“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.”
Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition
by Mark Elsdon
Two weeks ago our congregation hosted the Napa Valley Community Foundation here for an event called “Can We Get An Amen for Housing?” It was about “Exploring California’s new opportunities for affordable housing on faith-based properties.” The sanctuary was full of people from the community who are interested and invested in people being able to live in the community they work in… and all people having a safe and secure home. There were guest speakers from Nashville who work with churches to help them reimagine how to use their space for the benefit of the community, and remain a worshiping community. They mentioned that every week in America hundreds of churches close because of declining attendance, the costs of building maintenance, and aging congregations. I sat in a pew cringing, as if in front of the many community “movers and shakers” who were here, we were being outed as a relic, a dinosaur. But the speakers told of their experience helping churches face uncertainty with faith, creativity, and chutzpa … sharing space, expanding their theological understanding of community, and continuing to to exist as a worshiping body.
It wasn’t a religious gathering here, but God’s Spirit filled the sanctuary with expectation, hope, and energy. In the uncertainty of our Transformation Project, I have a certainty that we are working to help create and reveal the kin-dom of God on earth – on Randolph and 4th and Division and Franklin Streets – as is in heaven. That night It felt to me like there could be no greater witness to who we are as people of faith, than to follow Jesus into the dark woods of construction: change, and disruption, uncertainty, and new life.
This Sunday is our second Free Community Lunch at 11am.
We’ve invited the community, neighbors, the Interfaith Council, and we don’t know who will come eat lunch with us. This is a potluck that we’re providing, so please bring any kind of potluck dish to share. This is a season of uncertainty… in the church and in the world… and maybe everyone needs the comfort of tuna casserole, baked beans, and a mystery Jell-O. The free community lunch is an experiment in building community, one meal at a time. I hope you’ll be there.
In faith, Marylee