We believe congregations are important, both to those involved in them and to their neighbors, and we want people to know that about our work. It is part of the reason we changed the name of our ministry from Leadership Education to Forum for Congregational Life.
With that new emphasis and in a season of rapid societal change, we are also considering the impact of AI, cultural polarization and numerous other factors on the work and meaning of congregations.
When Dave started in ministry more than four decades ago, many denominations acted as if one of the primary roles of a congregation was to be an outpost of denominationally developed programs. Today, the activities of a congregation are often determined by its people and shaped by the opportunities and challenges in its particular context.
Given all that is shifting, Alaina believed that our team needed to consider why congregations matter both historically and in our day. We needed to speak the questions on our minds as we launch the Forum.
Christian congregations are the primary social and institutional manifestation of Christian faith today. In Christian congregations, individuals and families gather to receive, affirm and celebrate the transformation they have experienced through faith in the Triune God. In congregations, persons of all ages are formed together in seeking God’s purpose for their shared lives across many years.
This communal expression and experience of faith grounds individuals in God’s redemptive story. The shared work of communal worship gives congregation members renewed imaginations to see God at work in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and beyond.
A thriving congregation is firmly grounded in the story of God, continually retold through communal, family and individual practices such as worship, study of Scripture, prayer and discernment. A thriving congregation has integrated its sense of mission and calling into all aspects of its organizational life, including its formational programming and decision-making processes. A thriving congregation is deeply rooted in its place — invested in the culture and history of its neighborhood, faithfully interpreting its theological tradition and commitments within the life of the community beyond the congregation.
Finally, a thriving congregation has a thoroughly Christ-shaped and Spirit-led life, sharing an inextricable connection to the Triune God while remaining fully present to the needs, joys, sorrows and opportunities of the community. Healthy congregational leadership is not limited to pastoral and professional leadership; it includes laity and clergy working collectively to live as Christ lives.
Over the years, we have witnessed many congregations develop a mission or vision statement. In the end, those statements are remarkably alike. Often, the gift of such a process is for the participants to go back to the fundamentals of the faith life and the role of the congregation in that life.
It can be difficult to hold onto these foundational ideals in this season of rapid social and cultural change. All of us are trying to adapt to this environment. Technological advances have made remote work, virtual health care and online education possible. Artificial intelligence is transforming almost every sector of life. Geopolitical and environmental instability raise anxieties and fears for many.
It is not surprising that people may feel overwhelmed. Some attempt to turn back the clock, while others choose to trust in the latest innovation. Some may be paralyzed by the situation. In the midst of these changes, trust in institutions of all types is eroding.
Congregations, naturally, need to adapt to the changing circumstances. In a 2024 survey for the Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) project conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, 46% of respondents reported that they regularly participate — in-person or virtually — in congregations beyond their primary one, and 7% identified as having more than one “home church.” What does this information mean in terms of church membership? What should any of these respondents’ congregations expect in terms of participation?
Leaders of congregations are considering a host of distinct and interrelated questions: How do we lead others to live a life of faith that matters? What is the role of technology in facilitating worship? How do we support Christian discipleship for families who seldom attend services and frequently access content on their phones? How do we measure the impact of our engagement with the community?
These shifts raise basic organizational questions about what a church staff and building should do: How do we determine the adequate size of a church staff? What is the role of a church building? What does it mean if a church is in a neighborhood? Some leaders are not sure where to find information and ideas beyond their friends, colleagues, peers and perhaps their denomination.
One way to see the new situation for congregations is to remember the effectiveness of the mid-20th century’s most commonly used metric for church life: average weekly worship attendance. Lyle Schaller, a highly regarded church consultant of that era, considered a congregation’s size to be the most crucial variable in predicting its culture and work. This measure helped gauge adequate programs, staffing, location, buildings and land use. Attendance still matters today, but it does not predict revenue or requests for support in the way it once did.
We can see another shift in expressions of congregational life through programming. In Schaller’s time, congregations offered a host of programs, ranging from youth groups to Bible studies. Even worship services were often planned like program events. The program-planning model has been slowly shifting, but these changes became much more widespread during the stay-at-home phase of the pandemic. Programs were generally shut down for months or longer. Worship, prayer and fellowship, however, continued in new and old ways that are still evolving.
