Congregations open up their buildings to serve children, the hungry, the homeless and others in need. Sacred places stabilize neighborhoods, strengthen commercial districts and significantly add to the economic health of our communities. All of this is endangered, however, when congregations can no longer afford to maintain these aging buildings. Partners has developed a family of highly-acclaimed resources to help congregations connect better to their communities, raise capital funds in new ways and preserve their historic building for future generations. We are the nation's only non-sectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated the sound stewardship and active community use of America's older religious properties.

There are 168 hours in a week. How many hours a week does your congregation use the building?


Congregations who occupy older buildings may have large amounts of unused space, and may not be used to thinking of it as an asset. However, extra rooms in a sacred space can often be valuable in fostering community revitalization and continued neighborhood development. Many congregations already use their buildings to serve the wider public, running programs ranging from soup kitchens, to day care centers, to job training sites. However, many outside social service and cultural organizations do not have affordable homes to run their programs, and look to churches for centrally located, well-configured spaces in which to do their work.
Because of Partners’ strong relationship with the faith community and our expertise in community development and the arts, Partners has extensive experience and connections to networks of arts groups and social service organizations interested in sharing space. In facilitating shared-space agreements, our services include:
  • identification of potential tenants
  • guidance on best practices for sharing space
  • lease development and negotiation