Royersford Baptist Church in a suburb outside of Philadelphia was facing a problem shared by many churches in America. Their membership had declined so much over the years that many parts of their building were underutilized. With no decline in utility bills and building maintenance costs, the pastor turned to the congregation for solutions. 

The congregation decided this was an opportunity to serve their community more deeply. Over eight months, the pastor and a small group of lay leaders explored how the church’s five-acre property could help their neighbors. They learned that affordable housing had become a critical problem in the community. So, they decided to build workforce housing for lower-income families. 

They also suggested expanding the church’s existing childcare center, creating an intergenerational bridge between the aging congregation and younger new residents. 

The congregation accepted the proposal and started work. A local developer is now drafting plans to build 48 living spaces. Such a change, as you might imagine, requires lots of planning and legal work. 

The church’s conversion of property was mediated and assisted by a nonprofit called Sympara, based in Cary, NC. The organization’s cofounder and CEO, Daniel Pryfogle, says that Royersford Baptist Church is part of a growing movement of religious institutions across the country who are working with neighbors to use under-utilized property to serve and restore a sense of community. He calls this work sacred/civic placemaking.  

Pryfogle admits it is not always an easy sell. “The status quo is really powerful and people feel an emotional attachment to these buildings,” he says. “They’re still hoping things are going to turn around and they will need the space in the future for religious purposes.”

The discernment process also takes time, anywhere from 6 to 18 months, and typically involves 8-10 leaders, equally divided between members of the faith community and neighbors. “In order to make good use of these spaces, faith communities have to talk with their neighbors and identify their needs and aspirations,” Pryfogle says. “It’s really important to engage everyone to shape a vision for how these spaces can be adapted for social good.” 

In Durham, NC, Sympara worked for 9 months with the Union Baptist Church to see how it might use its 7.5 acre property to help locals who are being displaced by gentrification. The church started by experimenting with a pop-up farmers market. The result was overwhelmingly positive. 

Church members met some of their neighbors for the first time and a local farmer found a market for her produce in the community. The congregation is now exploring how their church’s space might be used for housing, to support startup ventures, and perhaps even a community health clinic. “They are moving forward with the goal of ‘Housing, health, and hope for all,’” says Pryfogle.

“When you have members of the faith community meeting with neighbors to find solutions, across all sorts of divides, they get to know each other and get to trust each other,” he says. “It’s building social infrastructure. Of course there are differences, but they can all see how a building now sitting empty can benefit everybody.”

If you want to partner with Sympara to transform your faith community’s unused space, you can learn more on the organization’s website. 

This story was originally published on Weave’s newsletter. You can subscribe here for more stories.