Decrease in church attendance has had its effect on church buildings, which are closed when high maintenance and operating costs can no longer be met by shrinking congregations. Thus, numerous religious buildings have been demolished or sold for other uses. Few today are surprised to enter a church building and find it being used as a museum, a bicycle shop, a sports hall, a concert hall, a flower shop, a restaurant, or apartments.

[Pictures on page 10, 11]

Many churches in Europe are now used for secular purposes. Page 10: A garage in the Netherlands. Page 11: Pensioners’ hall, workshop, boys’ club, and abandoned church in Penygraig, Wales