Another shift is away from the congregation as a “voluntary association.” Since the same period when programing became central, congregations have generally been organized like civic organizations, such as women’s clubs or Lions Clubs. But all of these associational forms are shifting as we approach the mid-21st century. At the moment, few groups of this kind are attracting younger adults, who often connect instead through social media and are more likely to affiliate with a movement than a formal association. Yet the bonds of a movement are often not as long-lasting or consistent as those created in many voluntary associations, particularly congregations.
These shifts and changes invite us to wonder: How should congregations evolve to offer their gifts in new ways? The mission of congregations is not changing, but the expressions of congregational life are evolving. This transition can be difficult to track and notice across various Christian traditions. There are places for a congregation to go for help — like a denomination, a school or a consulting firm — but those places may not have the time and energy to develop networks so congregations can learn from each other.
We want the Forum for Congregational Life to be a place that supports the exploration of today’s pressing questions and any new questions that may emerge for congregations. We believe that the variety of Christian traditions and their congregations will likely respond to the times in many different ways, and we aspire to facilitate ways to learn from each other.
Participation in congregational life has been significant to Christian persons and families throughout the church’s history. In different seasons, congregational life has evolved to include many expressions: house churches, small rural congregations, megachurches, cathedrals and more. Alongside all who care about congregations, we are excited to discover how these forms are evolving and the impact congregations are having in this age.
It can be difficult to hold onto these foundational ideals in this season of rapid social and cultural change.
Faced with declining membership, aged buildings and underutilized land, churches have been transitioning their property to new uses that help reach missional goals and reflect community needs.
As the housing crisis intensifies, houses of worship across the country are trying to better understand how they can help by building affordable housing on their property.
As a researcher, I’ve been studying how congregations build housing on their property for almost 20 years. I know that a development project is a large, time-consuming and expensive undertaking. Most faith leaders are not developers, and moving from a missional idea to a completed project can be confusing and overwhelming.
There are several phases to a faith-based property development project: discernment, predevelopment, development and construction, marketing and leasing, and operations.
Once you’ve completed the first step — discernment — it’s time for predevelopment. I want to focus on this phase, because it’s crucial and is not well understood by people without experience in planning and building.
Predevelopment is where the rubber starts to meet the road. In this phase, you will clarify your goals, process and cost, along with the scope of the work.
The predevelopment phase brings into focus the conceptual, schematic and design development of the project. It tells you how possible your project is in light of feasibility studies, financing projections and construction estimates. It’s the point when the budget is refined and you learn more about financing.
What are the steps to embarking on a faith-based property development project after discernment? What happens before the groundbreaking?
Owner’s representative
A development project is a collaborative affair between property owners, developers, architects, planners, engineers, surveyors, lawyers, financing professionals, contractors, construction crews and more.
One of the first things you’ll have to do is decide whether or not you would like to work with an owner’s representative (also known as an owner’s rep). It’s not necessary to have an owner’s rep, but it can be helpful in navigating the process.
An owner’s rep is a professional who can guide you, assist you in hiring firms to conduct studies, and make sense of the work that has been completed. This is someone who can advocate on behalf of the congregation. As your advocate and consultant, the owner’s rep has the best interests of your house of worship in mind.
There are specific firms that act as owner’s representatives and are generally paid on the back end of a development deal, taking a percentage of the total cost of the project.
Architect
The next thing you’ll want to do is think about hiring an architect. Architects play a strong role in the predevelopment process. This is where you talk about the purpose and function of the space, its features, the size of the rooms, the relationships to indoor and outdoor space, circulation through the building, and other needs. With an eye to the intended programming, an architect will produce a conceptual design.
The conceptual design will be a rendering of what the building could potentially look like, but keep in mind that the actual outcome will be affected by other factors, including zoning and design regulations, as well as financing.
Feasibility studies
Next you’ll need to conduct feasibility studies. These studies determine what can be built on the property and the state of the existing buildings, as well as neighborhood and community needs. They help guide the development and are crucial to finding the right developer.
Here are some of the studies, who does them, and what they are for:
- Real estate market study. This analysis provides a landscape of the market value of properties in the area. Real estate brokers, agents and consultants can do a real estate market study.
