Second Acts

Closed Churches Discover New Roles as Youth Clubs, Condos and City Offices

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Dozens of children chattered with excitement in a space where the faithful of the former Heights United Presbyterian Church once raised their voices in worship. The pews were gone, and the sanctuary had become the Heights Youth Club basketball court.

Overseeing the gathering was not a preacher elevated above the congregation, but a former basketball player surrounded by kids eager to have a place to play on a warm summer day.

What has not been lost in the transition is a sense of purpose and energy -- some even would say mission -- in this old brick building.

"I can't think of a better way if the church could not make it there than to develop a program that would make young people's lives better," said the Rev. Louise Westfall, pastor of nearby Fairmount Presbyterian Church. "That seems to me to be very sacred work."

If only all closed churches could do so well in their next lives.

The issue of what to do with former sanctuaries is a growing concern for mainline churches across the nation. Massive population shifts to the suburbs are leaving behind dwindling, financially struggling churches in the cities and inner-ring suburbs.

Church leaders from all denominations find themselves balancing the desire to have someone use the buildings for continued ministry with more practical considerations, such as getting a high sale price.

In a few cases, the buildings are in such disrepair that they must be razed. In most cases, the buildings will be sold or transferred to another church.

But there also have been many instances of imaginative conversions, where the original building is preserved as an architectural jewel in the neighborhood, and the structure can serve the community in such ways as municipal offices, businesses, arts complexes or housing.

Continuing the legacy of a building that for decades served as a spiritual beacon is important, particularly for people grieving the loss of their church, religious leaders say.

Members of a closed church consider it "sacred space given by their ancestors, and they'd like to see it continue as sacred space," said the Rev. Daniel Drew, who oversees local church mergers for the United Methodist Church.

In the Catholic church, as in other mainline churches, the first preference is that a closed building continue to serve a religious purpose, said the Rev. Ralph Wiatrowski, pastor of St. Barnabas Catholic Church in Northfield, Ohio, and former Cleveland diocesan chancellor.