Title

Author(s)

Rev Dr Ruth Dowson

Affiliation

Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/NZBE6321

Keywords

Church Venues, Cultural Risk Assessment, Eventization of Faith

PP

328-335

How to Cite

Dowson, Rev Dr Ruth. “Filling the Religious Void: But with What? A Strategic Event Management Approach to Eventization of Decommissioned and Deconsecrated Faith Spaces.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 328–335. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

328-335

Abstract

In the European landscape, church buildings are visible reminders of local communities’ cultural roots, shaping their cultural heritage. Yet demographic, religious and social changes have led to the abandonment of religious spaces across the continent. Conferences have been held, from Nordic countries to the Vatican, Catholic and Protestant, asking “Does God not live here anymore?” Yet these symposia focus on the “what”. What physically can we do with these spaces? How can we adapt them to new purposes? But rarely is any consideration given to what follows. Having studied over fifty churches across Europe, from Belgium to Poland, Sweden to Italy, it is evident that a primary use of adapted churches is for events. This venuefication (Dowson and Lamond 2018) meets a growing need for event venues, for use by secular organisations, faith groups and businesses. Yet little consideration is given to the strategic development of these sacred spaces from professional or academic event management perspectives. This paper proposes the adoption of a strategic eventization of faith process (Dowson 2025) that enables local organisations to develop their own decommissioned or deconsecrated faith spaces, balancing cultural and religious values, appreciating the theological distinctions between and within denominations. Undertaking cultural risk assessments (Albert, Dowson and Lomax 2025) facilitates the creation of more inclusive and welcoming event spaces, addressing new dilemmas facing those who want to utilise them. Lacking in cultural and theological capital, event producers experience challenges attempting to introduce culturally relevant activities into abandoned sacred spaces. Consideration of the specialist context of use beyond the physical transformation of abandoned sacred buildings enables encounter with complexities that otherwise remain unseen—legal, spiritual, theological, and cultural. Reaching beyond appropriation of physical space, this paper applies the concept of ‘palimpsest’, when a progression of changes masks former structures, functionality, meaning and design purposes.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.