Steeples Yield Cash When Industry Comes Calling

When the founders of First Parish in Bedford, MA (307 members), picked a site for their church in 1730 they chose the highest point of land, right on the town common.

That decision paid handsome dividends recently when First Parish signed a lease with a communications company that will put an array of antennas inside the church’s 105-foot steeple and pay the church $1,500 per month for the privilege.

As a new wave of telephone technology — called PCS or personal communication systems — sweeps the country, companies are scrambling to find antenna sites. And because many communities consider antennas to be unsightly, companies are increasingly seeking tall structures, like steeples or bell towers, in which to hide them. It’s legal and it is giving an increasing number of churches additional revenue.

But don’t waste time trying to lure a company. Congregations generally have to wait for the companies to come to them. “A year and a half ago we contacted all the companies in our area and no one was interested,” said Ronald Cordes, chair of the parish committee at Bedford. “Then six months ago these guys just walked in the door.” Location is everything, he noted. “If they want you badly enough they’ll agree to about anything.”

Bob Persons, board chair at The First Unitarian Society, Newton, MA (362), advises congregations to listen to advertising in their region. “If there’s no advertising for PCS systems then the field is probably wide open. If they’re advertising early-bird specials, they may already have the sites they need.” His society was wooed, then jilted when the company chose a different site.

Other structures besides steeples can also work. The UU Church of Chattanooga, TN (142), is getting $500 a month from a cellular phone company that is building an 80-foot decorative concrete tower on church property on the back side of Missionary Ridge, a Civil War landmark. An antenna will be inside the tower. As part of the deal, the company is making about $60,000 in unrelated improvements to the church and parking lot.

The current rush for prime antenna sites will last a year to 18 months and is centered in high-density areas, says Phil Shuman, treasurer of the UU Fellowship of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, (15), and a communications consultant.

Things to consider before signing anything:

• Make sure that servicing of equipment won’t interfere with church functions.
• Find other local churches with antennas and learn from them.
• Check your insurance. You could be supplying 1,000 watts of power to the equipment continuously. Find out who is liable if the equipment malfunctions and causes a fire or hurts someone. Or if lightning strikes the antenna.
• If you have space for one antenna you may have room for more. Any agreement should leave room for additions.
• Contracts are generally for five years, renewal by mutual consent.

Some UUs worry about safety from radiation, even though many studies say such installations are safe. Anne Norris, a nurse, was in favor of the deal when her congregation, First Parish, Lexington, MA (337), was approached by a phone company, but now, after doing some research, she’s unsure. “We really could use the money, but I’m just unclear what the long-term health risks might be.”

If zoning allows it, antennas can stand alone. For 10 years Hope Unitarian Church, Tulsa, OK (191), has had a 300-foot cell-phone antenna on its hilltop property. The church requested, and got, all its money up front, $84,000 for the 30-year lease, said member Bill Holway.

RESOURCES: A two-hour video, Is There Cash in Your Steeple?, is $30 from Massachusetts Conference of United Church of Christ, P.O. Box 2246, Framingham, MA 01703.

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