Gone for Good?
Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition
Foreword by Willie James Jennings Edited by Mark Elsdon ISBN 9780802883247 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date January 09, 2024 Size 140 x 216 mmIs your church facing the difficult decision to sell property?
Consider using church buildings and land to further the gospel mission. Mark Elsdon, author of We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry, revisits questions of church resources with a team of pastors, scholars, developers, and urban planners. This collection of essays sheds light on how church communities can transform their properties to serve their neighborhoods.
Essays explore spiritual, sociological, and practical aspects of church property transition, including:
• assessing the impacts of churches on their neighborhoods—and the gaps they will leave behind
• developing church property into affordable housing
• transforming ministry in rural churches
• partnering with Indigenous peoples to return land
• fostering cooperation between congregations, developers, and city planners
• navigating zoning laws
• working with foundations and funders
Thousands of church properties worth billions of dollars are being sold or repurposed each year. Nothing can stop the currents of change. But congregations and cities can take steps now to ensure a legacy directed toward communal good rather than private interests. Gone for Good? will be an invaluable guide in navigating these radical shifts in church life and ministry.
Contributors: Jennie Birkholz, David Bowers, Philip Burns, Mark D. Constantine, Joseph W. Daniels Jr., Patrick Duggan, Mark Elsdon, Ashley Goff, Jim Bear Jacobs, A. Robert Jaeger, Willie James Jennings, Tyler Krupp-Qureshi, Eileen Lindner, Elizabeth Lynn, Nadia Mian, Kurt Paulsen, Jill Shook, Coté Soerens, Rochelle A. Stackhouse, Keith Starkenburg, Andre White
—Brian D. McLaren, author of Do I Stay Christian?
“Gone for Good? is a fantastic compilation of thought leaders and practitioners who love the church and community. It is well worth reading and serves as a guide for people looking to love their place and the church.”
—Leroy Barber, executive director of Neighborhood Economics, cofounder and director of the Voices Project
“Mark Elsdon has brought together a host of rich voices that summon the church to face honestly and hopefully the crisis that many congregations soon must and soon will sell their property. The urging of the book is to face the crisis honestly, to plan carefully, and to utilize bold imagination in deciding new faithful futures for the congregation. The strong advocacy here is to think afresh and in concert with all sorts of potential allies from the state to developers to philanthropists. The accent is on mission and the new ways in which faithful mission may be undertaken. This book is a welcome read, given the church’s much too long devotion to buildings that may no longer serve well.”
—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
“Gone for Good? is one of those books that grabs hold of you and turns you back toward the best of news: God is doing a new thing and we are invited to be a part of it. Where so many see failure, Mark Elsdon envisions possibility. He places what is often a lonely and isolated struggle into a larger context, affirming that even congregations whose buildings have become a worry and a burden may yet see visions and dream dreams. The diversity of perspectives is both inspiring and practical, challenging everyone who cares about the future of the human community to bring what we have to the table.”
—Anna Olson, author of Claiming Resurrection in the Dying Church: Freedom beyond Survival
“A pastor, a scholar, a philanthropist, and a developer walk into an empty church, and what do they see? Possibility. Hope. Community. Love. Mark Elsdon has gathered voices to address the question, What do we do with the gifts, assets, and community when the pews are no longer filled? Gone for Good? offers a pragmatic, theological, and grounded vision for the church and its leaders to grieve the change and celebrate what may emerge if we open ourselves to imaginative futures.”
—Patrick B. Reyes, author of The Purpose Gap
“Woven into the fabric of this book is a model for the work it invites. Gone for Good? is the result of collaboration, conversations, improbable friendships, wise and dissenting voices, and countless years of experience. Mark Elsdon and this team of brilliant, thoughtful, caring practitioners have created a powerful tool to ignite imagination around an issue that promises to both vex and propel the church for decades to come. We, in the church, cannot, must not, ignore the asset we have in our buildings and property, but we can’t do it alone. We need to listen, engage, learn, and experiment across sectors. Gone for Good? is exactly what we need to spark a new conversation, a new imagination, for what is possible.”
—Lisa Greenwood, president and CEO of Wesleyan Impact Partners and Texas Methodist Foundation
“Mark Elsdon understands that the church, writ large, is at a tipping point. After decades of unabated decline in both attendance and relevance in the United States, we are desperate to hear the words of a present-day prophet who can lead us to new life. Elsdon is that prophet. But he doesn’t stand alone atop a hill and call the masses to his door. Instead, he uses this book as a platform for a diverse group of national thought leaders to share their unique experiences and visions for the future. And while these visions are different, they are all clearly part of a wonderful tapestry that details a holistic, practical, and hopeful path forward. Elsdon issues a clarion call for churches to demonstrate courageously and selflessly how they can use their properties for good. Much more importantly, he urges them to view decline in numbers not as a death, but as an opportunity to bring new life to people and communities who are in desperate need of expe
Mark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning as an entrepreneur, nonprofit executive, and speaker. He is the author of We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry. Mark holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his family.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Gone for Good?, by Mark Elsdon
Part 1: Gone?
1. Sometimes Just Gone: The Diminishing Religious Footprint, by Eileen Lindner
2. Saving Sacred Places as Community Assets, by Rochelle A. Stackhouse
3. The Community Impact of Congregations: Findings on the “Halo Effect” of Sacred Places, by A. Robert Jaeger
4. The Case for Missional Remaining Missional, by Patrick Duggan
5. Who Wants a Building Anyway? Place, Race, and the Church, by Coté Soerens
Part 2: For Good
6. Righting Some Wrongs: Returning Stolen Land, by Jim Bear Jacobs
7. Crossing the Land, Hearing the Spirit, by Keith Starkenburg
8. Legacy Can Lead to Life, by Joseph Daniels Jr.
9. When God’s Call is Bigger than a Building, by Ashley Goff
10. Faith-Based Property Development: Lessons from Nehemiah, by David Bowers
11. Rethinking Rural: The Value of Rural Churches and Fresh Hope, by Jennie Birkholz
Part 3: Together
12. Proactive City Planning for Church Property Transitions, by Kurt Paulsen
13. Changing the (Zoning) Code: Building Bonds between Church and State, by Nadia Mian
14. The Real Estate Assistance Churches Need: Seek or Create an Advisory Team, by Philip Burns, Jill Shook, and Andre Johnny White
15. Developers, Prophets, and Profits: Reimagining Sacred Space in Transition, by Tyler Krupp-Qureshi
16. Hidden in Plain Sight: Obstacles and Opportunities for Philanthropic Partnerships with Congregations in Transition, by Mark D. Constantine and Elizabeth Lynn
Conclusion: Making More and Better Soup, by Mark Elsdon