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Churches in the nation's capital seek to balance welcome and security
After a fire, protests and the tear-gassing of peaceful demonstrators, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., boarded up its stained-glass windows and reluctantly agreed to the installation of a chain-link fence. But the congregation is finding ways for their building to remain a place of welcome and refuge, as are others in the city.
Link to author Edie Gross
By Edie Gross
Journalist
Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows: Congregations should see their buildings as assets, not albatrosses
Talking about church buildings is fun for the bishop of the Diocese of Indianapolis -- not just because she is trained in architecture and historic preservation, but also because it leads to questions like, “What is this congregation for?”
A congregation helps homeless people during the pandemic by offering refuge and support
When shelter options began to close for people living on the streets in Pasadena, California, All Saints Church stepped in by developing a system to offer its property safely and sustainably and to create a model for other churches to do the same.
Link to author Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn
By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn
Journalist
A North Carolina nonprofit helps churches convert property from liabilities into assets
Leaders of a community development corporation believe that even struggling congregations can survive and thrive if members take stock of their assets and put them to use as resources for their communities.
Link to author Yonat Shimron
By Yonat Shimron
Journalist
Sharing a building leads to a shared mission for an AME church and a Latino congregation
Two pastors built a friendship across barriers of language and culture, uniting their congregations and together reaching out to their community.
Link to author Leslie Quander Wooldridge
By Leslie Quander Wooldridge
Journalist
A tiny congregation with a big building is resurrected as a center for peace
Concerned about violence in their city, members of a declining church in Oakland shifted focus, redefined its ministry and invited nonprofit service agencies to work together as the Oakland Peace Center.
By Patricia Corrigan
Journalist
A downtown church forges a new path when it decides to tear down two decaying buildings
The 146-year-old Baptist congregation hopes a smaller footprint will allow the church to redefine its mission and identity while saving its historic sanctuary.
Link to author Yonat Shimron
By Yonat Shimron
Journalist
A struggling Texas church is slowly rising again, becoming leaven for the community
Despite years of decline and worries about the future, Austin's Memorial UMC is moving forward in ministry, with bread baking, ESL classes and a decidedly Wesleyan model of church focused not on themselves but on their neighbors.
By Eileen E. Flynn
Journalist
What if church was more like a gym?
An Episcopal priest and longtime runner wonders what would happen if church was a ‘spiritual training center,’ a place that combines a drop-in feel with an established routine and considers anew how and why we gather together.
Link to author Catherine A. Caimano
By Catherine A. Caimano
Free Range Priest
A Grand Rapids church chooses people over historic space
Eight years ago, a Grand Rapids congregation left its stately but deteriorating church for a plain, empty building in a tough part of town. Today, the risk has paid off with a smaller but committed congregation heavily involved in neighborhood ministry.
By Charles Honey
Journalist
