“Did you see all the cars at that old church this afternoon?” one of my members asked when he arrived at the church meeting last night.
“You know, at that old church down the road from here. The one I have been driving past all of these years now, never seeing a car or any activity at all,” he continued. He was almost out of breath. We had talked many times about how sad it was that the nearly two hundred year old Presbyterian church sat empty Sunday after Sunday. The roof was leaking. The floor needed repair. An old piano sat in a corner with a dusty red hymn book resting on the music shelf. Very sad, we said.
“There must have been twenty five or thirty cars out front. The church doors were wide open and a whole group of people were inside.”
I told my friend that we had helped the presbytery sell that old church to a new congregation. It had taken some effort and a lot of patience for everyone involved. But, the sale had finally closed. All those cars and all those people had gathered to pray and to sing and to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter for that old church property.
The new congregation was elated to renovate the historic building and to start something new in the Kingdom of God. And what a relief for the previous owners to see the building put to use serving a new, vibrant congregation!
The Stated Clerk of Presbytery wrote an email:
“Today as the Moderator and I chatted with our Cyclical Church Property agent while we signed our part of the documents, she told us that the buyers had invited her to meet them at the property after the closing was completed this afternoon, so she could join them in their prayers of thanksgiving and petition for the blessing of their ministry at that site. I was so touched that the site of a church for nearly 200 years was continuing in ministry—maybe under very different polity and liturgy—but continuing all the same.”
Our faith teaches us that death is not the final answer. Even after a painful or difficult final chapter for a person (or maybe even a church property), God has the final answer in resurrection. What an amazing blessing to see that theology lived out in the midst of dirt, wood and concrete. What a witness in the community when an old building finds new life and meaning. Whether it’s a new congregation or even a new mission or ministry, everyone around can see it!
This is our hope at Cyclical Church Property. We help churches connect to the resources they need to faithfully transition their property from burden to blessing.
Maybe it’s a redevelopment into something that works better for the congregation and the community.
Maybe it’s leasing some space to give the church a little runway for conversations about the future.
Or maybe it is selling the property, releasing it from the old ministry, so God can replant something new and amazing in that place, “maybe under very different polity and liturgy—but continuing all the same.”
If you would like to have a conversation about your church property, apply for a property assessment. You’ll talk to an experienced real estate professional who also understands your church and mission. Fill out the form at cyclicalchurchproperty.com so you can discover how the right property solution can give your congregation new life.
