The Church has left the building
November 10, 2008
As Kate and I have been looking for places to buy or rent in Denver, we’ve come across a surprising (and somewhat depressing) phenomenon – old churches being remodeled as homes. Just today Kate emailed me another one she found on Craigslist – a Methodist Episcopal church built in 1871 and converted several years ago into condos.
I did a little searching and found that Denver is one of several cities around the country seeing a surge in this phenomenon. There is even a historic preservation organization in Denver called Historic Denver that has a program called FaithAction that helps to renovate old churches for “new purposes.”
At first I found this concept really depressing – particularly as a church planter who would love to have access to any one of the beautiful churches that have been “repurposed” in this process. However, the more I read and the more I thought about it, the more I understood that these were buildings that had fallen into disrepair as people fled the city for the suburbs and congregations dwindled. The Church (i.e. the Body of Christ) had, quite literally, left the building. I’m not sure what challenges or opportunities this phenomenon represents, but I’m excited about moving to Denver to find and help build the Church – not a building, but men and women committed to growing in their relationship to Christ.
So what are your thoughts about this phenomenon and what challenges or opportunities it might represent for us in Denver?
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My friend Andi out in Denver saw my Twitter about this and suggested I check this out. A bit of a twist on the idea of “repurposing” church buildings indeed! There’s actually a place here in Atlanta called the Tabernacle that’s a similar concept.
I was at re:group Saturday and learned about what you guys and your families will be doing in Denver – that’s wonderful! As I was reading this blog, I’d just gotten an email from some friends, with a link:
http://www.churchinthecity.org/Pages/projectnehemiah.html
to a church that’s converting a 110 year old synagogue in Denver. My friends will be working with a messianic congregation that will be using the building too, it’s kind of a cool story! Just thought you might be interested.