This might certainly become a growing trend, just as you see many old religious structures in Europe which have been adapted to other uses. I’ve seen much more of this in areas of the Rust Belt, where communities are in decline in general. I’ve seen a some beautiful old buildings converted into restaurants, night clubs and even a hotel.
As others mentioned, we’ve also seen a great number of adaptive reuse of other building types for churches over the past 10-15 years. However, we see another trend starting to take off.
We are seeing a strong attraction of younger churches (Millennials) to the special character (authenticity?) of these older sacred spaces. Where possible these congregations are moving in and revitalizing the older buildings with newer church ideas. Its also often an interest in the ancient/future nature of faith - and a desire to connect their identify to a something more timeless.
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[Tom] [Greenwood] [AIA]
[Director of Faith-Based Design]
[The Beck Group]
[Dallas] [Texas]
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