Right now, cities across the globe are experiencing what one observer has called an “epidemic” of church closures as churches, mosques, synagogues, and other places of worship permanently shutter their doors. Declines in religious affiliation and worship attendance have driven much of this trend, but so too have aging congregations, rising costs of real estate, and other fluctuations accompanying gentrification and the historic preservation of old buildings. In some places, these empty houses of worship have been reimagined as homes, places of business, or the site of new religious communities as churches and synagogues becoming masjids or temples. In other places, they remain abandoned. This session examines the narratives, histories, transformations, religious reincarnations, or secular afterlives of abandoned places of worship in urban spaces across the globe.
Drawing on Marxist social theory related to the production of space, the paper offers an analysis of ethnographic interviews and public reporting on the construction, public ministry, and closure of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, a Black Pentecostal church in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I argue that the building’s life cycle offers a clarifying lens for the vulnerability of minoritized houses of worship to the twin forces of capitalism and white supremacy at work in processes of gentrification. Focusing particularly on the loss of the building as tied to the dissolution of the congregation itself, as well as the building’s potential afterlife as a redeveloped space, I contend that the closure of physical places of worship is representational of gentrifications transfer of social and economic capital from poor communities of color to wealthy white communities.
In 2007, a six-decade-old Buddhist temple in Singapore called Chiam Pok Ee was opened to the public to much fanfare as the Kong Hiap Memorial Museum. Although this museum is dedicated to the esteemed Buddhist monk, Kong Hiap (1900–1994), it is not a traditional Chinese memorial hall but a fine arts museum showcasing works by Chinese monks, literati, and painters such as Hongyi, Yinguang, Feng Zikai, Qi Baishi, and Xu Beihong. Yet, it did not abandon its previous function as the religious base of Kong Hiap, but continued to hold dharma assemblies. I suggest that the case of the Kong Hiap Memorial Museum should give pause to the notion that museumification of religious sites is necessarily deleterious to lived religion but could instead illustrate how a community creatively reimagined a sacred space while reconstituting the memories of Kong Hiap through a threefold surrogacy of place, person, and processes.
This paper analyzes a growing trend in San Diego County in which faith communities are seeking to develop underutilized church properties into affordable housing. Such projects are often framed by church leaders and others as an opportunity for a congregation to expand the role that it plays in the local community (mission) while simultaneously growing the wealth of the congregation over time. Drawing from site visits and in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with pastors and others involved with this work, the author compares three different building projects with an eye towards the possible benefits and risks of each model. The results indicate that the success of such projects can hinge on a variety of factors such as: the consistent presence of a committed pastor and team of supporters from the church (leadership); the social, racial, and political dynamics of the neighborhood and city where the church is located; and, more. This paper also offers a list of best practices and points of advice for pastors and congregations that may be considering similar projects.
Like many urban areas, San Antonio has encountered issues related to the abandonment or historic preservation of aging buildings that were originally constructed to house religious communities. Some have been abandoned and left vacant. Some have been rehabilitated into art galleries or co-works spaces. And some have been bought by new religious communities. In this presentation, two staff members with the City of San Antonio’s Historic Preservation Office will discuss how urban planners and public historians engage with abandoned religious buildings. They will especially cover how the city has navigated these issues in light of Texas’s unique historic preservation laws that have specific rules for buildings that house religious communities.