Recently published
Congregations across the country are trying to figure out what to do with buildings that no longer serve their purpose. But there are many resources for leaders grappling with this issue, writes a project director at the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving.
Link to author Elizabeth Lynn
The outsize economic impact of rural churches on their communities calls for a renewed vision of their importance, according to a two-year study in North Carolina.
Link to author Emilie Haertsch
A congregation in Spokane, Washington, offered its building to a digital news startup, allowing it to grow into a million-dollar organization, writes the founder of the site.
Link to author Tracy Simmons
When asked to use its building and property to shelter women and families, Salt House Church said yes.
Link to author Julia Duin
A nonprofit’s partnership with two Virginia churches offers a model for collaboration between faith-based and community-based organizations.
Link to author Leslie Quander Wooldridge
Volunteering for research initiatives like the Mapping Prejudice project in Minneapolis educates church members on how to rectify present injustice.
Link to author Todd Nelson
The number of congregations closing could rise sharply after the pandemic. The time to explore using church real estate wisely is now.
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
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?”
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
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
