Social Impact Investing as the Key to the Future of Church Real Estate: ICG Publishes Practical Guide "Church in Process"

Church real estate is increasingly under pressure to transform: declining membership numbers, rising costs and changing social requirements are confronting many congregations with fundamental decisions. At the same time, the real estate industry is growing interested in sustainably developing such properties in the sense of social impact investing.

A look at the dimension illustrates the relevance of the topic: There are around 160,000 church buildings in Germany, including about 44,469 sacred buildings and 30,508 churches. At the same time, only 13,871 of these churches are considered to be sustainable in the long term, while a significant part of the stock is facing fundamental transformation decisions.

Against this background, it becomes clear that new, structured and impact-oriented approaches – such as those pursued by the ICG's Social Impact Investing Initiative – play a central role in the future of church real estate.

Werner Knips, founder of the Social Impact Investing Initiative and Deputy Chairman of the Board of the ICG: "With the Social Impact Investing Initiative, we have created the basis for making the 'S' in ESG not only visible, but also measurable and assessable. Especially in the case of church real estate, it is a matter of bringing together social and societal impact with economic viability – and establishing new forms of cooperation."

The publication is based on the work of the ICG Round Table on Sacred Buildings, in which experts from the church, the real estate industry, science and consulting were involved. The aim was to develop a practical handout that offers orientation to both church decision-makers and project developers. The focus is on a multi-stage process that ranges from basic determination to social impact assessment and joint decision-making. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of intangible values such as identity, community and cultural significance, which play a central role in church real estate.

Johann Weiß, scientific director of the Round Table Sacred Buildings as well as a doctoral student at IRE|BS and research associate of the DFG research group TRANSARA: "Ecclesiastical buildings are much more than real estate. In addition to economic know-how, their transformation requires a deep understanding of their social and cultural value. Only when these dimensions are brought together in a structured, value-oriented and, ideally, interdisciplinary dialogue will sustainable and socially effective future prospects emerge."

Jannika Lange, Managing Director of the Protestant Real Estate Association of Germany, adds: "The transformation of church real estate is not only a structural or economic task, but above all a social negotiation process. Clear structures, transparent decision-making processes and early participation are needed to develop viable solutions that do justice to both church values and the requirements of the real estate industry."

The handout shows how a clearly structured process can reduce uncertainties, make decision-making processes transparent and enable new partnerships between the church and the real estate industry. In this way, it makes an important contribution to the further development of social impact investing as an integral part of a sustainable real estate industry.

"With this publication, the ICG once again underlines its role as a platform for dialogue between business, society and institutions – with the aim of making the social impact of real estate measurable and controllable," says the Managing Director of the ICG, Karin Barthelmes-Wehr.

The new practical handout "Church in Process" can be found at https://icg-institut.de/de/social-impact-investing/handreichung-kirche-im-prozess/ .