- Architectural engineering study. This study provides insight into the structural integrity of buildings. It includes an examination of the electrical and mechanical systems, as well as the architectural integrity of houses of worship. Such studies are conducted by building or architectural engineering firms.
- Land survey. This survey is concerned with the legal boundaries of properties and delineates property lines, maps all the buildings on the property, and confirms the elevation. There are several types of land surveys (zoning, construction, mortgage, subdivision, etc.), so it is best to ask a land surveyor which studies are needed for your project. A land surveyor typically does this work.
- Historic preservation study. The historical significance of older buildings can be a factor, especially if you are considering demolition or adaptive reuse. A historic preservation study aims to document buildings’ history, architectural significance and current condition. These can be done by nonprofit organizations or for-profit companies and consultancies that specialize in historic preservation work.
- Land use and zoning. A zoning analysis identifies what’s currently allowed on a property, including restrictions on building height and density. It also can let you know whether a zoning change is necessary. A land use planning consultant can help with these studies.
Cost estimates
At this point, you’ll clarify your project’s cost, potential eligibility for government programs and grants, and sources of financing. A typical affordable housing development can have multiple sources of capital that make up the financial stack.
It’s important to say that studies and consultants can cost thousands — even hundreds of thousands — of dollars. But keep in mind that they’re a necessary part of the process and, in some cases, might be required to get financial assistance. For example, if you’re applying for federal or state funding, real estate market studies will be required.
Some municipalities offer technical assistance and capacity-building programs to help with predevelopment work. Other organizations provide a cohort-based approach that includes technical assistance, peer support and access to professionals. These programs may come with some funding to complete studies.
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington, for example, is constructing both affordable housing and market rate housing with space for the church. It received predevelopment funding from Trinity Wall Street’s Mission Real Estate Development program and the nonprofit Enterprise. While the congregation raised nearly $1 million, funding from Trinity’s program was essential to completing the studies.
Development takes time, patience and money. The predevelopment phase is the point in the process to construct networks with professionals and experts, ask questions, and build trust. It’s a time to gather as much information as possible, do research and make informed decisions before construction begins.
Predevelopment might seem daunting. But if your church has discerned that affordable housing is its mission, this is when you start to make that idea a reality.
It’s not easy to be optimistic about the church these days. But Mark Elsdon is working on it.
In his book “We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry,” he argued that, well, the church isn’t broke.
In his new book, “Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition,” he makes the case that this moment poses a unique opportunity for the church to make a difference. As congregations disperse the enormous real estate holdings of the church, Elsdon sees a chance for renewal.
If congregations think of their buildings and land as assets they are stewarding rather than possessions they own, that mindset can help them transform church spaces for the community’s well-being, he said.
“Gone for Good?” is a collection of 16 essays by practitioners in many fields that addresses the question of what happens to church property when a church closes. At its core is the argument that property should be viewed as neither an albatross nor a cash cow but rather an asset that should be thoughtfully handled and used for good.
And there are likely to be a lot of property transfers in the coming years: as many as 100,000 buildings and billions of dollars in church-owned property are expected to be sold or repurposed by 2030, according to the book.
“There’s so much opportunity to think about those assets being opportunities for God’s mission to flow forth into our neighborhoods,” said Elsdon, who is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.
If the many churches across the country that are likely to close in the coming years simply sell off their buildings and land one by one, driven only by the market, he said, “we’re going to look back and say, ‘Wow, what a huge loss of spaces that were for the social good.’”
Elsdon is the executive director of Pres House, a combination church, campus ministry and seven-story apartment building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. He also is a co-founder (with Shannon Hopkins) and a director of RootedGood, a nonprofit that empowers institutions, social enterprises and entrepreneurs to create systemic change.
The book came out of a Gone for Good symposium hosted by Laity Lodge and the H.E. Butt Foundation in October 2022. Elsdon spoke with Faith & Leadership’s Sally Hicks about his vision for church property transition. The following is an edited transcript.
Faith & Leadership: One of the things I found interesting in the book was your sense of this as a moment of opportunity. In the foreword, Willie James Jennings writes about “a new possibility of forming life in place.” This book takes a practical approach, but there’s also a big vision for it. What is that vision?
