Well lets face it. No congregation is going to get any financial help from the millions that Bethel has. They can spend millions, given by brothers, build a great new place at Patterson. But some poor congregation somewhere has to raise its own money for a new hall.
A Rural Trend?
by Dan-O 12 Replies latest jw experiences
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Atilla
Yes and no maybe. Perhaps, small town areas are more friendly to dubs because people there are already in a more spiritual state of mind. Of course econcomics do play a role and it would only make sense to build a KH on the edge of a large town or community where property is cheaper.
Although, I do remember hearing brothers who were on the regional building committee talk about the need for choosing more high profile property so as to be seen by the community. What was going on, especially here PA was that local brothers were getting cheap out of the way land and then building the KH there when the closest town or any real sizable population was miles away. Gee, I guess the fear was that they would be seen as some crazy introverted cult who wanted to keep away from the community.
Having said all that, I do know that my old KH which is in a very rural area, is having attendence problems because most of the younger ones, myself included have moved on to find a job. So, for awhile, the rural congregation may work if it has a lot of families with younger children. However, once these children get older, they may very likely move on for better prospects. They may not stop being a dub but they won't being going to their rural congregation anymore. Plus, as I noticed with my rural territory, people are more religious but more polarized in their beliefs, thus unwilling to hear any new ideas wether they be good or bad.
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blondie
Just to clarify, I was talking about congregations that have urban and rural territory. When there is only one congregation using the building 99.9% of the time the KH has to be in the territory. As to cost, the congregation looked at land closer to the city center and found that land on the edge of the territory was 5 times less expensive than the land closer to the city center. In large cities where there is no "rural" or cheap land, several 5 to 7 congregations combine resources and build a large facility. Land is expensive folks, even in the rural areas near large uban centers. Imagine coming up with $500,000 for just the property.
As I said, mostly due to this economic factor, where possible KHs have migrated to more rural areas at the edge of the congregation territory. Many are built near high traffic areas due to the undesirability of such land for residential purposes. So more KHs are visible. Many small congregations in small towns/villages not near large urban centers, are suffering with people leaving to get jobs.
Blondie