Slow-Motion Earthquakes & Other Disasters
Slow-Motion Earthquakes & Other Disasters
Andrew Barrie
To be considered an asset, something must generate income or be capable of being sold.
The land and buildings owned by churches rarely meet either criterion. Around the
country, aging and often shrinking congregations are finding themselves burdened with
old, and often historically significant buildings. Maintenance costs are rising, but the ability
to meet those costs is declining. The widespread destruction of churches in the
Canterbury earthquakes, while tragic, has allowed churches a rare moment of freedom to
reconsider the use and disposition of their physical structures. The mainstream churches,
collectively among the largest landowners in the city, have the capacity to alter the social
and urban atmosphere of the city. How might the churches strategically rebuild in order to
better tend their congregations and serve their communities?
