Kirche im Wandel : Erfahrungen und Perspektiven

Abstract

The broad title "Kirche im Wandel" (Church in Change) of the first volume of the new series “Sakralraumtransformationen” (Sacred Space Transformations) is the programme: While in many cases the focus is on the question of what variants of use are available for church buildings that have been deconsecrated, here the focus is on reflection on experiences with transformations and perspectives regarding the presence of religious communities in the societies of Germany and other European countries. In this context, sacred buildings have a special significance as public representatives and bearers of diverse functions and, in the course of their transformation or disappearance, are indicators of processes of social change. As cultural assets and often also as spatial landmarks relevant to urban development, they by no means belong only to the respective congregations or communities, but to society as a whole. Developing them further and thus preserving them is a task that not only the Christian congregations, but also as many responsible people as possible in politics, business and culture have to face. The DFG research group on the transformation of sacred space (TRANSARA) deals with these processes from an interdisciplinary perspective and presents here the results of its first annual conference, which served to confirm the status quo in dialogue with experts from different fields of expertise and whose results should contribute to a perspective orientation.