Any one of these bizarrely named churches could be in your hometown though they appear to hale from an altered state… pray we do not “altar” them further.

Prayer House Rock

Elvis may have left the building but he left a half-eaten peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich on the collection plate. Welcome to the 24-hour Church of Elvis, a Portlandia attraction that isn’t really a church and has no known affiliation with The King’s estate. On the other hand, the eclectic storefront at 408 NW Couch is the self-stated “Worlds first 24-hour coin-operated Art Gallery” so at least it’s a profitable enterprise… like most churches. (images via brx0 and Steve Schroeder)

Let the Spirit Move You

Here’s the Palm Bible Church in Soweto, South Africa, whose sign out front bears the perplexing slogan “The Move of God”. Somehow we doubt that refers to Sunday being a popular moving day but hey, we’ve been wrong before. Let’s move on. (image via Paul Birnie)

Sin In Stranger

“Sin will find you out”? Hoo boy, that ship sailed a LONG time ago! Perhaps a better – or at least, more enticing – slogan might read “Salvation lies within”. We get it, though: neon signs don’t come cheap and like The Godfather says, fear can be a potent motivator. (image via Sam Lavy)

Pews ‘R Us

When they say “Find It Here”, they don’t mean sin… OK, depends on what type of used furniture you’re buying and what purpose it’s to be used for. Wait, you may be asking, what does used furniture have to do with a church? We can only shrug our shoulders and refer you to “Bill”… if you can find him. (image via Julia TortoiseHugger)

Fertile Pastors

The New Dimensions Worship Center might be “A Place of New Beginnings” but if their sign’s any indication, it’s also the scene of many happy endings. Gotta give ’em credit, though: while other churches advise that laying in bed on Sunday morning shouting “OH GOD!” doesn’t constitute going to church, New Dimensions replies “Why not both?” (image via David Smith)

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Non Saints 10 More Bizarrely Named Churches

Bizarrely-named churches tend to stand out but someone must’ve got into the sacramental wine before tagging titles on these 10 hilarious houses of worship.

Foursquare Deal

Go ahead and snicker, Millennials, but the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (aka The Foursquare Church) was founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson. Using “Blazing Saddles Logic”, the church can sue the Foursquare City Guide app which dates back to only 2008. Oh, and hopefully they’ll use a font other than Comic Sans when filing their legal briefs. Seriously guys, Comic Sans?? Flickr members Manne and Nick Richards snapped the Peckham, London, UK location of the evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination in 2010 and 2015, respectively.

Wilsonburned

Have you seen this God? Because he is freakin’ AWESOME! He also looks alarmingly – five-alarmingly, even – like “Wilson” from the movie Cast Away. Now we know what happened to Tom Hanks’ voiceless volleyball pal after drifting away from that flimsy raft: he washed up in Buffalo, NY and became revered by the dumbfounded natives for his supernatural snow-melting power. Flickr member Jamie (jbcurio) snapped the Praise Tabernacle church’s admittedly awesome signboard in March of 2008.

Immaculate Perfection

A Perfect Church for an imperfect world… and a thumb in the eye to all those other churches that obviously must be flawed in one way or another. Flickr member genebrooks snapped the red brick “religious center” located on McDaniel St SW in Atlanta, GA on March 7 of 2016.

Be Fruitful

Give genebrooks credit, he’s got a knack for spotting weird churches – or in this case their van, parked somewhere in South Korea. We can’t imagine what a typical service at the “Church of Fruits” must be like but we assume their communion wafers offer parishioners sweet salvation with added Vitamin JC.

Fake Pews

We’ve got a reality show president so why not a church where the only thing scripted is… the scripture. Welcome to the 1st Keep It Real Fellowship Church, located in Little Rock, AR. We imagine Sunday sermons exhort penitents to keep the faith first, and ask questions like “If God is all-powerful, can He make a rock so heavy He Himself can’t lift it?” later. Flickr member LRD615 snapped the very real, as in “you can’t make this stuff up” real, church in March of 2007.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Impreached 10 Bizarrely Named Churches Chapels

Towers gonna tower, at least for a while. Just like rust, however, gravity never sleeps and these ten tipsy towers will sooner or later have a rude awakening.

We see your Leaning Tower of Pisa and raise you San Michele degli Scalzi, the Leaning Church of Pisa. No doubt the builders of San Michele degli Scalzi weren’t out to compete with the infamously tilted icon but given enough time (the church dates from the 11th century) and considering the Pisa region’s notoriously waterlogged soil, deviation from the straight and narrow was pretty much inevitable. Kudos to Flickr members Charlie Handsome and Fabio Di Lupo for the above images of the church snapped in 2013 and 2007, respectively.

