A question about religion/public school

[MISSDem]

I have been seeing an ad in the local newspaper for a new church. The ad says that the first service of the new church will be held in the cafeteria of one of the local public schools. Should I be concerned about this, as in "are they renting the facility"? Or am I just paranoid? Every time I see the ad I feel uncomfortable.

[Warpy]

1. They may be renting

but if this isn't during school hours and it isn't compulsory for students to attend, I wouldn't worry about it.

If there's any pessure to attend put onto the students, then yes, you have a right to scream bloody murder about it.

[etherealtruth]

2. That's been my experience ...

"they" rented space to Churches or church groups ----- there was absolutely NO sign of them when they weren't there and no promotion of them.

Of course, your caveats are valid ...

[slackmaster]

3. That kind of thing used to be more common in my area

(San Diego, California.)

It used to be considered quite normal for church groups, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Boy Scouts, etc. to use neighborhood public school facilities on evenings and weekends. Now people are much more aware of (or cowed by depending on your POV) church vs. state issues. So meetings that used to take place in schools now happen in church-owned facilities.

[Dob Bole]

4. Well, it IS public...

It only becomes a problem if they allow one group of people to meet there but not another. If a church can meet there, so can a Mosque, gay rights activists, or anyone else in the community.

Little old church ladies pay taxes too...

[Justitia]

5. This happens where I used to live too...

and it bothered me to no end. I never got a satisfactory answer as to whether the "evangelical seminar tour circuit" was paying rent. I specifically wanted to know if I was subsidizing huge new venues for the Religious Right crowd via backdoor property taxes.

Haven't seen this in my new location - yet.

[bbernardini]

6. My place of work (private school) is home to a church.

The church uses our facilities at least twice a week. Granted, it's not really a problem since we're a private (non-religious) school, but it's really a great source of income. They were able to install air conditioning in the main gathering hall/lower school area from the proceeds.

[tanyev]

7. It's pretty common around here.

A friend of mine was involved in a new church startup and before they were able to purchase their own land, they met in a public elementary school on Sunday mornings. They definitely paid a fee to be able to do so.

[wideopen]

8. It's not an issue

The two churches I've attended for the last 25 years both started out in public school buildings, there was absolutley no connection w/the schools. It did help bring much needed revenue to the schools and helped the churches get started that didn't have money for a building. Win-win for all concerned.