Going to Church

Ever since the collapse of the steel industry in Pittsburgh, people have been fleeing the city in pursuit of cozy homes in the suburbs.  (Although, it seems like as of late that trend might be slowing down, if not reversing itself altogether.)  So, as people left, so did a lot of other things; and the city was left with a lot of empty buildings - among them, churches.  With such large properties available for relatively little money, a lot of groups like Artists Colonies and even apartment developers, started to buy up these churches. But by far the most talked about and most successful of these holy endeavors has been the Church Brew Works in the Strip District.

I’m still tempted every time I walk through the front doors to dip my hand in the holy water dish, and I occasionally even feel a little guilty about drinking in an old church.  I wonder if an old Heinz plant worker would have the urge to jump back on the assembly line when they walk into the Heinz Lofts?  Maybe not.  But there’s certainly parts of of those old cultural forms that linger on, and I would even say are ingrained in these new redeveloped forms.  What would grandma and grandpa think if we told them fifty years ago that we’d be eating and drinking in church and living in the ketchup plant?