Mark Elsdon: I’m interested in this idea that you highlight: thinking about buildings and land that churches have stewardship over as missional opportunities. Not simply vessels for a congregation, but missional, in terms of the impact they can have on the community.
In this moment of transition around church buildings and land and their use, it’s a particularly important moment to recognize the role they play in the community.
Church buildings and land are right in the middle of it all, and they’re everywhere. I think this is really critical. They’re in every city, village, town, of every size, everywhere in the nation. There’s nowhere they’re not — and there’s nowhere that they’re not changing, either.
I’m trying to be a bit reflective about that. What is the witness, the opportunity for the space that I think churches have been given the chance to steward? What’s the opportunity in the middle of neighborhoods all over the country to be those sorts of places?
It’s not that dissimilar from my previous book, where I was arguing the same thing with regard to our money. But it’s these assets that have been viewed as simply transactional, or have been actually held too tightly. Not for the good, not in a generous way, but just like, “This is ours.”
F&L: Talk a little bit about the scale of both the concern and the opportunity here. Because it might be a once-in-forever kind of thing. It’s a real wave, right?
ME: Yes. The clunky phrase I used was a “once-in-many-generations” change. Because when this stuff changes over, it’s not going back.
I like to bring it down to the scale of whatever people’s familiarity is. For example, in Madison, where I live, I use 40 out of 100 [closing]. Imagine 40 properties all over the city, everywhere — on busy streets and tiny neighborhoods, everywhere — 40 out of 100, 40% of them, closing or going empty or being repurposed.
We vote in Madison in churches. I don’t know where we’d find 40 [new] polling places. Not to mention the spiritual impact that has in the community.
It’s not just about the church. My real hope, too, is that city municipal folks will take notice, because there’s a chance to incentivize or disincentivize how this trajectory goes.
If we just let it unfold purely according to the market, just one by one, I don’t think it’s going to end real well. I think we’re going to be disappointed.
And now they’re what? Either there’s a fence around them because they’re a landmark building and you can’t do anything with them or they’re just high-end condos.
Robert Jaeger’s chapter on the Halo study found that 3.7 million people visited the 90 churches [in the study] over a year and only 9% of those visits were for worship. The other visits were for something else, often community or educational programs — food pantry, voting, Girl Scout meeting.
F&L: What do you think will move people from the mindset of crisis and worry to this sense that this is a time of unique opportunity?
ME: There is a great deal of loss. We have to recognize that this is indeed happening and is quite hard and sad, especially if you are in a church that is selling, which many people are. I never want to put this sort of glossy sheen over it, “Oh, it’s all going to be fine.”
But the Christian faith is one of death and resurrection, of death and new life, and there’s a sense that there is something beyond the next step. I don’t believe for a second God’s declining or God’s going anywhere. It’s just that the structure we’ve created that is the American church and all of our associated property, frankly, is going to change.
I do see, often, people in churches are intrigued by the question of legacy. I will often ask church members who are considering what to do with their property to envision themselves coming back to that piece of land 50 years from now. Fifty years is past the life of pretty much everyone in the room.
We are the stewards that will shape what happens 50 years from now. We can say, “Well, we’ll just let whatever happens happen. I don’t really care. As long as I have my funeral here or as long as I have my children’s wedding here, I’m fine with it.”
But if we start to envision what really is going on in this corner of our city or of our neighborhood or of our county or whatever it might be in 50 years and ask what can we be involved in right now that will lead to beautiful things happening on that land in the future, that sometimes helps.
F&L: You stress that congregations need time to envision something different. Why is that important, and why is that so hard?
ME: I just got a message today from a congregation seeking help that has 18 months of money left, and they want to do a complete redo of their whole property. And the truth is, you can’t do it in 18 months. This is not quick work.
F&L: We recently did a story about a church that wasn’t closing, but they were doing affordable housing, and it was a vision 20 years in the making.
ME: Pres House was an idea from the 1920s. It was 80 years. That’s extreme, of course. But to do the work well, it takes time. Time to listen to your community, to do the kind of discernment work that really leads to good outcomes. I think we underestimate that.
