Second Acts

No Episcopal church will end up as an adult bookstore, said the Rev. Patricia L. Hanen, assistant to the bishop for congregational development in the diocese of Ohio.

"We're very particular about" selling closed churches, Hanen said. The church wants the building to be "some kind of an asset to another religious group or the community at large," she said.

In the case of the Heights Youth Club, Fairmount Presbyterian Church raised $100,000, matching a $100,000 challenge grant, to help create a nonprofit corporation to buy the former Heights United Presbyterian Church. The club, which opened in January, offers summer and after-school activities promoting education, recreation and the arts.

Although the youth club is a secular program operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cleveland, it fits with church goals of nurturing young people, the Rev. Westfall said.

Among others, artists have found inspiration in closed churches.

St. Josaphat Catholic Church in Cleveland, which closed in 1998, is now Josaphat Arts Hall.

Glass Artist Kathleen Manhattan said she can sense the energy from parish meals, wedding receptions and ceremonies held in the basement of the former church, where she has her Streets of Manhattan Studio.

"It's still a spiritual place, because art is spiritual," Manhattan said. "And it's alive. It's alive with people. It's alive with ideas."

Even selling to a developer does not mean the building will be torn down or dramatically altered.

When developer Josh Simon purchased First English Lutheran Church after it closed in 2002, he preserved much of the aesthetics, including classic archways, stained-glass windows and heavy wooden beams, when he converted the building to townhouses.

Debbie Harris, who owns the unit where the altar once stood, kept the more than 15-foot-tall stained-glass window of Jesus surrounded by sheep.

"When you wake up in the morning, Jesus is looking down on you," she said. "It's a very peaceful feeling."

David Briggs writes for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland.