Church rolls may drop, but the buildings don’t always fall to the wrecking ball – some of them are converted to condos. That trend is the focus of a story in the Washington Post that is at once factual, thoughtful and sensitive.
The smoothly written piece is a massive 1,480 words, yet it reads rather fast. It gives us an overview of the situation across the nation's capital. It offers a few insights on how professionals convert church buildings. And it shows a soothing feel for the concerns of the people who had to leave their sacred spaces.
Church conversions are a kind of gentrification, but with a difference, as the Post points out.
"As churches’ congregations move to the suburbs and D.C. property values soar, increasing numbers of religious institutions are selling their properties in the city, usually with plans to move closer to their congregants," the paper says. "But … some experts say that a church’s former life as a sacred space requires a particular kind of respect."
The Post gets into the expected issues of restoring a big building with neglected windows, plumbing and HVAC. It deals also with how to divide up a big room that's built around a pulpit. But it's much more, says writer Amanda Abrams.
A freelance writer who is not a religion specialist, Abrams might have well gotten caught up in those mundane details. But no, she recalls the reason for the buildings – and so do her sources:
