Conversion of churches in the Soest district: tradition meets new ideas!

Conversion of churches in the Soest district: tradition meets new ideas!

The church landscape in the Soest district has experienced profound change in recent years. Falling membership numbers and lower church attendance are driving many Protestant and Catholic congregations to look for new uses for their church buildings. This reports Hellweg Radio.

In Lippstadt, the communities have already acted proactively: three Protestant churches and a community center were de-dedicated in order to take social changes into account. The overarching goal of these dezonings is to strengthen the remaining church locations and find sensible uses. A particularly successful example can be found in Bad Sassendorf, where a former church was converted into a residential building. In Lipperbruch, the long-serving Christopherus Church now belongs to a Greek Orthodox community and continues to be used for religious purposes.

New challenges and resistance

Another example is the Catholic St. Norbert Church in Werl, which is to be converted into a daycare center in order to counteract the lack of space in childcare. But this conversion brings with it resistance: an online petition was launched to stop the dezoning. This resistance highlights the emotional attachment many parishioners have to their churches and the conflicts that such decisions bring with them.

The challenges facing many communities are not just a local phenomenon. The figures show that over 40,000 churches in Germany are at risk of becoming orphaned. A study by the EKD shows that since 2022, less than half of German citizens have been members of one of the large Christian churches. Loud Deutschlandfunk culture Only 13 percent of the population is considered religious. More and more churches could be abandoned in the coming decades, while according to the latest projections, up to 20 percent of churches may no longer be used as worship spaces within the next decade.

A question of use and identity

Of course, the conversion of churches is not a new issue. Changes of use triggered by secularization processes have been occurring since the Middle Ages. Historically, such transformations took place, for example during the Reformation or the Reichsdeputationshaupttritt. The causes for these conversions are currently obvious: economic, ecological and political-social reasons are often decisive. The Federal Agency for Civic Education points to the need to have a discussion about the future use of these buildings as cultural and religious sites.

Church spaces are not just liturgical places; they also have a special value for society. They are resonance spaces and contribute to the identity of the community and the surrounding area. The preservation and transformation of churches into social or cultural meeting places could therefore become a task for society as a whole. There are already projects that use churches differently, for example for environmental protection measures or as event locations. Some municipalities that have already found innovative usage models have a good knack for this.

The development in the church landscape reflects how dynamically belonging and community places are changing in our society. A look into the future shows that it remains exciting to see how communities will address these challenges and what new opportunities for interaction between church and society can arise.