“Just heavenly: Holy listings boom across Vic as churches sell up” is the headline in a Herald -Sun story about the market activity in buildings designed as churches.
The Catholics are quoted as saying they rarely close ans sell a church building in Melbourne. The contrast with the Uniting Church in Victoria is severe.
“The Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania moderator David Fotheringham said the faith group had listed for sale about 80 Victorian churches across the past five years – including about 20 churches within the past 12 months,” Aleesha Capone wrote in the Herald Sun.
“’In some cases, individual congregations have decided to move from older buildings which are expensive to maintain into other property arrangements, or members have decided to join other congregations,’ Reverend Fotheringham said.
“Other times, congregations have worked together to sell a property in order to renovate or develop another site.”
The sale of 80 churches represents well over ten per cent of the 600 congregations the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania claim on their website. The term”congregation” in the Uniting Church means a local church. Allowng for some sales due to re-locations, it appears that ten percent of churches have been sold off in the last five years. If 80 sales were to continue in each five years into the future then the Uniting portfolio of churches in Victoria and Tasmania would be exhausted in 25 years.
Pictured is Canterbury Uniting Church currently being marketed as prime real estate in Canterbury’s golden mile by Colliers.
The Herald Sun story also refers to two high profile Presbyterian buildings, St Klida’s property on St Kilda Road which has been sold and St Georges in Geelong which could be yours for $18m.
Image: Canterbury Uniting Church is for sale. Image credit: Real estate.com listing.