Buildings

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Representatives of Park Street UMC consider options for the church property in Belmont, North Carolina, at a design charrette, which is a process in which stakeholders gather to map solutions to complex problems. Photo courtesy of Wesley CDC

Congregations, Buildings, Money, Budget & financial management

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.

Josary Moreno Mejia interprets as the Rev. Dr. D.K. Kearney preaches and the Rev. Cesar Moreno prays during a revival on the grounds of Turner Memorial AME in Hyattsville, Maryland. The two pastors and their congregations jointly hosted the four-week event in September. Photos by Pete Marovich 

Congregations, Buildings, Reconciliation, Racial & ethnic, Missions & Evangelism

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.

After years of struggling to keep up its 1928 building, the congregation of First Christian Church of Oakland decided to make it a center for nonprofits working for peace. Photos courtesy of Oakland Peace Center

Congregations, Buildings, New forms of church, Innovation

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.

The Rev. Emily Hull McGee, pastor of First Baptist Church on Fifth, stands with her son Liam in the breezeway between two of the church buildings. The building on the left is slated for removal; it's part of an ambitious plan to tear down, rebuild and renovate the church's buildings in downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Photos by Alex Maness

Congregations, Buildings, Money, Sustainability

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.

Bread Church participants gather ingredients for an evening of baking and spiritual discussion.  Photos by Brian Diggs.

Christian Leadership, Pastoral leadership, Congregations, Buildings, Growth & renewal

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.

Church services at Bethlehem Church

A small boy eyes the waters of baptism during worship at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Photos by T.J. Hamilton/SaboPR

Congregations, Buildings, Missions & Evangelism

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.

Artist's rendering of Sharon UMC renovation

This is an early concept rendering of the urban village that Sharon UMC leaders envision on their property in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Courtesy of Sharon UMC
 

Congregations, Buildings

Kyle Thompson: Ministry is more important than a building

The bishop challenged them to be bold, and the leaders of Sharon United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, took the message to heart. The church is proposing to tear down its building and redevelop its property as an urban village. In this Q&A, the pastor explains the church's plans.

In a 2010 production of Twelth Night, Curio Theater Company takes the stage in Philadelphia's Calvary UMC under an arrangement brokered by Arts in Sacred Places.
Photo by Kyle Cassidy

Arts & Culture, Congregations, Buildings

Making homes for the arts in sacred places

Arts groups need their space, and many older churches have plenty to spare. In a win-win for everyone, a Philadelphia nonprofit is pairing up theater, dance, music and other arts groups with congregations that have underused space.

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