What Happens When a Place of Worship Loses it’s Worshipers?
In many small towns, there’s often a central gathering point for the community, and more often than not, it happens to be the town church. It’s a place where people come to pray, socialize, and come together as a community. Now, that’s all well and good, but what happens to the church when people stop coming by?
Freaktography, is a photographer and urban explorer known for his pictures of neglected buildings. He came across an abandoned church still standing in a small town in Ontario. The pictures he took are a haunting and illuminating look at what happens when a house of worship becomes silent without any worshipers.
The outside of the church is actually well maintained: the grass is mowed and people regularly lay flowers upon the nearby gravestones.
Inside however, there’s another sort of graveyard…
The pews are empty, cold without having seated anyone in years.
The keys of a forgotten piano are coated with a thick layer of dust and haven’t been struck for a while…
“There is a Name I love to hear/I love to sing its worth/It sounds like music in my ear/The sweetest Name on earth”
The church is actually a hundred years old. The bible looks about that old, too.
On this chalkboard is written the last scripture readings that were ever read here.
Joshua 24:15.
The church may be abandoned, but fresh flowers are frequently found draped over the graves.
The photographer is notorious for leaving the precise location of his photos unknown in order to preserve the abandoned buildings.