Europe’s Empty Churches Go on Sale

[AtheistCrusader]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-empty-churches-go-on-sale-1420245359?utm_content=buffer3545e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Hundreds of Churches Have Closed or Are Threatened by Plunging Membership, Posing Question: What to Do With Unused Buildings?

ARNHEM, Netherlands—Two dozen scruffy skateboarders launched perilous jumps in a soaring old church building here on a recent night, watched over by a mosaic likeness of Jesus and a solemn array of stone saints.

This is the Arnhem Skate Hall, an uneasy reincarnation of the Church of St. Joseph, which once rang with the prayers of nearly 1,000 worshipers.

It is one of hundreds of churches, closed or threatened by plunging membership, that pose a question for communities, and even governments, across Western Europe: What to do with once-holy, now-empty buildings that increasingly mark the countryside from Britain to Denmark?

The Skate Hall may not last long. The once-stately church is streaked with water damage and badly needs repair; the city sends the skaters tax bills; and the Roman Catholic Church, which still owns the building, is trying to sell it at a price they can’t afford.

Some churches have really good acoustics, make a nicer venue than the ShowBox in Seattle.

[Warpy]

1. Churches were the only concert venues anyone had access to for centuries

so it's no accident that they generally have excellent acoustics. If they didn't, they produced official composers like Gabrielli, who solved the problem with separated choirs. They were used for occasions of royal pomp as well as celebratory concerts on feast days, of which there were once many, providing holidays for urban workers, at least.

As for Skate Hall, some oil or real estate baron will fix the structural problems and turn it into a mansion. That, too, will be temporary.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Good.

[edhopper]

3. To every thing

There is a season.