Country Churches: What's in the basement?

Old churches often have strange looking doors in the foundations. After a considerable amount of theological rumination, I have decided that they must be soul holes. The one at the top is extra secure because there's a competing church right across the street. The church at the bottom recently changed denominations, so I figure there was a mass breakout. Why don't new churches have soul holes? It was incorporated into the air conditioning.

Canon EOS 30D & EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens