While looking for some commercial real estate today I came across this ad....

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/off/4342070667.html

The unit is ideal for a CHURCH! A church has been occupying this unit for the last two years, and they did so well that they were able to buy their own building!

Struck me as something I don't read everyday, "did so well that they were able to buy their own building" made it sound more like a start up business than a religious gathering place. I'm not thinking they were consulted on how that would be stated.

At $3,200 a month it is beyond my range, but the tagline made me read it...

Guess growing up in a small town where the churches in town were all established old historic style churches is how my mind works, never thought about a "start up church."

Guess they have to start somewhere...

My wife's church started up in the basement of a church that has their services on Saturdays. (I don't know the Saturday's church denomination.) Seemed weird to me that a church would let another denomination, totally divergent from their beliefs, worship in their church.

Might seem a bit weird, 52Carl, but since the church is made up of the people I reckon the building doesnt matter much.

The traditional Sabbath for the Jewish religion is from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, if I'm not mistaken. We are Lutheran and have a large congregation of over 1200, so we have services both on Thursday night and Saturday night, besides two Sunday services and now Lenten services on Wednesday.

I was talking with Al Krier just last night and they have one of the largest Catholic churches I've heard of with 15,000 members. I've already attended services of a start-up church in the basement of a tavern. Christian churches seem to recognizing one another a lot more lately.

On an added note, a few weeks ago I was doing a raccoon removal about two miles west of us and for whatever reason, as I was getting paid, the subject was local churches. I told the people that we had belonged to Calvary for nearly ten years. The lady of the house said, "Well we've belonged there 20 years; how come we've never seen you?" I said that they obviously don't attend on Saturdays because we're always in the last row with the grandchildren. And about the only Sunday that we attend is Easter.

I think Seventh-Day Adventists worship on Saturday.
Mr. Wood is right: the building don't mean diddly. I'm always tickled by the fancy, expensive mega-churches and their priorities. My Bible don't have Jesus telling people to build 'em big and build 'em shiny!