Phase 1:
Phase 2: Discernment
Phase 3: Transition
Phase 1:
Information Gathering
Assess your space and financial situation and talk to your congregation and community to affirm your building’ s mission.
What is Next for Your Sacred Place?
Partners for Sacred Places has worked with many congregations through the process of assessing the state of their sacred places and financial resources, and discerning what mission-aligned opportunities lie ahead. Here is a sampling of some of the transitions congregations have made with their religious buildings and properties.
Photo Credit: Mark B. Thompson Associates, PC
Sale and adaptive reuse of a former church building made it into office space while preserving original architectural features.
Photo Credit: Church of the Advocate
Phase 2: Discernment
Determine what your options are for your building and who must be involved with decision making based on what you have learned.
The Episcopal Church of the Advocate in Chapel Hill, NC, chose Development of its land, working with Pee Wee Homes to build affordable housing. pacity and a business or n social good?
Photo Credit: Sabina Pierce
Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Philadelphia rents empty school space to an Anchor Tenant, 1812 Productions, for rehearsal.
Photo Credit: Mike Shapiro
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fort Myers, FL, adopted a Space-Sharing arrangement with the Gulf Coast Symphony, which performs in its sanctuary. of a new ise: a rving usiness.
Phase 3: Transition
Explore the opportunities that are available to your congregation and choose a direction— or more than one— for your building.
Photo Credit: Dave Tavani
The congregation at Christ Episcopal Church in Reading, PA started a Social Enterprise and offers citizenship classes in its building.
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