In Theory: Are cell towers a part of God’s call?
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Churches have long been places where people have communicated with God, but these days cellphone companies are hoping to use them to make communicating with your friends and family easier. In the constant battle to expand cellphone coverage without facing potential battles over placing ugly towers in residential areas, companies such as Verizon and T-Mobile are looking to put them inside church belfries and steeples.
In some places they’ve been successful. When constructing a building in 2006, the Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in San Ramon sought out wireless companies to help with costs. The deal it struck with T-Mobile brings in about $25,000 a year. In other places they’ve been kicked out, such as when T-Mobile wanted to put a site at the Little White Chapel in Burbank. Even though the city’s planning board gave the project its blessing, the City Council voted unanimously to block it.
Q: What do you think of adding cell antennas to church buildings?
Looking at the issue from a church’s perspective, I believe adding cell antennas to church buildings can be very beneficial provided it aligns with God’s will for His church. Funds received from such agreements can be used to finance any number of God-honoring ministries. But that’s the issue — will it honor God?
God wants us to love and honor him first and to love others as ourselves. So any agreement a church makes must reflect both. If the agreement is in any way immoral or illegal it shouldn’t be made. Same goes if it puts the church at odds with the community God has placed it in to love and share the gospel with. Thank God for the graciousness the Little White Chapel has shown to their neighborhood’s negative response. Jesus said: “seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” Our primary obligation to our community is to love them and reach them with the good news about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. God has innumerable ways to provide for the church that keeps his will foremost in their decision making.
Pastor Jon Barta
Valley Baptist Church
Burbank
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I think the idea is great! Who can I call?
Everyone wants better reception on their cellphones, and churches are always in need of extra income since what money we do receive is virtually all freewill offering and never guaranteed. Why anyone would object to this win-win set-up I cannot understand. I mean, if we really thought cell towers were emitting radiation or something, then sure, be against them, but since they do not, the objections seem like those expressed about microwave ovens back before they became essential furniture in every modern kitchen.
If the towers were hideous looking, then I would object, because like anyone who might live nearby, I wouldn’t want some eyesore jutting up from the ground and obstructing my view like a bad piece of industrial scaffolding. But I’ve noticed how they’re getting better at making cell towers look like trees, and when they start putting smaller ones inside the empty shells that are church towers and cupolas, it’s even better. Out of sight, out of mind, and yet they are there making everyone’s life better, both saints and ain’ts alike. Nice huh?
You won’t hear me object, and I think it would be good for a church if every time people went by, they’d look up and point to the good house of worship that is staving off dropped calls and keeping them happy as techno consumers. Maybe they’d start thinking of the neighborhood church as “their” church and dare to darken its doors one day. Just turn off your cellphones when you come into the sanctuary, please!
Rev. Bryan Griem
Montrose Community Church
Montrose
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This does not sound completely kosher to me. I am not a neuroscience specialist, nor do I claim to have great expertise in this field. But at a layperson, it seems to me that the jury is still out regarding the long-term effects of digital waves on human beings. Recent studies have shown that prolonged exposure of the head to cellphones may lead to an increase in brain tumors. Although there is no conclusive proof of the potential harm that mobile phones and their transmitting towers might cause to the human body, it is safe to say that these communication towers may not be the benign structures that the telephone companies make them out to be.
Therefore, I feel it is wrong for houses of worship to allow these towers to be installed on their premises. A church or synagogue is a place where all people should feel comfortable and at home. Communication towers make it very difficult for most people to feel at ease, and they may even alienate some who are seeking spirituality.
I understand that religious organizations need money, as well as the unfortunate fact that the financial meltdown has caused immense hardship for many houses of worship. The rather generous incentives the telephone companies offer make it that much more difficult to deny their requests.
Nevertheless, I feel that these challenges need to be met head-on. Money is important to our missions — but it can never get in the way of common sense, adherence to the law, and most importantly, our commitment to ensure that our spiritual community always feels welcome.
