“
Most
Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships
of us are learning that the space that we have is not ‘ Sunday space ’ — it is space for the use of God ’ s children . That may mean something entirely different than what is has meant in the past .
— Rose Anne Grasty , Lay Leader
Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships ( CBCP ) is a collaboration of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis , the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana , Partners for Sacred Places , and Indiana Landmarks that helps Episcopal parishes increase their vitality and live their unique calls more fully by maximizing the use of their buildings and developing new and stronger community partnerships . The project was piloted with every Episcopal parish with a building throughout Indiana between 2021 and 2023 .
CBCP currently incorporates five major components :
1 . An assessment of facilities and congregations via interviews and mapping of all underused and unused spaces in church buildings
2 . Training that integrates Diocesan curricula with tools and resources from project consultants , designed to help congregations engage in selfassessment , including evaluation of the alignment — or misalignment — between current space uses and parish goals and priorities
3 . Facilitated conversations and walk-throughs with local leaders to identify opportunities to collaborate and share spaces in sustainable ways that advance parish mission , serve community needs , and build community vitality
4 . Capital grants to parishes to support repairs and improvements that make spaces more welcoming and usable for existing and proposed outreach programs
5 . Creation of a web-based scheduling tool that allows parish properties to more easily rent or share their spaces with outside groups
Learn more at cbcp . sacredplaces . org
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