USA, September 24, 2024 (Religion News Service, by G. Jeffrey MacDonald): As many as 100,000 Christian church-owned buildings are expected to be sold or repurposed by 2030, according to an analysis in a new book, “Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition.” Though Sunday attendance has recovered in part from COVID-19 restrictions, a decades-long decline has continued to take its toll, and the squeeze on churches has only gotten tighter in the post-pandemic economy, according to fall 2023 data from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. As a result, congregations face hard choices about what to do with large sacred structures that are underutilized, costly to keep up and suffering from deferred maintenance. “Everything keeps getting more expensive, but we have fewer people in the congregation to pay for it,” said Jainine Gambaro, a member of Franklin Reformed Church in Nutley, New Jersey. “We keep going by the grace of God, but it’s an issue.”

Gambaro was one of some 100 church leaders and congregants who gathered online and in person Friday and Saturday (Sept. 20-21) to hear from a lineup of real estate experts about how to reimagine a new future for church buildings. The Future of Church Property conference, organized by Princeton Theological Seminary, focused on turning community needs into grants, partnerships with developers and new business-driven income streams. Congregations were urged to consider social enterprise, a term for using business principles to address social problems while generating revenue. Attendees heard about congregations that had escaped financial dire straits and galvanized new ministry momentum by leasing space to the public for community and commercial use. Sunset Ridge Church of Christ in San Antonio leases a former “junk room” to NYX Wellness, which painted walls and began offering yoga classes. It now brings in $650 per month for the church.

https://religionnews.com/2024/09/24/church-property-conference-offers-congregations-more-than-prayer-to-keep-their-buildings/

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