#35StephenAnew solution for
America'sempty churches:A change of faith
Published14th January 2020
AshimaKrishna is an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo, TheState University of New York. The views expressed in this commentaryare solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of TheConversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics toprovide news analysis and commentary.
Overthe past few decades,
vacant and underutilized churches havebecome a familiar sight in American cities.
Insome cases, a congregation or a religious governing body -- say, aCatholic diocese -- will sell the church to developers,who then turn them into
apartments,offices,
artgalleries,
museums,
breweries or
performancespaces.
Butwhat about churches in neighborhoods that aren't doing well, areasthat are less attractive to developers looking to turn a profit?
InBuffalo, New York,
twoempty Roman Catholic churches wererecently converted --not into apartments or offices, but into other places of worship.
Onebecame an Islamic mosque, theother a Buddhist temple.
But
severalformer Christian churches in Buffalo's East Side also now serve assites of worship for other religions. Two mosques, BaitUl Mamur Inc. Masjid and Masjid Zakariya, used to be
SaintJoachim's Roman Catholic Church and
HolyMother of Rosary Polish National Catholic Church,respectively.
Hownature's ancient technologies can inform today's cities
Andtwo other formerly vacant churches that the Catholic diocese wasstruggling to sell were eventually sold. One,
Queenof Peace Roman Catholic Church,
wasconverted into a mosque, Jami Masjid.https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/empty-churches-conversation/index.html---------------------
#35StephenWallStreet Journal: “
Europe’sempty churches go on sale”NaftaliBendavid of the Wall Street Journal has devoted a long article aboutthe plight of religious heritage buildings in Europe. He has spokento FRH council member Lilian Grootswagers as part of his research.Headlined “Hundreds of Churches Have Closed or Are Threatened byPlunging Membership, Posing Question: What to Do With UnusedBuildings?” The article focuses on churches.
Theformer Roman Catholic Church of St. Joseph inArnhem, Netherlands, one of hundreds of decommissionedchurches, was turned into a skate park. Merlijn Doomernik for theWall Street Journal. [I suppose a skate park is better than amosque.] (…)
Hundredsof churches, closed or threatened by plunging membership, posea question for communities, and even governments, across WesternEurope: What to do with once-holy, now-empty buildings thatincreasingly mark the countryside
from Britain to Denmark?
Bendaviddiscusses some of the (controversial) re-uses found for thesebuildings
Unusedchurches are now a big enough problem to attract the attention ofgovernments as well. The Netherlands, along with religious and civicgroups, has adopted a national “agenda” for preserving thebuildings. The Dutch province of Friesland—where 250 of 720existing churches have been closed or transformed—fields a “Deltateam” to find solutions.
“Everychurch is a debate,” says Albert Reinstra, a church expert atHolland’s Cultural Heritage Agency. “When they are empty, what dowe do with it?” Preservationists say there often isn’t the moneyneeded to create new community-oriented uses for the buildings.
Readthe full article online
here orview it here:
Europe’sChurches Go Up for Sale –Wall Street Journal (PDF).
https://www.frh-europe.org/europe-wall-street-journal-europes-empty-churches-go-on-sale/--------------------
#35StephenAmerica’sEpidemic of Empty ChurchesAman walks inside an empty church in the Ninth Ward area in NewOrleans CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS
Threeblocks from my Brooklyn apartment, a large brick structure stretchestoward heaven. Tourists recognize it as a church—the building’sbell tower and stained-glass windows give it away—but
worshippershaven’t gathered here in years.The19th-century building was once known as St. Vincent De Paul Churchand housed a vibrant congregation for more than a century. Butattendance dwindled and coffers ran dry by the early 2000s. Rainleaked through holes left by missing shingles, a tree sprouted in thebell tower, and the Brooklyn diocese decided to sell the building todevelopers. Today, the Spire Lofts boasts 40 luxury apartments, withone-bedroom units renting for as much as
$4,812per month.It takes serious cash to make God’s house your own, apparently.
Manyof our nation’s churches can no longer afford to maintain theirstructures—
6,000to 10,000 churches die each year inAmerica—and that number will likely grow. Though more than 70percent of our citizens still claim to be Christian, congregationalparticipation is less central to many Americans’ faith than it oncewas. Most denominations are
declining asa share of the overall population, and donations to congregationshave been
falling fordecades. Meanwhile, religiously unaffiliated Americans, nicknamed the“nones,” are
growing asa share of the U.S. population.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/what-should-america-do-its-empty-church-buildings/576592/-----------------------
#35StephenClosureof Catholic and Protestant churches in GermanyThenumber of people leaving the church is far higher than thosejoiningit. The number of people resigning from the church reached ahigh pointin 1992 after German unification, when 361,256 people cededtheirmembership of the Protestant church and 1 92,766 quit theCatholicchurch. on top of this, since the mid-1970s,
morechurch members areburied than baptised.http://www.frh-europe.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2009-Closure-of-Catholic-and-Protestant-churches-in-Germany-Gerd-WeiB.pdf------------------------
#37StephenAndlooking south
ADemographic Snapshot of Christianity and Church Attenders inAustraliaTheproportion of
Australians identifyingChristianity as their religion has been
declining overthe last century – from 96% in 1911 to 61.1% in the 2011 Census.Over the last decade, Christianity in
Australia hasdeclined from 68% to 61.1%.
https://mccrindle.com.au/insights/blogarchive/a-demographic-snapshot-of-christianity-and-church-attenders-in-australia/#:~:text=Steady%20declines%3A,from%2068%25%20to%2061.1%25.-------------------
#48StephenDeclineof Christianity in various countries
The
declineof Christianity isan ongoing trend in West and North
Europe.
[1] Developedcountries withmodern,
secular educationalfacilities in the post-
WorldWar II erahave shifted towards
post-Christian,secular,
globalized,
multicultural and
multifaith societies.
Infantbaptism hasdeclined in many nations, with thousands of churches closing ormerging due to lack of attendees. There is also evidence of declinein
NorthAmerica (especiallyin Canada) and in
Australia.Despite the decline,
Christianity remainsthe dominant religion in the
Westernworld,where 70% of the population is Christian.
[2] Inaddition, according to a 2012
PewResearch Center survey,within the next four decades, Christianity will remain the
world'slargest religion.
[3] Thisis due to the bithrate of Christians and due toChristian
evangelism (Christianshave 2.7 children per woman, which is above the replacement level of2.1 children per woman).
[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Christianity_in_various_countries
