image for illustration: Gower Street Church, St Johns, Newfoundland by Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
From housing to disaster relief, faith spaces have long filled civic gaps. A new report calls them essential public assets, reports Broadview.
Broadview writes:
… religiosity in Canada is declining — but when faith-based buildings disappear, it’s not just congregations that lose out. Communities do too. … a new report from the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) explores the broader social impacts of Canada’s faith-based spaces and calls for them to be re-envisioned as community hubs…
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The report highlights the concept of the ‘halo effect,’ a term that describes the positive impact of faith-based institutions on their surrounding communities.
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