Much has been written and said on the fire at Notre Dame de Paris, the grand cathedral. It took nearly one hundred years to build, from 1160 to 1260. I have had the privilege of visiting it a few times, and it was always a magnificent experience. For a fee, you could climb to the top and have a panoramic view of Paris, and pass many gargoyles as you walked on the upper levels. As many have already remarked, the stained glass windows were the most impressive anywhere. It was the pinnacle of architecture in its day.
In the Catholic church, a cathedral is not just any church, it is the seat of a bishop. The builders of Notre Dame built a huge, soaring Gothic building, as an honor to God. And the purpose of a church, any church, is to provide a physical location and environment for people to come together to worship God. This is primarily done by studying and hearing the Word of God, participating in sacraments, and prayer. Worshipping in these means is assisted by music, as well.
Thirteen million people visit Notre Dame de Paris each year, as tourists. I am unable to find out how many people actually attend Mass or services there, but I suspect it is a fraction of that number. And although the beauty and grandeur of the cathedral are immense, it was not built to be a tourist attraction. The Catholic church does not own Notre Dame, it is owned by the French government. Although it does still serve as a house of worship, for the French, it is more a symbol of national identity, rather like our Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial. In fact, in France, as well as the rest of Europe, there is a rapidly declining need for churches of any kind.
Church attendance in Europe has plummeted. The Church of England closes 20 churches a year, the Catholic church in Germany around 50 a year. In the Netherlands, two thirds of the Catholic churches will close by 2025 and 700 Protestant churches will shutter before 2020. So what happens to those buildings? They are often sold and converted to other uses, such as skating rinks, supermarkets, bookstores, or gymnasiums. According to the Wall Street Journal, (the reference for much of this data), one church was even converted to a circus training facility.
This is the result in a decline in Christianity in Europe. Although 70% of Western Europeans identify as Christian, only a small number are actively participating Christians attending church. In 2014, only 4% of people in the UK went to a Church of England Christmas service. The number of people identifying as Christian is declining, while that of Orthodox Jews is remaining stable, and the number of Muslims is increasing.
We are seeing some of the same trends here in the United States. The Presbyterian church has lost 40% of its members and 15% of its churches. About a third of Americans attend religious services between once week and once a month, down from 49% in the 1950's (Gallup, Barna), and "religious services" includes Jews and Muslims. This data is from self-reporting polls, and when you look at the actual number by observational studies, it may be half of that. We are seeing churches closing and being converted here in the United States, as well.
It is truly a tragedy that fire consumed Notre Dame de Paris. It may be rebuilt one day, a tremendous building that will once again draw millions. But it is also a tragedy that thousands of churches around the world are ceasing to exist, not from fire which consumes, but from a lack of fire in believing Christians who no longer devote themselves to attending houses of worship. Millions wished to visit Notre Dame as tourists, many other millions would rather stay home from their churches on Sundays. Salvation in no way requires church attendance, yet the believing Christian is commanded to join together with their local body of Christ, their fellow believers, to worship our Lord. Unfortunately, there will be no tourists in Heaven.
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