photographs of abandoned places #45

Akron Baptist Temple

This decayed quickly. The main building was built from 1947 to 1949. Eventually there were seven or eight buildings on twenty-nine acres, and extensive parking spaces. I was never on campus. We were on Manchester Road earlier on the 11th of the month, and i said i want to photograph the front. We kept on driving. A few days ago, i saw on teevee, Akron's new mayor, Shammas Malik had the property fenced off, and began demolition formally on the 19th.

[24 March 2024]

The thing that really caught my attention was the quote from Matthew, "Upon this rock i will build my church". The full verse is "And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Peter is in Greek 'rock'. The presentation changed the meaning; apparently Bible literalists are very selective (not unlike constitutional originalists). With that shortened verse, i would have thought that the name of the church was Saint Peter's. Yes, i saw great incongruity; but then again...Baptists. Then there is the empty scroll, it used to read: Dr. Dallas F. Billington Founder & Pastor. It is very common among Baptist and Pentecostal churches to have this kind of citation on the building. The facade is also quite tall, and there used to be on top flashing neon letters, Akron Baptist Temple; not unlike the Firestone, and Goodyear signs in Akron.

This Independent Baptist Fundamentalist Megachurch (the three adjectives can be any order) was run by three generations of Billingtons, starting in 1934 to 2007. Dallas F. Billington left Paducah Kentucky to work in a tire factory in Akron. He was a Baptist preacher with ambition and energy, who was willing to use extensive, and then for the time, novel promotional techniques (stunts, gimmicks). The membership for many years were white southerners, and those from Appalachia, and their children. Growth, called evangelism, was paramount.

Elmer Towns. The Ten Largest Sunday Schools. 1969., listed Akron Baptist Temple as #1 with c.7,000. For some reason this was considered the criterion to gauge largest megachurches in the US of A. I could discuss this much further here, but no. It is to be remembered, this is a Protestant phenomena, and the church can have several sites simultaneously. Also these type of establishments have the chief pastor as unaccountable; it is convenient to be 'independent' or 'non-denominational'. In the US they are usually Baptists, in the rest of the world usually Pentecostalist/Charismatic.

After a time, Akron's population stopped growing. Some things happened along the way, besides demographics. A new pastor in a megachurch with different programmes/methods/agenda/style can effect the congregation greatly. Firstly, a portion of the congregation might be in disagreement and leave, and new congregants might not make up the difference.

In 2018 the new chief pastor sold the church to a black megachurch pastor. Both congregations used the campus for a time, then Akron Baptist Temple moved elsewhere under a new name. By this time the third Billington had a separate Akron church of his own. The new Word Church ownership did some remodeling, but the new congregation preferred the previous Akron location (the main site is in a Cleveland suburb). In 2019 it was up for sale. Soon thereafter, scrappers, vandals, and the homeless have used the campus, and trashed a good deal of it. The neighbours, fire department, and the police find it a continuing nuisance. Realtors wanted it to be a strip mall, but prospective buyers want the area cleared before they spend a dime. Asbestos is rumoured, does that not survive in fire and brimstone? Another chapter of church and commerce in America.

Saw similar art deco tile fringe on other Akron buildings [click]

2324 Manchester

Looks more like an abandoned theatre.