Sometimes there’s a resistance to accepting where we are, and there’s a sense of, “We can just do one more year like this, and we can just do one more year like this.” Eventually, the “one more year”— that’s the last of them. It’s hard.
Part of the reason I did the book, frankly, is to try to normalize that conversation a little bit, to try to help. Maybe it’s overwhelming, but maybe it’s a little bit of a comfort to know that there are 99,000 other churches facing the same thing. We’re not alone when we’re facing it, and it isn’t about us.
I always encourage people to think about it far earlier than they want to. To think of it more as, “What is this resource that we have to steward out to the world?” And to have those conversations going on all the time, so that when the moments do come that the change is needed, it’s not quite so revolutionary or hard to face.
F&L: Besides time, what are other key aspects of this process?
ME: Funding is definitely an issue. Funding on multiple levels — shorter term, pre-pre-development, pre-development funding, funding to do the discerning, to do the accelerator courses, to do the kinds of stuff that get people thinking differently.
There are a lot of financial resources, at least in the mainline church world, that could be used for investment money or for loans, for other funds to be pulled out of traditional investments and put to work in financing some of the development. That’s needed as well, especially if you’re going to do something interesting.
There’s a reason that affordable housing is so hard to do. It’s not easy, because you have to subsidize it. It doesn’t work on a purely market-driven method. But we also have money in the church that we could use to support some of those projects.
This pre-pre-development work is what RootedGood is working on a lot right now. We have our Good Futures Accelerator, which is a nine-month course for congregations to think about who they are, who their neighborhood is, to come up with ideas, to get creative, to test some demand and to do a space audit in their building.
We need more of that happening from more directions. There are nowhere near enough consultants, for example, to do one-on-one consulting for the number of churches that need to address this stuff. So we need to think about much more scalable, different ways of meeting that need.
Obviously, also, I talk about hope. I mean, hope is key. So again, while recognizing those sad realities, what will really move us is hopefulness that there is opportunity to do new good stuff, which I truly believe there is.
F&L: Philanthropy and government funding are two other sources you address.
ME: In my area, Madison, Wisconsin, there’s not a great deal of trust between cities and faith communities. That may be different in other parts of the country. Similarly with philanthropy, they just don’t do it. They don’t often give to churches directly.
But what this property transition moment allows for is different ways of structuring those relationships. And I would say, very broadly speaking, it’s different opportunities to, again, live out the Christian faith much more broadly and bring the gospel into people’s lives much more broadly.
As a practical example, I’m seeing a lot of churches starting nonprofit organizations that are not the church; they’re affiliated with the church. Then they have an opportunity to seek funding from foundations and funders through grants that wouldn’t go to a church.
Similarly, cities and planning departments are much more amenable, often, to working with development that’s multiuse, that isn’t just simply a traditional church worship space. So in both cases, it’s this opportunity to really broaden the network and the connection, and people all working together.
F&L: The chapter by Jim Bear Jacobs, citizen of the Mohican Nation, suggests an idea I’d never heard of before: returning the land to Indigenous tribes or organizations.
ME: I would not have published the book had I not been able to put a chapter like that in there. It was really important for me. This is a trickier, more sensitive subject for people.
I think you could argue theologically that we’re stewards of the land and that God has given us the opportunity to make use of it. But you could also argue very much historically and ethically that it was taken and so it really wasn’t ours to begin with anyway.
If we’re the church and we care about people and we care about our communities and we care about big questions, then I think we have to recognize that we’re monetizing land that was taken.
I think we have to think about that, recognize that, be aware of that, before we go ahead with it as if it’s ours. What’s our position with regard to church buildings and land? If we have a chance to right some wrongs from the past by returning it, it’s a form of reparation, a form of atoning for past sin. Why not consider that as an option?
There are lots of ways in which we can be more generous with what we have. Why do we need to hold on to it, especially if it’s not being used?
Picture this: An old church is now a cafe. From 9 to 5, it serves coffee, cakes and sandwiches in the historic hallowed space, with light streaming through the stained glass. Young people with piercings serve chai and lattes to customers of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Then, on a Sunday evening, with the smell of coffee still in the air, people gather around tables to talk about justice and economics and to question the role faith plays in their lives.
