More Than Just a Building: How Sharing Spaces Connects the Kingdom

Driving through downtown Columbus, you can easily find century-old church buildings that have been transformed into cafes, condos or concert venues. While the buildings still serve the community, it's disappointing to see them used as something other than sacred spaces. So, when a small congregation struggles to afford the upkeep of their large building, what options do they have? How can they ensure that their spaces will continue to be used for Kingdom work?

In Columbus, more and more historic churches are finding ways to maximize their property to benefit the Kingdom by housing church plants and nonprofits. As they learn to creatively share their spaces, they embody the vision of the unity in the Church that Jesus prayed for in John 17, while also guaranteeing their buildings will continue to be used for gospel ministry.

We spoke with Pastor Jeremy Gligora of Christian Assembly to learn more about how their space, now owned by Tree of Life Christian Schools, has long been shared with multiple organizations and what can be learned from their experience.

How has Christian Assembly shared its space over the years? Has it always done so, or has there been a shift at any point?

CA has always had a heart for collaboration. In the 90’s through the mid-2000’s, we had a ministry called Threshold Community Services which provided space for multiple faith-based organizations in the building. During that time, we were able to serve a number of ministries such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Ethiopian and Talwandi Services, Charisma Center for the Arts, Crusaders Football, and Pregnancy Decision Health Center.

Which organizations does CA currently share with? 

Currently we share the building with Tree of Life Middle School, Little Disciples

CA staff members assemble desks in preparation for the opening of Tree of Life Middle School in the building they share.

Learning Center as well as Parable Project (an after-school program that provides discipleship, leadership development and outdoor experiences to middle and high schoolers in the Linden area). We also host a multi-church youth missions week in the summer called Serve the City.

Does this sharing of space lead to any types of collaboration? Please explain.

This is the middle school’s second year on the property, and we have already found some nice ways to support each other. For example:

• Our worship Pastor (Lilia de Morales, also leader of the For Columbus Northland Network) now helps lead a worship club

• Tree sends classes down to help our food pantry with food deliveries

• One of the CA’s media team has volunteered to run A/V for Tree’s Chapel

• Several of families that attend Tree that were looking for a church have found a home here at CA

• CA has a group of volunteers that make and serve a meal to the students of Parable Project. There is also a group of high school students that have graduated from Parable that are now a part of our youth ministry

What advice do you have for churches who might express hesitation about sharing their space?

Five churches come together for the annual Serve the City missions trip, hosted by Christian Assembly.

Practically speaking, I would say make sure everyone is very clear on the front end of what the expectations will are. Make sure they are written down before anyone commits to anything. However, your attitude should be supportive and generous. Your church should see the value of the other ministry and want to help it thrive.

There will certainly be a cost to sharing your space. Increased communication, less availability of facilities, and possibly even financial costs depending on the situation. There will also be scheduling mistakes, and stuff will get moved or broken. I think the key to successful space sharing is that your motivation must be bigger than a pragmatic solution or a desire to be generous. You really need to see space sharing itself as an extension of ministry. You need to have a conviction that you are partnering with this other organization or ministry for the sake of the Kingdom. The value in the partnership might not be for your benefit, but rather for God’s glory, and for the people that the other ministry serves.

At For Columbus, we love making Kingdom connections. It's what we do. We work with hundreds of nonprofits and church plants that could be a blessing to your neighborhood or congregation. Reach out to us at hello@forcolumbus.org and let us help you navigate a new collaborative partnership!