Rabbi Simcha Backman
Chabad Jewish Center
Glendale
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I came to be pastor of Burbank’s historic Little White Chapel when plans for the erection of a cellphone tower on the church property seemed to be a Burbank-planning-council-sanctioned project. The project was begun under the leadership of a previous pastor. Seeking to gain perspective on such an idea, I spoke to the pastor of a sister Disciple church in Orange County. They have as many as five towers on their property. The congregation of the church is about the same size as the one at Little White Chapel. The money from the towers has allowed that church to fund huge outreach programs for the community, and send young people to college; projects that the church would not have been able to underwrite if it were not for the income from the towers.
Similarly, I spoke to my sister, Dr. Gene Harris, who is superintendent of a sizable school district in the middle-eastern portion of the United States. She informed me that that the placement of cellphone towers on schools in her district was commonplace. Likewise, the money from the towers was a welcome addition to an overburdened budget. Money was used for teachers, books, and school maintenance. In the case of both the church and the school district there are no any reports of people suffering ill effects from the presence of the towers.
Biblical scholars know that Jesus’ complaint about the temple being used for business purposes was that the profits from the selling were being used to further fill the purses of those already wealthy. His anger proceeded from the situation that the community was not being attended to. Little White Chapel has its doors open day and night, welcoming mommy-and-me classes, Alateen meetings, jazzercise classes, yoga classes, weddings, quinceaneras, debtors-anonymous groups, overeaters-anonymous groups, the Burbank Interfaith Alliance monthly meetings, the Burbank flower club association, and oh yes, at least six worship services a week in at least three languages. Literally every penny helps to keep the doors open.
Little White Chapel loves its neighbors and has gotten to know some of them so much better. But since you asked, in a time where even the most successful churches must seek other ways besides the donations of the faithful to underwrite its 21st century projects, a cellphone tower, aesthetically constructed, with low emissions in compliance with existing health codes, that remunerate the churches seeking to serve its members and the surrounding community, could be a blessed event.
The Rev. Dr. William Thomas Jr.
Little White Chapel
Burbank
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I am not aware of a religious or moral angle to cell antennas on church property, and don’t see why such a decision isn’t up to the church, complying with all applicable legal requirements, of course.
Cell towers are necessary for a service that is enthusiastically used by every human on the planet at this point. So it is weird that none of these happy cell chatterers want the equipment that makes it possible to be placed anywhere near them. From what I have read, health objections to cell towers don’t seem to be based on science.
I understand that phone companies pay for using a site for an antenna.
Sounds like easy money to me, and also my family might stop complaining about the poor reception up here in the foothills. We’ll assure it isn’t an eyesore to the neighbors.
T-Mobile, call me.
Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose
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Personally, I think churches should collaborate as much as possible with local governing bodies to benefit their communities.
I have no problems with churches leasing their buildings and receiving revenue sources. It’s not clear to me why the Burbank City Council voted down this particular cell tower proposal. In this case, it would appear that both the local church and the community will lose potential benefits.
I am aware that there is some ongoing concern about possible health dangers related to cellphone towers. These towers emit Radio Frequency Waves (RFW) that do not contain the same type of radiation as, for example, X-rays, which are known to have potential harmful effects on health. Exposure to RFW drops off quite quickly with distance, so if you are 200 feet or more away, your exposure level is very low.
Actually using a cellphone will expose you to more RFW radiation than being in proximity to a cellphone tower. Cellphones were originally developed for the Department of Defense and crossed over into the commercial sector in the early 1980s. At that time, the emerging cellphone companies pressured the FDA to allow cellphones to be marketed without any safety testing. To date, there is never been any systematic study of their safety by the FDA.
Scientific studies have not demonstrated significant health risks in cellphone use, but health researchers are quick to state that they don’t know the effects of heavy, long-term use of cellphones. One study published by the Journal of American Medical Association (February 2011) demonstrated that cellphone use boosted brain activity in regions near the ear where the cellphone was used. Researchers issued a cautionary statement about chronic use, particularly by children whose brains are still developing.
Pastor Che Ahn
HRock Church
Pasadena
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The decision to have a base station site co-located in a church should mostly be left up to the church owners. The reason cell operators desire church locations is the ability to hide the appearance of the base station equipment. It certainly seems that churches have an opportunity to obtain money by allowing this use of their buildings.
