Theologian Ansgar Gmur (69) is harsh with the congregations. His accusation: Municipalities earn little and spend a lot of money on their large real estate portfolios. As a result, it was not managed efficiently enough and very unprofessional. Gmur, who has been the director of the Swiss Homeowners Association (HEV) for nearly two decades, extensively examined the real estate holdings of churches in Switzerland in a thesis. It demands that churches reuse and lease or sell vacant buildings.
Criticism is not well received everywhere. Markus Dütschler, responsible for communications at the Reformed Churches in Bern-Jura-Solothurn, agrees that action is undoubtedly needed when it comes to underutilized real estate. “But the church is not just a real estate company operating on the basis of profitability. Church buildings or parish houses are part of the identity of a city quarter or a village. Therefore, you must proceed carefully and gracefully with these questions,” he argues.
Churches inspect real estate
Johannes Stückelberger (64), who teaches religion and church aesthetics at the University of Bern and creates a database for church conversions in Switzerland, emphasizes that conversions are already common today. “In many cases, it boils down to joint use with other institutions and organizations that rent the church temporarily or lease rooms on a permanent basis.” In this way, the public character of the buildings that characterize the cityscape can be preserved. Unlike churches abroad that have been converted into a fitness centre, climbing hall or bar.
However, several major neighborhoods are now taking a closer look at property management. For years, the church has struggled with a decline in followers, which is reflected in vacant desks, as well as falling church tax revenues. The Evangelical-Reformist church community in Bern is therefore currently working on a renunciation plan: Churches, parish houses and parish houses that are no longer needed “should be withdrawn from church use,” says Communications Director Carmen Hess.
Most of the buildings will be transferred to the subsidiary RefBernImmo AG and given a new purpose with proper use, for example school buildings. Hess emphasizes: “The structures are already professional today, but are now being further strengthened in light of the ownership strategy outlined above.”
Lucerne is open to ideas
The City of Lucerne Catholic Church has also noticed that the number of trade fair visitors has decreased, especially in the suburbs. “Churches have become huge in many places,” says Urban Schwegler, responsible for communications. If membership continues to decline, it may be considered that some churches in the city will no longer be needed in the future.
That’s why the Catholic Church in Lucerne recently started a project. “We want to clearly define the conditions under which a church can be sold,” Schwegler says. It is not yet possible to say how a sold church could be used in the future. “It doesn’t depend on the ideas that have been brought to us, at least.”
That sounds pretty open-minded for a church. You know the treasure you’re protecting, silver lining takes a little longer than usual in the highly competitive real estate market.