from the President
WINTER 2019
National Fund Spotlight:
Congregation Beth Ahabah and
Other Recently Completed Projects 3
A Tale of Two Churches:
Lancaster Churches Address Spiritual,
Social, and Environmental Needs 6
Sacred Places Indiana:
Developing New Connections Between
Sacred Places and Their Communities 8
Saint James Place:
Rebirthed, Restored, and Renewed 12
New Chapter for a Modern
Landmark in the Heartland 15
Professional Alliance Directory 18
P ARTNERS FOR S ACRED P LACES is the only national, nonsectarian,
nonprofit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and
active community use of America’s older religious properties.
Partners builds the capability of congregational leadership for
building care, shared use, and capital fundraising through training
programs, fundraising assistance, and organizational and facility
assessments. In the process, Partners becomes a trusted resource
and guide as congregations examine and weigh opportunities.
Partners engages with congregations to focus on critical areas
such as:
• Asset–mapping and community engagement—assisting
congregations to develop new relationships with neighbors and
potential community partners.
• Strategic partnerships and space sharing—brokering agreements
between sacred places and arts, food justice, health, education, and
social service programs.
• Planning for capital campaigns to support repairs and renovations
that preserve significant historic features and make spaces usable for
new community programs.
• Collaborative initiatives among unrelated congregations in a
neighborhood to encourage coordinated outreach, space usage, joint
marketing and interpretive events, and coordinated work with public
agencies for lighting, signage, and streetscape improvements.
Cover Photograph:
Peace Garden at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Indianapolis
Credit: Debbie Dehler
2
SACRED PLACES • WINTER 2019
n one of
Philadelphia’s
most historic
neighborhoods, where
African Americans
settled starting in the
19 th century—and
where W.E.B. Du Bois
studied the sociology
of Black life in his
landmark study, The
Philadelphia Negro—ten
churches have closed amidst gentrification and enormous
demographic change. Among those that were demolished:
Union Baptist Church, where Marian Anderson grew up and
first sang as a young woman, setting the stage for her
international renown.
In North Adams, a small city in the northwest corner of
Massachusetts best known today as the home of MASS MoCA,
six sacred places have closed over the last 30 years: St. Francis
of Assisi Church, Holy Family, Notre Dame, First Methodist,
First Unitarian, and the United House of Israel synagogue.
Should we be concerned when such large numbers of
congregations close, and so many sacred places are
demolished or gutted in our towns and neighborhoods? What
is the cumulative effect on our quality of life, our streetscapes
and our access to community-serving programs?
One scholar, Dr. Thomas Frank, University Professor
and Associate Dean for Continuing Studies at Wake Forest
University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, has been
examining North Adams for years. His conclusion: “Mass
closures not only threaten impending blight but disrupt the
profound sense of place essential to community character.
Padlocked buildings close off the public spaces so important
to social services, programs for children, youth and seniors,
and community gatherings for fish frys, special speakers, and
musical or theatrical performances. The sad result has been
the diminishment of social connection and capital, and the
dislocation of programs that already have to scramble for
funding.”
As Dr. Frank has noted, “All this does not need to
happen.” Of course we here at Partners agree, and we are at
the forefront of efforts to stem the tide of church and
synagogue closings, and the emptying of historic places. Our
mission is to help congregations—and their communities—
find new ways to sustain their presence and make the most of
their buildings as assets for outreach and ministry.
We also need to document and communicate the larger
harm that is done to communities when a critical mass of
sacred places is lost. Partners has already established a strong
reputation for its occasional research projects that have
documented the enormous civic value of sacred places when
they are still owned and occupied by congregations.
Now is the time to learn more, and tell America how
communities are affected — and how this loss can be
minimized—before it is too late.
—A. Robert Jaeger
I
In This Issue