It’s not a secret: the way we church is changing. Yet many of our structures and systems and ways of doing church still hang on a model from another era. Modern life is different. Work is different; dating, community life, technology — they’re all different. So shouldn’t church be different as well?
This is a question I’ve been asking for nearly 30 years. Perhaps it started when I took my college friend Kim home with me one Easter. When we went to church, everyone else got dressed up, but Kim just had jeans. Afterward, she said that while her experience in church had been nice in some ways, she had felt like a fish out of water.
After college, I had friends who were longing for conversations about meaning and purpose — but church was the last place they would look for such discussions.
Over the last 20 years, I’ve worked to create communities that offer space for deep relationships and deep questions while at the same time serving people less fortunate than ourselves. I’ve tried a lot of experiments, building the road as I’ve walked it.
In turbulent times, we look for the safe harbor, the thing that doesn’t change, to help us stay grounded. For the church, I believe that the gospel — not the form of church — is that thing.
As new forms of mission and ministry are taking shape, this is a moment of hope as well as pain. Just like the messy but beautiful process of giving birth, the re-imagining of the landscape of the church is an intricate dance of pain and promise.
There’s always a risk when we step into the new. We have to let go of something to make room for fresh things. Isn’t this a hallmark of the Lord’s leading? There is an invitation to trust. We don’t have to have it all buttoned up and figured out before we step out.
As someone who has lived and worked on the margins of the institutional church for decades, I am grateful, proud and optimistic when I see all the vibrant initiatives that are taking root. It is clear this is no longer a fad of the 90s.
You don’t have to look far to see breweries and bakeries popping up in restored church properties or in new monastic communities. Just look around and you will find kitchen table entrepreneurs putting idle church kitchens into service, using food to address loneliness and food insecurity. Churches are also leveraging their land to meet the needs of their neighbors with efforts such as affordable housing, senior communities and new economic development.
These new models are creating jobs, community and new financial futures for congregations. But they’re also showing the world a dynamic church, transforming the lives of people and the community around them. To me, that looks like the gospel in action.
If you are in a church longing to see something new, how do you know where to start?
- Don’t look back. When I travel, I’m often struck by the way that people in other countries seem to be looking ahead, looking forward. I find that in the U.S. and Europe we tend to look back to the “good old days.” This is not a time to look back but rather a time to look ahead and embrace the future.
- Lament. You do need to grieve what is being lost. The ability to grieve well is a signature gift of those with Christian faith. After all, we believe in a gospel of death and resurrection.
- Experiment. When you try new things, hold them lightly. If you want to do something with food, host a farmers market or a pop-up restaurant, but do it once or twice before making further plans and see what you learn. If you know a lot of people working from home, try a work-from-church day. As you set off to do some experiments, it is helpful to embrace a theology of enough and to approach it as a learning exercise.
- Serve. It is important to adopt an attitude of service and to make justice a priority. This starts by really seeing others, loving others and understanding the challenges they face. Launch a listening tour in which you ask questions, listen deeply and find out from your neighbors what they need most. Then start right there! It will lead you to bigger systemic issues, and you’ll be able to approach that complex work grounded in the experiences of those most directly affected.
- Be open to surprise. We know that the ways of God are not our ways. After all, God came to us as an infant and not as someone in power. Be ready to be surprised — and to surprise your community — by doing something new. The church is turning up and creating impact in ways that are unexpected.
I use the acronym BLESS to teach these five steps: Don’t Look Back, Lament, Experiment, Serve, Surprise.
The world hasn’t been expecting the church to radically create affordable housing, provide for those exiting prison, offer services for seniors, etc. To be honest, a lot of people see the church as an in-group seeking to push its own agenda. But that isn’t our story.
Churches becoming pubs and cafes and new housing developments? I say yes, because it is all part of the church becoming new. We can repurpose our sacred buildings so they can shimmer with hope and justice for all.
Resources:
Lake Institute on Faith & Giving’s Faithful Generosity Story Shelf, with case studies and stories of innovation
RootedGood’s Good Futures Accelerator, a course to help churches unlock resources and imagination
Faith & Leadership feature articles, with stories of innovation and creativity in the church