Kim de Wildt and Rob Plum have published a thought-provoking article following the news that Cardinal Eijk of Utrecht envisages closing 280 of the 300 churches in his archdiocese over the coming years.
They signal the absence of the Church, Catholic and Protestant, in the debate surrounding the alternative or extended use of obsolete religious heritage buildings, and the tendency of the Church to demolish a building rather than consider extended uses. Historically, the authors point out, churches have long had multiple uses; limiting their use to the Sunday service is a recent development.
The authors call for a joint effort to save historic places of worship and use the necessity of extended use to consider contemporary ways of religious experience.
Read the article in Dutch here.
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