Oberkirche of Bad Frankenhausen, Germany

The church of Our Dear Lady at the Mountain (known as the Oberkirche or “Upper Church”) in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany, was built in 1382. By the 17th century the spire had already begun to lean, a consequence of sinkholes in the area caused by centuries of salt mining.

The spire continues to lean by about 2.4 inches annually, a tilt greater than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. With that said, it’s still not the leaning-est church in Germany – the Suurhusen Church holds that dubious honor. Credit Flickr members Groundgopping Merseburg (fchmksfkc) and michimaya for capturing this outstanding (if not entirely upstanding) leaning tower.

Campanile of Santo Stefano, Venice, Italy

The campanile (“tower”) of the Church of Santo Stefano in Venice was built in 1544 and like so many historic Venetian construction projects, soon ran into difficulties related to the city’s watery substrate – a problem that’s grown more, er, problematic as time goes by.

Flickr member KE1TH (etowahboy) visited Venice and snapped the leaning tower from various angles in the summer of 2008. Good on him for not posing with an upraised hand.

Leaning Tower of Torun, Poland

The Polish city of Torun is partially surrounded by brick walls and watchtowers dating back to the 14th century. This leaning tower was intended to be a strong point of the fortress wall but began leaning shortly after it was built due to loamy ground underfoot.

Many parts of the city walls were demolished in the 19th century yet this oddly tilted tower was left unscathed – good news for modern-day Torun’s tourist industry. Flickr members Monika Kostera and Flitshans snapped the tower from opposite sides of the wall in 2012.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Dire Straights 10 More Tilted Leaning Towers

A cubic white volume juts out of the exterior wall of a historic church in Belgium, looking a bit like it a dramatic incident of some sort landed it there. But the parasitic appearance of this outer volume belies a larger transformation inside the aging building, in which a series of private offices occupy the space without damaging the original structure. Belgian architecture firm Klaarchitectuur calls this project ‘The Waterdog,’ creating the offices for their own use.

Rectilinear white volumes are stacked atop one another like massive cake boxes, closing off several different individual offices while preserving interaction with the building at large. The clean, glossy surfaces of the additions contrast sharply with the crumbling plaster and brick; the architects wanted to leave the materiality of the church intact.

The architects restored the church’s roof – carefully, in line with the building’s status as a listed historic structure – and subdivided the space with temporary additions that could be removed eventually, if desired. Because of the way the white volumes are stacked, there are even rooftop terraces overlooking the open space. That white cube peeking out of the side of the church is the only sign from outside that anything has changed within.

The classic silhouette of a church may be iconic and instantly recognizable, but modern-day religious architecture proves itself to be adaptive after all, evolving into a broad variety of dramatic shapes that frame views of the natural world and prioritize a sense of community. These 14 modern church designs run the gamut from small, modest chapels on the beach to grand, showy structures with undulating rooflines and unexpected interiors.

Cliffside Cross-Shaped Church Concept by OPA

Mimicking its own Casa Brutale design for a residence built into a cliff face, Greece-based firm OPA (Open Platform for Architecture) reveals ‘Chapel of the Holy Cross,’ proposed for the island of Serifos with a single cross-shaped glass facade facing the Aegean Sea. The entire structure is dug into the rock to take advantage of thermal insulation and avoid disrupting the surface landscape.

Synhavnen Church Proposal by NOMOstudio

Submitted as a proposal to a competition to design the first new church to be built in Syndhaven, Copenhagen in 30 years, this design by NOMOstudio is envisioned as a landmark with a deeply sloping roof covered in steps, allowing the public to climb the structure all the way to its peak for spectacular views of the sea.

Seashore Chapel by Vector Architects

Right on the sand of China’s Beidaihe Beach, the ‘Seashore Chapel’ offers a peaceful getaway. “We imagine the seashore chapel as an old boat drifting on the ocean long time ago,” says Vector Architects. “The ocean receded through time and left an empty structure behind, which is still lying on the beach.”

Rainbow Chapel by Coordination Asia

Located within a museum park, ‘Rainbow Chapel’ by Coordination Asia aims to attract young creative couples with a bright, contemporary design enclosed in 3,000 vivid glass panels in 65 colors for a kaleidoscopic effect. Its exterior design of a circle set within a square references fullness and unity contained by honesty and virtue.

Sunset Chapel by BNKR Arquitectura

The sun sets over the sea directly behind the altar cross in ‘Sunset Chapel’ by BNKR Arquitectura, which is set within a forest and designed to mimic an oversized boulder. The faceted concrete structure looks different from every angle, and features slatted openings along its upper level that let in fresh air and sunlight.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Faith Lift 14 Modern Churches Reinvent Religious Architecture