There are lots of creative possibilities for using buildings to grow as a church.
Below are some options. They are not all mutually exclusive: some of these options could be combined.
Even if you use your building in new ways, you may not need to do any building work. You certainly do not need a shiny new building to start putting your growth plan into action.
If you keep the building
Option 1: Build on current uses
Think about how to deepen and expand the ways in which your building is currently being used, in order that it reaches its full potential. For example, if you already have a toddler group or coffee morning, consider how you could have deeper conversations with your group members and share faith in natural ways.
Option 2: Use the building in new ways
Embracing new uses for an existing building can bring new life and new connections. Methodist churches have started clothing banks and cafes in their worship spaces and church halls, for example, without needing major refurbishment.
Option 3: Redevelop the building to embrace new uses
Methodist churches have installed commercial kitchens to enable catering for large numbers and have created accommodation for tourists in their church buildings. Others have worked with property developers to create new housing and retained some of their building for their own use.
Option 4: Replanting a New Place for New People (NPNP) or Church at the Margins (CaM)
Your existing worshipping congregation could share the building with a NPNP or CaM team, or perhaps hand it over entirely and worship elsewhere. This could bring new life and a new chapter for an existing building. But there is potential for tension with the existing congregation. Clear expectations and healthy communication would need to be established. Please contact the E&G team for specific help with this.
Option 5: Share your building with other Methodist churches, including Methodist fellowships and congregations who worship in other languages.
Consider how you could build deep friendships of mutuality rather than simply sharing a space. What missional possibilities could you explore together that might not be possible alone? You could also share your building with churches from other denominations.
Option 6: Heritage use
Historic places of worship have public value, offering an open door to a quiet space. They are also one of the best freely-accessible collections of important art, architecture, family history, national craft and generations of memory.
Mission through heritage is not about dwelling on past glories, but about enabling unaffiliated people to connect with God through engaging with a building’s heritage.
Some Methodist properties use their heritage to tell a story with resonance for unaffiliated people today, such as Englesea Brook.
Others combine heritage and a space for retreat in creative ways, such as Chapel in the Fields. You can find lots of other stories to inspire you here.
When considering possibilities for keeping existing buildings, keep in mind The Methodist Church's commitment to Net Zero by 2030.
There is guidance here for reducing the environmental impact of church buildings.
If you sell the building
Before you consider selling, remember that buildings in low-income communities are often among the first to be sold. What are the justice implications of selling your building? Is it needed by your community?
Sometimes, however, selling a Methodist building is the right thing to do. Here are some options to explore if you conclude that your building no longer meets your growth needs and redevelopment is not an option:
Option 1: Buy a new building
You may decide that you still need a building for mission, but that it’s better to sell the one you have and buy or lease another – perhaps in a location that serves your community better, or configured in a way that makes mission easier, such as a café or shop unit.
Option 2: Meet in someone else’s building
While people have strong attachments to church buildings, a Methodist church is the people not the building. A Methodist society can live a Methodist Way of Life together with or without a building. A local congregation could hire a room in a community centre, for example, in order to free themselves from the burden of running and maintaining a building, or meet online. Depending on the size of the congregation, they could meet in someone's home. A church building may not be the best place for mission: meeting in a public space could make the church more visible and accessible for unaffiliated people, and encourage creative thinking.
Option 3: Cease worship
You may discern that the time has come to cease to worship, releasing you from all the demands of being a trustee body and maintaining a building. Where this is the case, a good ending can be embraced, in which all that has been is celebrated, giving thanks to God.
The Ministries team have put together some resources for enabling good endings.
Option 4: Reinvest for mission
Whether you meet in another building or cease to meet, funds from the property sale can still be reinvested for mission. They could fund a pioneer appointment, for example, be used to begin a social enterprise, or be offered for use by a NPNP or CaM.
In this way, one ending can serve a new beginning elsewhere. The circuit mission plan will have revealed where extra resources might best be used.