Hotels, Breweries and Climbing Walls: Belgium’s Empty Churches Find New Owners

• About 350 churches are being repurposed in Flanders, a region of 6.7 million
• Mechelen has a hotel, brewery, library and cultural centre in former churches
• A Brussels church became a climbing gym; another a nightclub
• A bishop called it painful but said there is no return to the past

Belgium’s shrinking congregations are handing their churches over to hotels, breweries and gyms, Fortune reported in an Associated Press story on 22 June 2023. In the northern region of Flanders, home to 6.7 million people, about 350 churches are being repurposed.

Mechelen, a town of about 85,000 north of Brussels and a Roman Catholic centre with two dozen churches, is a showcase. Mayor Bart Somers said: “In my city we have a brewery in a church, we have a hotel in a church, we have a cultural center in a church, we have a library in a church.” The best known is the Martin’s Patershof hotel, where beds sit beneath organ-pipe headboards. Its design uses removable steel-framed elements, and the arrangement allows the church to reclaim the building if needed.

In Brussels, the church of St Anthony of Padua has become the Maniak Padoue climbing club, its colourful holds set against stained glass, and a deconsecrated Anglican church now houses the Spirito nightclub.

Bishop Johan Bonny did not hide the loss. “That is painful. I will not hide it. On the other hand, there is no return to the past possible,” he said. Supporters of reuse say it removes the need for costly repairs and care of buildings that congregations can no longer fill.

The Belgian experience shows the endgame of long decline: churches become real estate, and the question shifts from how to fill them to how to keep them standing. Creative conditions, such as the Mechelen hotel’s right of return, can soften the blow.

Jamaica’s church life looks very different from Belgium’s, but the lesson travels. Europe’s example suggests planning early: deciding which buildings to keep, which to share and which to repurpose while congregations still have a say, rather than waiting until a sale is the only option left.

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