{"id":4295,"date":"2011-05-04T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=4295"},"modified":"2011-04-30T12:10:15","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T16:10:15","slug":"allow-community-groups-use-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"community<\/a>I always find it ironic that many of our churches have the word \u201ccommunity\u2019 plastered on the side of the building, but few churches actually make the building available to the community.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the community church is only open to the community of people who attend the services.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But if we viewed our building not as \u201cthe church\u201d 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.
\n<\/p>\n

Where would you meet if you didn’t have a building?<\/h2>\n

Let me put it another way. If your church did not have a \u201cchurch building\u201d you would probably have to rent a school gymnasium, a theater, a hotel conference room, or some other sort of multi-purpose building.<\/p>\n

In such cases, do you care too much about what happens in those rooms the rest of the week? Of course not.\u00a0As long as the room is clean on Sunday morning, do you care that on Friday night in the hotel conference room you rent, there was a wedding party with lots of drinking, loud music, some cursing, and a few people \u201chooked up\u201d afterwards? No, you don\u2019t care because it is not your building, the hotel can do what they want with that room, and the church that meets there on Sunday morning is not profaned by what went on in the same room on Friday night.<\/p>\n

This is how churches should view their own buildings. There is nothing holy or sanctified about the church building, any more than there is anything holy or sanctified about the school gymnasium or hotel conference room.<\/p>\n

To help redeem our building in this way, it might be best to fully transform the use and availability of our church building. It might be a good idea to recreate church around the current cultural forms of community.<\/p>\n

Become a community center with a church<\/h2>\n

Rather than be a church which has a coffee table, we can become a coffee house that has a church. Rather than be a church that offers Wednesday night aerobics, we can become an aerobic and dance center that has a church.<\/p>\n

This is beneficial on multiple levels. For example, the building doesn\u2019t sit empty most of the week, the business helps pay the bills, and the gathering center creates opportunities to make connections with the community.<\/p>\n

\"life<\/a>Churches of this type are popping up all over the country. For example, Life in Deep Ellum<\/a> is a Cultural Arts and Community Center in Dallas, TX. They have a coffee shop called Mokah, a state-of-the-art music venue for concerts, and an expansive gallery for art exhibits. The building also houses a film company, a graphic design company, and a life-coaching and counseling service.<\/p>\n

Oh, and on Sunday, a church meets there too.<\/p>\n

Remember, the church is not a building. In the case of Life in Deep Ellum, the building is owned and managed by a group of people who are part of the church. The building is a community center, and the church, as part of the community, meets in the building. The church is not front and center; the community center is. The church is not the focal point of the building; the coffee shop, art gallery, and music venue is.<\/p>\n

Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Aside from this allowing us to accomplish the church’s intended mission, this may have the added benefit of helping pay the mortgage, and helping us develop friendships with others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-4295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","8":"tag-theology-church","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nAllow Community Groups to use your Building<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Allow Community Groups to use your Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Allow Community Groups to use your Building\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\"},\"wordCount\":660,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Close Your Church for Good\",\"Theology of the Church\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\",\"name\":\"Allow Community Groups to use your Building\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg\",\"width\":\"360\",\"height\":\"270\",\"caption\":\"community church\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Allow Community Groups to use your Building\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building","description":"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building","og_description":"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":360,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building","datePublished":"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/"},"wordCount":660,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg","keywords":["Close Your Church for Good","Theology of the Church"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/","name":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-04-30T16:10:15+00:00","description":"Do you want to redeem your church building? Open it up to the community. Become a community center with a church in it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/community-free-church.jpg","width":"360","height":"270","caption":"community church"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/allow-community-groups-use-building\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Allow Community Groups to use your Building"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}