Does your church make the mistake of repurposing assets?

Bob Whitesel May 13, 2019

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A seemingly innocuous tactic of modern leadership is to repurpose assets such as buildings, monies and programs. Again, there is nothing wrong with this approach, but repurposing can squander original intent and substance. As an example, let’s look at two of the most common assets that modern leaders repurpose.

Repurposing buildings

When churches encounter trouble they are often tempted to avoid spiritual and interpersonal conflict, and instead shed assets. One congregation, struggling over dissatisfaction with a lead pastor, began the process of selling and/or renting the church facility to deal with dwindling numbers. The real problem was an interpersonal one, but the church avoided this by seeking to discard assets. In many churches, buildings have been repurposed because church leaders found this easier to do than addressing conflict.  

Modern leaders often see nothing wrong with repurposing churches as personal residences, antique malls and professional buildings while other churches just sit vacant. But, many communities lack a centrally-located and functional facility to house a faith community. Plus, there may be damage to the esteem of the cause of Christ, as once stately church buildings sit abandoned or repurposed for commercial aims.

Repurposed finances

In a similar vein, when a church closes, the modern tactic is to send financial assets back to the denomination or give them to non-local charitable work. While laudable, this is a tactic similar to repurposing the church building, for it takes finances out of the neighborhood and sends them to a distant locale. 

Money and facilities that are so needed within the local community are repurposed elsewhere.  While repurposing salvages assets, it often does so at the expense of original intent.  One senior saint in a Detroit congregation said, “My family has stood behind this church for over 80 years, and now it’s gone.  I still live here.  And there are people here who still need Jesus … Where did the hard work go? Where did the money go?” The church’s assets had been sold and given back to the judicatory, and a drugstore chain now occupied the church’s former site.

The above actions are not unethical nor illogical, just in the viewpoint of many millennial leaders not the most effective strategy. Millennial leaders prefer a more organic approach that connects local assets to the local mission context for which they were originally purposed. 

Recycle assets glocally

Millennial leaders have a strong sense of returning things to their original purpose. This to them seems more efficient and logical than repurposing them for another objective. A fitting example is how they regard assets such as facilities and finances. To millennial leaders a church’s buildings and finances were given to anchor local ministry.

Millennial leaders identify with the writer who famously intoned, “the light that shines the farthest, shines brightest at home.” The writer was emphasizing that people in the neighborhood should not be overlooked in a church’s grand scheme to make a global impact. Those who live nearest the church have a heightened expectation of help from that church. This is the church’s foremost responsibility.

In response, millennial leaders seek to balance local needs and global needs. The term “glocal,” a combination of the words “global” and “local,” has emerged as a description of this balance. 

Therefore, the millennial leader often avoids repurposing in favor of an organic recycling strategy that seeks to keep facilities and finances in a local community. The results are that local sacrifices for facilities and finances continue to benefit local constituents.  

Excerpted from Organix: Signs of Leadership in a Changing Church, by Bob Whitesel (Abingdon Press). Used with permission. 

Photo source: istock 

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Bob Whitesel (D.Min., Ph.D.) is a foresight coach, professor, and award-winning author of 14 books. For over 30 years, he has guided leaders and churches to pivot and engage what’s next. He holds two earned doctorates from Fuller Theological Seminary and teaches on leadership foresight, church health, and organizational change. His website is www.ChurchForesight.com. Learn More »

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