St . Paul ’ s will use a challenge grant from the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships program to restore the belltower of its historic Gothic Revival building in LaPorte . The Rev . Canon Michelle I Walker
Community Partnerships Enliven Indiana Churches by Joshua Thomas Castaño
Director of Special Initiatives , Partners for Sacred Places
In a new initiative sponsored by the Episcopal Dioceses of Indianapolis and Northern Indiana , assisted by Partners for Sacred Places and Indiana Landmarks , Episcopal churches in Indiana are learning “ that even with a whole bunch of building shortcomings , we have opportunities to engage and be part of the community ,” according to program participant Laurie Galbraith from Trinity Episcopal , Michigan City , IN . Engaging with the community has proven key to discovering new vitality that reanimates their church buildings with new purpose and programming .
How does a congregation ’ s buildings and property best serve its mission and allow it to thrive ? How do new community partnerships help a congregation to further its mission ? Partners realized long ago that these questions are being asked by clergy , laypeople , and denominational leaders across the nation . Beginning in 2018 , Partners took part in conversations around these questions with Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows of the Episcopal
Diocese of Indianapolis and colleagues from statewide preservation nonprofit Indiana Landmarks . Together they developed an approach that would help a group of congregations work together and learn fresh ways to align their missions with the assets of their buildings .
After the partnering organizations got to work planning the details , Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships ( CBCP ) was born . The proposed program was supported by Lilly Endowment Inc .’ s Thriving Congregations Initiative , and
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