Any congregation considering such an agreement should very carefully examine the contractual agreement they are joining into. There are reports of some churches finding themselves limited in the future use of their own property after signing contracts with cellphone companies. As a nonreligious person I question the true nonprofit nature of some religious organizations. Those organizations that exist solely for the enrichment of their leaders should be taxed on their income like any other business. But churches need to make their own decisions about the contracts they make with cellphone businesses.
Steven Gibson
South Pasadena Atheist Meetup
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There hasn’t been much in the way of theological angst over this question in our Methodist churches. Our steeples host a number of tastefully installed cell towers, and the staffs rejoice to get great reception. A bigger question has been business-related, as churches moved up the learning curve on negotiating a good deal with hard-driving cellphone companies. We are better at that now.
Surely, however, the city council did not have theological problems with the cell tower project. According to the Burbank Leader, members are responding to neighbors’ fears of health hazards and aesthetic intrusions. The American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) says that there is not evidence at this time to suggest that living near a cell tower causes cancer. It sounds like more research would help the Council make a good decision.
Most churches use this kind of additional income for ministries that serve the community and the world, or they use it to maintain the facility, which also serves the community. Our facility, for example, is not only used by our congregation, but by a Korean congregation, eight AA and Al-Anon groups, ESL classes, and our preschool, which caters to working families across the Valley. I’m sure that the Little White Chapel has a similar situation, as most churches do. Good neighbors might consider that their support of such a project enables the church to help others.
Rev. Paige Eaves
Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church
Montrose
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I’d put a nuclear launch site on the roof if I thought it would bring in $25,000 a year. But alas, I hear this same story from many churches — either the cellphone companies turn down their applications to begin with (perhaps knowing already the history of headaches with churches and city officials) or the project never comes to fruition, defeated by church purists or voted down by residential neighbors. Word among clergy colleagues is: don’t even bother asking; that well has dried up.
I’ve always been amusingly intrigued by the thought of how such a tower might be camouflaged — it can’t be made to look like a big plastic tree, when it’s up on the roof. Perhaps they go for a Christ Redeemer look — you know, that giant statue of Jesus on a mountaintop in Brazil, arms stretched out to his sides, embracing the world. (“Can you hear me now?”)
I wish it were easier to do these projects. Churches could sure use the money these days. Here we are with all this expensive real estate to keep up and pay overhead for; it would be nice to be able to get a source of passive income out of the deal.
If you’re out there, cellphone company magnates, our church is available! And tell your friends in the solar panel business, and the film industry locations business, and all the other folks who are interested in borrowing some part of our campus in exchange for cash money.
We can be had.
The Rev. Amy Pringle
St. George’s Episcopal Church
La Cañada
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One of the things one learns as a minister — and I’m guessing politicians have the same experience — is to pick your battles carefully because you don’t have enough time or energy — or, frankly, interest — to go to the mat on every issue. So for me, if some churches or other houses of worship can make a few bucks by having antennae on their buildings, why not? Now if it becomes known that racist or sexist or pornographic material is being transmitted through those antennae, then it’s definitely not OK. But for everyday phone calls, why not? We ministers are pretty much like everybody else in that some things bug us and some things don’t. Now an argument might be made by somebody that we should care about everything, but in reality we really can’t. I mean, we have to sleep sometime, you know!
A friend of mine from seminary and in my own denomination really likes the old hymns from our old hymnbook. I do, too. However, in the past few years some in my denomination have wanted to update the hymnals and use what is called more inclusive language. I
don’t mind that attempt to update, and on some level, I probably approve of the attempt to use less gender-specific language. (An example would be to change any hymn that refers to God as “he” and put in “sovereign” or “holy one” or some word that doesn’t imply that God is male.)
My minister friend hates that attempt to update the language, and he will “go to the mat” for keeping the old — some would say, “out of date” — language. I personally can see both sides, but I’m not about to lead a crusade, one way or the other.
So antennae on church buildings? I see no problem. Others, however, may have certain hang-ups about the issue!
The Rev. Skip Lindeman
La Cañada Congregational Church
La Cañada Flintridge