Europe

European Cathedrals Become Entertainment Centers

By Heather Sells
CBN News

CWNews.com – Are the ancient cathedrals of Europe an endangered species?

That's a valid concern as spiritual darkness drives worshippers away and replaces them with things like, in one case, indoor climbers.

At the Glasgow Climbing Center, fitness types can scale walls up to 40 feet high in the former Ibrox Anglican Church. Fifteen years ago, people stopped attending so the congregation sold the church.

Now, the place that calls itself "Scotland's premiere leisure facility" features state-of-the art recreation, in a place once intended to point people to God.

And it's not the only Scottish church that has put Christianity on the back-burner. Cottiers is a pub and dinner theatre that was also once a church. And just a few blocks away, an old parish church built in 1865 is now a restaurant.

Crossing the ocean to London, you'll find houses of God converted to entertainment centers – like this old Welsh church-turned-night club.

The former West Kensington Catholic Church now hosts Indian dancers. It promotes the Hindu faith and Indian culture.

Air Studios is a top production facility formerly known as Lyndhurst Church.

One group of developers displayed their creativity in converting a church into a condominium complex called – The Spire House.

American evangelists like Ron Luce worry that the U.S. is just one generation away from the bleak spiritual landscape that dominates Western Europe.

“We're on the onslaught or threshold of a moral Katrina where everyone does their own thing because they have no moral compass on the inside,” said Luce, who is with Teen Mania Ministries. “Imagine the whole country like that for the next 50 years. That's a lot of what Europe looks like right now.”

Indeed, some U.S. churches already resemble the European trend. LL Cool J recently performed in an Atlanta concert venue – the former Baptist Tabernacle Church. It's got a trendy bar, hip artwork – and the unabashed support of its patrons.

But evangelical sociologists in the U.S. say they're not panicking. Their research shows Christianity is alive and well here.

But that doesn't mean church leaders won't be watching – and learning – from what's happening in Western Europe.

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