The closure of the Sint Franciscus church in Emmen seems inevitable. The parish council proposes to the bishop to dispose of the building on the corner of Boslaan/Schanswal.
Built in 1952, the Sint Franciscus church in the Emmerschans district is one of the four church buildings of the Good Shepherd Parish. The other Catholic churches are located on the Meerstraat near the Emmer center (Pauluskerk, 1949) and in the villages of Barger-Oosterveld (Gerardus Majellakerk, 1906) and Erica (Our Lady Immaculate Conception Church, 1933). The churches have been struggling for years with a significant decline in the number of churchgoers and that decline is expected to continue at a rapid pace in the coming years.
Because it is not financially possible to keep all these churches open for their own use, an investigation was carried out on behalf of the diocese. A four-member committee made its recommendations at the end of last year. The divestment of the Saint Francis Church was one of them. This location is numerically the smallest of the four and the building is the only one of the four churches that does not have a monumental status. This makes repurposing the building or site a lot easier. The Parish Council is now adopting this recommendation.
Teacher’s house
The parish board, chaired by Pastor Stiekema, informs the bishop that other buildings can also be sold in the long term. No churches, but other buildings that traditionally belong to the Catholic community. This includes the former kindergarten and the former teacher’s house on the Splitting in Barger-Oosterveld and the building De Vlaspit on the Slenerbrink in the Bargeres district.
The De Schiphorst building near the church on the Meerstraat can be demolished when the lease with the current users expires. The site can then possibly be added to the car park, which the parish is already making available for payment. Quite a few visitors to the center use it, making it a good source of income for the parish. The idea is to install charging stations for electric cars there as well.
No guarantees
The parish board is also open to the sale of the St. Joseph building behind the church to Erica to scouting. This organization has been using it for a long time. The parsonage in Erica can be rented or sold ‘under conditions’. The churches in Emmen (Meerstraat), Erica and Barger-Oosterveld remain open as far as the parish council is concerned, but there are no long-term guarantees in that regard. The parish now has 8,960 members and much indicates that this will be less than 2,250 after 2030. Because the majority hardly attended church services, if at all, one church building is enough for such a parish.