Why Don’t More Churches Make Use of Their Unused Sanctuaries?

A look at the disparities—and possibilities—that currently exist between dying mainline churches and growing, ethnic congregations.

By Dominick Dutra

When Pastor Ulysses began church planting, he never imagined that his biggest challenge would be finding space for his people to meet.

From taekwondo studios to school gymnasiums, Pastor Ulysses’s Renewal Church has explored a variety of locations. Currently, his 200-person, predominantly Asian-American congregation meets in the senior center of Sunnyvale Community Center, renting by the hour. “We’re a church in a box,” says Pastor Ulysses. “We have to invest time each week setting up and tearing down.”

While Pastor Ulysses’s people continue to expend extra energy each week creating a temporary space to gather, there are hundreds of existing churches where aging congregants sit in sparsely filled pews discussing the grim state of their finances. This situation highlights two stark realities: 1) most (up to 85%) local congregations are steadily declining, and 2) churches that aren’t declining, like Renewal Church, are significantly more diverse in age and race than their older, white counterparts.

Twenty years ago, Yale scholar Lamin Sanneh predicted this shift of global Christianity away from the West, which has resulted in shrunken mainline congregations overseeing inordinate amounts of unused space. In contrast, thriving minority church plants typically can’t afford to purchase property, especially in urban contexts. While one group is left with space they don’t need and can’t maintain, another struggles to find space to accommodate and support their growth.

Underutilized church property is meant for more than mounting repairs and annual church events. In fact, it is the responsibility and privilege of these more affluent, established congregations to work to create greater equity and opportunity for minority churches. This is how the body of Christ grows and thrives– by each of us investing our talents as we’re able. The death of one manifestation of the church gives new life to the next.

“Rather than using buildings that are too big exclusively for their own congregations,” says Pastor Ulysses, “it would be amazing if those churches would consider partnering with or supporting growing churches like my own.”

But why don’t more established churches explore this option? Read More