HOA Meetings in a Church

MontyH, I don't think that your concerns are valid at all. Sorry.

I'm a member of one religion, and am very active in it. But my HOA meetings have been held in a synagogue and in a church belonging to one denomination. I'm not a member of either. Nobody I know of--atheist (like most of my current HOA board) or members of a range of religions-- ever expressed any concerns, and attendance was fine (and higher at the synagogue than at another location).

Since another and better facility nearby is available for free, I agree with you. If this were not the case, I would observe that many HOAs without clubhouses find it hard to establish a regular meeting place. Scheduling all by itself is a lot of work. Else if this one board member is lobbying for his church for whatever reason, I would be disappointed. I am not sure how far I would push this though.

Somehow I doubt people aren't attending meetings simply because they've held in a church and if so, I find it odd no one's objected before now. in fact, has anyone asked the homeowners why they don't attend? Maybe the day and time is more of a factor or they don't care to attend for whatever reason. Homeowners don't have to attend every meeting (I'm happy when enough show up at the annual meeting so we can have board elections). Sadly, apathy is often an underlying cause of many HOA issues including poor meeting attendance and it doesn't matter what the board might be discussing (except for assessment increases).

I think some of your other concerns are a bit of a stretch. That said, if another spot is available that's free, can accommodate a lot of people and has ample parking, I'd opt for that instead of the church. If the board member is getting the space for free because he or she is a member, then the other factors should come into play. For people sensitive about religion, a library meeting room or something at a community center would be a better choice.

No.


Nope. If homeowners have a problem with it then it's their problem.


Nope.


Nope. The statutes define conflict of interest very narrowly. "Enhanced status" at the local country club (or anywhere else) ain't it.


Good for you.


Nope. Address what?

Thanks everyone for the constructive input. It's very helpful.

Do not see where religion is relevant in attending a HOA meeting that is held in a church. That is a bit far reaching. I vote at a Catholic school. My other voting place is a Church of Christ. Why? They are the biggest buildings in our city that can accommodate a large crowd. I don't think it's a separation of church and state thing. It's what the community population is based on.

BTW: There were no "churches" when Jesus walked the earth. The "services" were held in bars. Just food for thought...

I agree with those who say your concerns, Monty, are quite a stretch.

But I also agree that everything else being equal--distance from HOA, parking, comfort of the room, etc.-- the community room is a better choice. Why not put it one the agenda with your (non-stretch) reasons for wanting the change and have the board vote on it?

I’m a staunch atheist, probably better described as an anti-theist, and having a meeting in a church wouldn’t bother me. If they started trying to hold a prayer before the meeting or making religion a part of the meeting, then that would be a different story. I do think it’s a bit weird if you have a free meeting room you can use, because that just seems better suited to an HOA meeting, but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say it’s discriminatory.

Although saying that...all the people who don’t have a problem with it, would you still be fine with it if it was your local mosque?

This is too fun.

I would prefer a mosque over a church. The Muslims proselytize less and are more respectful of my atheism.

I would still absent myself during any recitation of "the pledge" (are you serious?) of "allegiance." Because of the under god part. It's incredibly disrespectful of those of us who believe we have, say, a loyalty to each other (golden rule style) and not some made-up force used to try to control hearts and souls.

Sometimes I say, "with liberty and justice for some".

Monty, similar but different experience here. A previous townhome HOA, no community space available to conduct meetings, our management company rented an adjacent church space for annual meetings.

Our community was very diverse with several people of different faiths or agnostic. The church was rented for $250 per meeting.

After several years, the church was going through a relocation and was purchased by a developer who panned to build condos. This planning period went on for years. During this period things became strained because the church began encroaching on some of our coveted open space likely to favor the developer's plans to jam a bunch of condos as close to our town homes as possible. When we pushed back, things became even more strained to include among board members (some who wanted to protect the open space and some who just wanted no controversy and didnt care).

Our management company, perhaps hoping to get the condo management contract at the new development, became fairly friendly to the church staff. He donated $500 to the church from our funds to help them and told us about it afterwards (I was the only board member who thought that was odd).

Finally, I noticed that hiding in plain sight we had an office building nearby. Lo and behold, they rented out vacant office space to anyone. I made the case to switch meeting venues to the rented office space as it was as close or in some cases closer for residents, it offered Audio Visual capability, was cheaper and did not have any of the entanglements of the encroachment on our property issue.

The one issue we never had using the church was any faith based controversy. No one ever complained as the church staff never engaged residents beyond saying hello. It was always seen as just a nearby place to hold a meeting.

I think I might draw the line at renting church space ... there are likely other pay for use alternatives that steer well clear of supporting one specific religion.