Brothels. Bars. Gaming. No seriously, schools, convert them to apartments for low income. Shelters for battered women/kids. Course if religion died out might there be less violence?

Homeless shelters would be a good start

Music venues, art studios, Homeless shelters, community centers,

There are never enough shelters for women with kids.

Youth centers, art galleries and theateres

Shelters for women and children... Youth activity centers...

Have to make a lot more bars would have lots of aimless people with nothing to do.

My old church shares itself with AA, CHOW, they run a soup kitchen, certain theatre groups use it, yoga classes. The church also owns houses on its property that it rents out really low. I’d like to see them used like that, with no religion.

Homeless shelters, soup kitchens and youth centers come to my mind.

Same as now. Put them to all kinds of uses. The disgustingly opulent ones could be theaters for everything from science conferences to sports.

Sell it and pay the utilities of the poor people in that town.

Burn them to the ground. Never leave 1 cancer cell around. Build something new

A woman in a small nearby village bought a church that was no longer in use. She has musicians come play for donations. They also sell their CDs. If we arrive early, we can wander through the cemetery in back that was included with the church. Another two churches here in town have converted to apartments. Unfortunately, I can't see anybody paying for an old church, even one in bankruptcy, and not living in it or making money on it somehow.

Churches were designed for high social meetings and events, anything to that effect will do well.

They make also high end apartments or homes. Not so great for the homeless or poor because of often high ceilings, exposed Windows . Poor insulation and high cost of energy. Many churches already are for sale cheap. I can build a new building and home many times cheaper and healthier.

Concert venues! Especially the older churches.

Homeless shelters. food kitchens, free healthcare clinics,... All funded by church donations.

Make them libraries or educational institutions.

Convert it to housing and useful things like community centers.

Homeless shelters, Rehabilitation center

Most of the smaller ones have pretty good acoustics, so event venues comes to mind; as does shelters and soup kitchens.

charities

I've always had a fantasy about converting abandoned churches into schools and libraries. I'm thinking libraries for the fancy stone ones and schools for the more ordinary house-looking ones.

Whoever purchases the land would decide. It sure would be something to see churches change into places of business, community outreach, private homes, shelters, schools... the sky is the limit.

Afraid that is a bit of wishful thinking that isn't going to happen in our lifetimes. Once the bank 'repossesses' them, it would be up to the bank...

Concert venues! Especially the older churches.