What's lost when churches close

On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti

WBUR

Talk Show, News, Npr, Daily, On Point

4.3 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

An estimated 15,000 churches in the U.S. are likely to close in the next few years. Churches are more than places of worship – they are community centers, shelters, food banks. What's the community impact with church closures on the rise?

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Transcript

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0:51.1	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
1:06.5	Church is so much more than just a religious home for worship services.
1:10.6	It's part of the fabric of people's lives.
1:17.1	Mandy Olson is the former pastor of Grace Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois.
1:23.4	It's been a fixture of Chicago's West Walker neighborhood since the early 1900s.
	...

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