I always find it ironic that many of our churches have the word “community’ plastered on the side of the building, but few churches actually make the building available to the community.

Apparently, the community church is only open to the community of people who attend the services.

And when someone inquires about renting the building for a wedding, a funeral, or a support group, we tell them they need to come to church on Sunday, sign release forms, pay a deposit and rental fee, and if they get approved, refrain from drinking, smoking, or swearing on the premises.

But if we viewed our building not as “the church” but simply as a building that the church meets in on an occasional basis, then the conflict of what happens in the building the rest of the week disappears.
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Chapter 2 in my book, Close Your Church for Good, is called “Faith of the Fallen.”

Please note that due to some of the feedback I received on these posts, this chapter has been radically revised for the final edition of the book. These changes will only be available in the print or eBook version when it comes out.

Here are the posts that come from this chapter:

• Imagine that Your Church Closed
• Imagine that Your Church Closed (Part 2)
• Evolution of a Movement
• Defining Church
• Ekklesia

To read the content of any other chapters, check out the post which contains the Table of Contents to Close Your Church for Good.

Chapter 1 in my book, Close Your Church for Good, is called “The Satanic Church.” Please note that due to some of the feedback I received on these posts, this chapter might be radically revised for the final edition of the book. These changes will only be available in the print or eBook version when it comes out.

Here are the posts that come from this chapter:

• A Church in Your Town
• It May Be Your Church
• Destroy This Church
• Jesus vs. Satan
• Three Strikes
• Falling to Temptation
• Fool’s Gold
• What Now?

To read the content of any other chapters, check out the post which contains the Table of Contents to Close Your Church for Good.

In the United States, churches do not have to pay property taxes. This is a great benefit to churches, especially when church budgets are tight.

But have you ever wondered why churches are given tax-exempt status? It has nothing to do with the separation of church and state. The reason churches are given tax-exempt status is the same reason that any other non-profit organization (whether religious or not) is given the same status: they engage in charitable work that benefits the community. The government wants to encourage people to be charitable, and so gives tax-exempt status to charitable organizations.

Therefore, if a church is not engaging in charitable service in the community, it is reasonable to ask them to surrender their tax-exempt status. Churches, like any charitable organization, should only get tax-excempt status if they can show where and how they are providing a service to the community.

“But,” a church might say, “We cannot afford to do much in the community. We are barely paying our bills as it is.”

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In numerous previous posts, I have proposed that churches sell their building in order to live according to kingdom principles and become more missional.

Maybe you are not convinced.

Or maybe you cannot imagine doing church without owning a building. Maybe you truly do need to own a building to carry out your God-given mission in your community. There are many churches around the world that own buildings and use them for the Kingdom to the glory of God. Maybe yours is one of them, and selling your building might actually interfere with your mission in the world.

Fine.

I am not against buildings per se. I do not believe that owning a church building is necessarily sinful or wrong. Buildings are a tool, and can either help or hinder the mission of the church. There are many cases where buildings can be used effectively.

My primary concern is that for many churches, buildings are chains that hold the people back from truly ministering in an effective way in the community. With buildings come footholds of power, money, and control that hold many congregations back.

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