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.
On Saturday, six Methodist congregations from Irving and Garland learned all about developing their stories of heritage and outreach, how to calculate the monetary value of their outreach to the community and how to access minor building maintenance needs. This class is part of a special program, Strategic Investment in Sacred Places. The North Texas Conference of Methodist Churches is sponsoring this group with support from the Lilly Endowment.