What Will We Do With 100,000 Empty Churches? | Richard Reinhard

Rick Reinhard has an interesting background spanning urbanism and religion, so naturally I wanted to have him as a guest on the podcast. He worked as the chief of staff to a former mayor of Buffalo, ran a Business Improvement District in Washington, DC, and spent time at the Urban Land Institute among other endeavors. But he also fell into a niche helping churches and denominations figure out what to do with the property of churches that have closed or are in danger of closing. He spent several years working with the United Methodist Church on this.

There will be as many as 100,000 churches that will close in the coming years. What to do with all of those buildings will be a major question both for churches and denominations, and communities. He joined me on the podcast this week to talk about this situation.

Here are some articles he has written on the topic:

• Urban Land Institute: Affordable Housing: YIGBY (“Yes in God’s Backyard”) Movement Seeks to Counter NIMBY Movement

• Governing: Can Struggling Houses of Worship Be Turned Into Housing? Not Always

• Canadian Urban Institute: Sacred Spaces, Civic Value: Making the Case for the Future of Faith-Built Assets