The Intentionally Empty Church Building

An Associated Press story begins with this report of a Belgian church-building-of-sorts:

The church is made of rusty steel beams separated by gaps, and its austere beauty won it an international prize. Yet the eerie desolation of the see-through art installation has also turned into a reflection on the state of Roman Catholicism on a religion-weary continent where real churches, like the dozen dotting the hills of this verdant area, increasingly lose their flock and function.

The article goes on to talk about how it is not on Roman Catholicism that is struggling on the European continent. They speak of how many churches turned to adding restaurants, coffee shops, and book stores to their buildings (sound familiar?), only to see that those things did not appeal for very long.

So, an architect named Pieterjan Gijs decided to make an artistic statement about how churches are dying. His firm designed and built a church building that is “see-through.” No one will ever worship there because it is simply a set of, as the article says, “rusty steel beams separated by gaps.” There are no seats, no pulpit, and no people.

The project is ominously named “Reading Between the Lines,” but what is more haunting is that, from a certain angle, a nearby cathedral can be seen through the art structure. The cathedral is almost 1000 years old, but is not growing at all.

In fact, there is something inside the empty church building, and it should cause us all to wake up. There are 12 candles and 17 crosses. Why 12 and 17? The nearby cathedral, which claims to be there for some 10,000 local residents has baptized just 12 people in the previous year and a half, while they have buried 17 congregants.

Are you awake yet? Does that sound a little too familiar?

How many church buildings in our own country have been around for 50, 100, or even 150 years, but are unintentionally empty? How many are on the verge of closing their doors?

Let me ask it another way: if Pieterjan Gijs were to select another location for a similar piece of art, could he build “Reading Between the Lines 2” near your building?

QUESTION: What are your reactions to this article? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo credit: Z33 Art Centre on Creative Commons

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