Sharing Can Be A Means To An End

 
If you are thinking of selling your church building in order to build a larger facility, consider sharing your present facility as a way to achieve your goal. Is your present facility used twelve hours a day, seven days a week? If not, you have a valuable resource that can accelerate your plans.

The Value of Sharing

Sharing your facility with a second church community brings you five important blessings.
We call them “The Five T’s :

Size Matters

Sharing your facility immediately increases your size. For example, sharing with one congregation is financially comparable to adding 42 members to your congregation.  According to the National Congregations Study conducted by Duke University:

“. . . size is among the most important characteristics of any organization, including congregations.  It affects everything else. More people mean more resources, more staff, and more programming. . .

Some frequently asked questions

With whom would we share?

Christian Diversity Not Competition! Correct planning for sharing a facility does not result in competition between similar groups but rather cooperation between groups. For example, it is common for Hispanic communities to worship during evening hours on Sunday,; others on Friday and Saturday.  As the “host church” you choose your days and times of use. You have complete control over your facility.  Only the time that your facility is idle is shared with another not-for-profit organization.  A mutually supportive relationship is born.

We have found considerable compatibility with spiritual communities that focus in these four areas:

(1) Worship          (2) Education             (3) Childcare              (4) Eldercare

Is our church facility too small to share?

No facility is too small or too large.  In all four of the above areas we have had remarkable success with small groups.  Some guest churches are as small as ten members, accredited schools as small as eight students, child and eldercare with only six persons. According to both Duke University’s studies, one in 1998 and a second study in 2007: “ . . .over 50% of all churches in the United States have less than 75 regular participants and an annual budget of $90.000.” This means that in your home town there are many small groups that are in need of a “real church” building. Their $90,000 (or less) annual budget makes it financially challenging to pay a ministerial staff and support a free-standing, single-use church facility. Regardless how small your church building may be, it is of great value to others.

ChurchSHARE 4200 32nd Street West, Bradenton, Fl. 34205  (941) 962-9022