On June 1, 2013 Suzanne Yowell from
Partners for Sacred Places gave a presentation about her organization. They are “the only national, nonsectarian,
nonprofit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community
use of America’s older religious properties.”
Suzanne explained that the attendance in
churches in today’s society is simply dropping at an unsustainable level. Churches across all denominations are losing
their congregation population which in turn affects their operational
budget. It is getting more and more
difficult to meet paying the bills for some churches.
One solution that the First Christian
Church in Fort Worth chose was to lease out the second floor of their church to
an optometry school. The University of
Houston, School of Optometry signed a five year lease for their charity
teaching eye clinic. This is the largest
charity teaching eye clinic in the nation.
This agreement accomplished two goals,
assisting the church with funding the excess space and filling a need for
optometry services in the local community.
In fact, it has been so successful that the school is considering
expanding their hours of operation.
This is just one example of a partnership
that serves both parties involved. The
church does not infringe in the schools operation and the school does not
operate during church services and operations.
It also brings additional stakeholders to the local area. This particular church has grown in
membership by 36 since this partnership.
Suzanne stated that this situation creates
an economic halo effect. In a study
conducted by University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice
they measured 50 different factors and provided a detailed analysis. This analysis illustrated the positive impact
of their existence to the community, the social services they provide, and so
on.
In the absence of a great alliance such as
the one I mentioned, churches still have several options for re-use. Some of the options are renting out their
kitchens, selling and converting to business offices etc., or making them
private homes. As a last resort, Suzanne
said that they “document and ultimately demolish” if no other use if found.
References:
"About Partners." Sacred Places Winter 2013: 2. Print.
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