While there is much heartburn, as expected, over the closing down of fire temples in India, in the United States of America "6,000 to 10,000 churches die each year …and that number will likely grow,” noted an article in The Atlantic monthly of November 2018 titled, "America’s Epidemic of Empty Churches.” "Though more than 70% of our citizens still claim to be Christian, congregational participation is less central to many Americans’ faith than it once was.”
An article on the National Public Radio (NPR) website of May 17, 2023 titled, "The faithful see both crisis and opportunity as churches close across the country,” noted: "The pews are getting emptier and the collection plates lighter.” According to a real estate consultant quoted in the piece, "Most troubled churches have difficulty accepting reality until it’s too late. Some churches find their financial resources weren’t being used for ministry and mission. They were being used to support a building.”
According to a study by the Public Religion Research Institute cited by NPR, the average congregation size across Christian denominations is less than half of what it was in 2000 — down to 65 from 137… On average, a third of churchgoers are 65 or older… Only congregations of other faith traditions — including Islam, Baha’i and Judaism — are seeing increases.”
According to the evangelical firm Lifeway Research, an estimated 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year for which the study was done. About 3,000 new churches opened in the same year. "It was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn’t grown...With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated,” notes an article in The Guardian of January 22, 2023 titled, "Losing their religion: why US churches are on the decline.” One reason cited for closure is failure "to reach young families.”
"In England, closed churches are termed redundant churches,” notes Wikipedia. "About 20 to 25 Church of England churches are declared closed for worship each year.” Today many redundant churches "are repurposed as community centers, museums or homes. (They are) demolished only if no alternative can be found.”
Rev Mark Elsdon who edited the book, Gone for Good: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition, states in an article published by the Religion News Service (RNS) on March 15, 2024, "Thousands of churches will likely close down. What happens to the real estate?... There are far more church buildings today than will be viable or needed in the future. That’s just the way it is.”
"Selling a church isn’t like selling a house or a business. Frequently the sellers want a buyer who plans to use the church for a good cause,” the managing director of a firm that specializes in church sales was quoted in the RNS article. "The faith based transaction is so different in so many ways from the for-profit transactions.”
The Zoroastrian Association of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana has just raised Rs 3.3 crores (USD 400,000) to acquire a former church which they will convert into a community center (see "We are changing,” Editorial Viewpoint, Parsiana, June 7-20, 2024). And the Oregon Zoroastrian Organization is raising funds to erect a shrine on a plot of land assigned to them free of cost by the Vedanta Society of Portland (see "Sylvan shrine,” Zoroastrians Abroad, pg 22). The shrine will be one of several different faiths situated on the 289-acre Vedanta Retreat.
One advantage the North American (NA) Zoroastrians have is that their community centers can be staffed by lay people. And as they do not house consecrated fires, the ritualistic feeding of wood to the fire five times a day is not mandatory. Like churches, the Zoroastrian centers serve multi purposes. These include camps for children, social gatherings, religious classes, get-togethers, association meetings, culture festivals, interfaith forums, seminars, etc. Aside from a main hall, the center also houses a kebla-like prayer room, classroom/s, a boardroom and a library where books and other literature pertaining to the community are stocked.
The multipurpose uses ensure the premises are regularly frequented by members of all ages. They become a religious, social, cultural and educational hub for the community. And as the NA Zoroastrians do not discriminate against outmarried Parsi and Iranian women and their progeny, the alienation of the young is not as pronounced as in India. The non-Zoroastrian spouses can also enter the community centers, be present for religious ceremonies including funerals and partake in all social activities.
In 1974, Parsiana had asked the seven trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) in their personal capacity and six others, including a priest, if there were too many fire temples in Bombay. Three trustees felt there were, one demurred and three excused themselves from answering. Of the six lay people, five felt there were too many. The sixth felt they were required. The 1971 government of India census figure for Parsis in Bombay was 64,667. The 2001 census figure was 46,557. In the 2011 census, the figure for Bombay was not disclosed and the 2021 census has not been held. But by projecting the rate of decline, we may estimate the figure for Bombay to be around 30,000, half of what it was in 1970.
One way of attracting devotees would be to liberalize policies, treat women as equals, accept their children, allow women to become mobedyars as in Iran and North America. But this would be anathema to the traditionalists. As former Bombay High Court Justice Frank Beaman noted in the historic Petit vs Jeejeebhoy court case of 1908 regarding right of admission to a fire temple, "It seems to be reserved for the Christian Missionary alone, in this country (India) to invite into his communion the lowliest, the most despised, the very scum of Eastern humanity. But then the Christian Church has never come under the dominance of caste…The same cannot, of course, be said for Zoroastrianism.”
The Indian Zoroastrian community has to decide whether to reform or downsize the number of agiaries or preferably do both. Doing neither is not an option.