Pacific Northwest Transition Training
Partners for Sacred Places offered an eight-workshop series for fourteen congregations in western Oregon in the fall of 2023 . The pilot series was based on Partners ' thirty-plus years of helping congregations use assetbased community engagement to become effective stewards of their historic and older properties , as well as our publication Transitioning Older and Historic Sacred Places : Community-Minded Approaches for Congregations and Judicatories .
“
Rather than seeing the building maintenance as the main thing our building offers , I see that it is possible to find new partners , new ways to use our space , and that our space is a great resource .”
— Julie Everett , First Presbyterian Church of Moscow , ID
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Sessions included a hybrid model of instruction and breakout groups for discussion . There were brief assignments in between sessions to reinforce concepts and help participants implement strategies for community engagement and stewardship . Topics included : legacy and storytelling , space and physical asset assessment , community engagement strategies , space sharing basics , historic property considerations , and ways to find funding . Additional workshops were held in eastern Washington and northern Idaho in the spring of 2024 , and a series is planned in the Seattle area during the winter of 2025 .
Members of the spring 2024 Transitions cohort gather at Salem Lutheran Church in Spokane , WA , to consider their values and their legacy while contemplating big changes in how they approach their relationship with their buildings . Photo : Dana Dabek .
FOUR GOALS FOR THE TRAINING WERE :
1 . Empower your congregation to discern the best use of its physical assets for sound stewardship and financial stability .
2 . Provide the tools to effectively tell your story and find new community partners .
3 . Better understand the resources available to you as a historic or older sacred place .
4 . Leave with a tangible mission statement for your property to guide options moving forward .