Dying malls across the US are being transformed into churches

Living Word Christian CenterLiving Word Christian Center in Forest Park, IllinoisAs the retail apocalypse sweeps the US, hundreds of malls are being deserted. But a blessed few are being transformed into something entirely different.

Empty and out-of-use malls are being revamped as fitness centers, offices, public libraries, movie theaters, medical clinics, and even churches.

"Only so many consumers are going to malls, and they will flock to newer ones," June Williamson, a City College of New York architecture professor and the author of "Retrofitting Suburbia," told Business Insider. "If developers build a new mall, they are inevitably undercutting another property. So older properties have to get re-positioned every decade, or they will die."

Worshipping at a mall might sound strange but it's a reality that thousands of people across the US are living.

Here's what it's like to go to a church that is inside a former mall.