is stepping up its efforts, after granting repeated extensions to property owners.
"We try to be as fair as we can," said UMB building inspector Jerry Sullivan. "We try to make it clear to property owners what their legal responsibility is."
But for many congregations, fulfilling that legal responsibility carries too high a price.
"We just can't afford it," said Miller from his shadowy book-lined office off the sanctuary. He told me the church had made a good-faith effort to bring the building into compliance, spending $130,000 to fix the roof and parapets in 1998. But the estimates for the interior work -- around $2.5 million -- are far beyond the community's means.

Source

Bisericile fantoma

Octombrie. America va sarbatori cu fast Halloween.

Inca de acum o luna magazinele au inceput sa expuna cu frenezie obiecte grotesti: schelete imbracate in frac patat de sange, chipuri hidoase cu gatul taiat, jumatati de corp care se tarasc cu cutitul infipt in spate, stafii imense, monstri oribili pe care cand ii vezi tresari iar cei mici pun mana la ochi infricosati, pietre de mormant langa care o mana incearca sa-si faca loc printre lespezi si… costumase inocente petru copii: albinute, tigrisori, balerine sau ninja. Detest aceasta manifestare comerciala a kitchului extrem.

Dar nu Halloween ma preocupa pe mine acum. In preajma acestei sarbatori m-am gandit sa prezint un alt fenomen: aparitia bisericilor fantoma. Spre deosebire de lumea imaginara a tenebrelor care ne va invada pe 31 octombrie bisericile fantoma exista. Odinioara au fost biserici consacrate. Din diferite motive comunitatile crestine care se rugau in aceste biserici s-au dizolvat si bisericile au fost parasite. Au ramas doar scheletul si carcasa de piatra. Mai tarziu bisericile au fost vandute si transformate de noii proprietari in te miri ce: librarie, restaurant-bar, locuinta, cluburi de noapte, fabrica de bere. Obiectele bisericesti si simbolurile crestine au fost, evident, evacuate. Doar vitraliile au ramas pentru ca… sunt frumoase. Exista un website de tranzactii imobiliare dedicat bisericilor scoase la vanzare.

Fenomenul este bulversant. Insa nu am intalnit pareri ingrijorate pana acum. Pe forumuri (atat in Europa cat si in U.S.) oamenii afirma ca sunt bucurosi sa bea si sa danseze intr-o fosta biserica. E “cool”, e inedit! Sau sa doarma in fostul altar. Sau sa produca bere sub cupola navei. Fenomenul este prezent atat in spatiul catolic, cat si in cel (neo)protestant. In spatiul ortodox nu cunosc decat biserici in ruina dar protejate de lege pentru ca sunt monumente istorice (Bulgaria, Turcia, etc.). In Romania am intalnit cateva biserici distruse si abandonate, una dintre ele este la Galati (s-ar putea sa fi fost refacuta in ultimii ani, nu am informatii), alta sta pe fundul unui lac de acumulare, e cunoscuta sub numele "biserica din adancuri" si in jurul ei s-au tesut multe legende. Trebuie insa remarcat efortul considerabil al Bisericii Ortodoxe Romane de a restaura si proteja vechile manastiri si biserici aflate in patrimoniul mondial UNESCO.

Nu vreau sa se creada ca prezint pe blog aceste biserici fantoma ca pe niste realizari deosebite ale unor arhitecti. Chiar nu ma intereseaza solutiile de reamenajare/convertire a spatiului eclesial gasite de acestia. Nici macar nu mi-am propus sa trag un semnal de alarma pentru ca alarma urla demult dar prea putini o aud. Vreau doar sa fim atenti la ce se intampla langa noi pentru ca si in Romania am trait o experienta similara: Manastirea Vacaresti care a fost transformata in penitenciar de armata rusa in 1848 iar apoi rasa de pe fata pamantului de regimul comunist in 1987.

Desacralizarea spatiului sacru este un fenomen acut. Consecintele probabil ca deja se simt.

Mirel Tulei

The Altar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA

Church converted into bar

Resurrection of Service Industry Night at the Altar Bar

Tell your parents that you went to church on Sunday-

Just don't tell them what you did.

Source

The Church Café, Bar, Restaurant, Club - Dublin, Ireland

St. Mary's Church, Dublin is a former Church of Ireland building in Mary Street, Dublin. Dating from the 17th century, the building was designed by Sir William Robinson, and is notable as the first Dublin church to be built with galleries. The organ of the church was built by Renatus Harris. Arthur Guinness was married here in 1761, and the baptisms of Theobald Wolfe Tone (1763) and Sean O'Casey (1880) also took place here.

The church closed in 1986 and became a retail outlet. It was later converted to use as a pub and restaurant. Originally named the "John M. Keating Bar", the pub changed hands in 2007 and is now simply called "The Church". The adjoining churchyard was converted into a public park, Wolfe Tone Park, where the gravestones can be seen stacked up at the southern end.

Source

Church Converted into Home - Kyloe, UK

One pair bought and converted Church into Home in Kyloe, Northumberland, England

A nondescript exterior and a yard dominated by headstones give no indication of the residential nature of this historic church in Kyloe, Northumberland. A couple decided to purchase and readapt the structure, investing nearly three times the purchase price into renovations over the course of several years. The exterior remains mostly untouched, save for skylights running the length of the roof. Inside, the owners took a similar approach. Restoration is more prevalent than renovation, with original stained glass windows throughout, and repurposed church fixtures abounding. Much of the original seating in the church was refinished and placed throughout the home, and unused wood and building materials were fashioned into a dramatic staircase leading from the main living space to an upper level library. The choice to live in a church is an unorthodox one, but this home’s owners managed to salvage a structure that might have otherwise been doomed to deterioration.

Sure it’s got high ceilings and amazing stain glass windows but wouldn’t you feel a little bit intimidated taking showers and sleeping in this house? After all, it used to be the House of God...

Apparently, it didn’t bother Sally Onions and Ian Bottomley – the couple converted a Georgian church in Kyloe, Northumberland, England (complete with its own cemetery outside) into a residential house.

Source

The Church Brew Works - Catholic Church Converted to Restaurant and Brewery - Pittsburgh, PA

As Pittsburgh grew with Carnegie Steel, Clark Steel, and Black Diamond Steel Works in the 1800s, increasing residential development meant the increasing demand for churches, St. John the Baptist being one of them. Founded in 1878, this Catholic Church served the Lawrenceville area of Pittsburgh. It steadily expanded until the early 1900’s. The church survived a fire, flooding, and the depression.
By the late 1950’s when steel mills started to close, the Lawrenceville population declined, much like the rest of Pittsburgh. Major parishes, including St. John the Baptist, began to lose members.
Due to financial and organizational circumstances, the Diocese of Pittsburgh restructured the churches in its jurisdiction in 1993 and suppressed St. John the Baptist. The building was underutilized for three years until the redevelopment and construction of the Church Brew Works. The Church Brew Works opened for business on August 1, 1996. This adaptive reuse has created some uneasiness in the public – a brewery among religious objects does not sit well with some critics. The Diocese of Pittsburgh was assured that all of the sacred items had been removed before the sale of the church. Canon law requires that all religious objects be removed from churches that are being put to secular use. After the Church Brew Works opened, the diocese had been aggressive about “desanctification,” even if religious items are destroyed in the process.

Howard Dean, ex-Chairman of the Democratic National Comitee

Source: http://www.churchbrew.com/