Strath Taieri Community Board chairman Barry Williams said about 20 people attended a public meeting on Thursday about the cost of maintaining three churches - Presbyterian, Catholic and Anglican - in Middlemarch village.
The churches faced large maintenance bills to meet new earthquake-strengthening regulations, he said.
At the meeting, the community raised concerns about parishioner numbers ''dwindling'' and how to pay for the maintenance.
The estimated cost to strengthen the Presbyterian church was about $200,000.
''It's just horrendous.''
The three churches were struggling financially and the Anglican church had disconnected its power after being unable to warrant paying the line charges for a single monthly service, he said.
The sale of churches in Palmerston and Macraes Flat by the Palmerston Dunback Presbyterian Parish was worrying, he said.
''It's a bit close to home. The silly part about it is you can make a church into a house and the strengthening doesn't need to be done but for a public congregation with half a dozen people there once a month, it does. It seems stupid, but that's the rules, eh.''
The churches would be the main agenda item at the community board meeting in Middlemarch tomorrow.
''The wider community is concerned about finding an answer for these buildings,'' Mr Williams said.
