Five Years of Setting Up and Tearing Down, Then a 167,000-Square-Foot Sears: A Church Buys Its Own Home

• Crossroads Church bought the former Sears building at the Dayton Mall in Ohio.
• The building covers 167,000 square feet; the price was not disclosed.
• The deal closed on July 29, 2022.
• The church had rented a facility in Dayton for nearly five years.

A church that spent years setting up and packing away its services in rented space has bought a former department store. Dayton 24/7 Now reported that Crossroads Church has purchased the old Sears building at the Dayton Mall.

Crossroads is an interdenominational church based in Cincinnati with several locations across the region. The building it bought covers 167,000 square feet. The sale closed on July 29, 2022; the price was not disclosed. Public relations director Erin Caproni said the church was assessing what renovations were needed, adding: “we’ve got the keys; we’ve got the space.”

Matt Castleman, community pastor for Crossroads Church Dayton, said: “After setting up and tearing down church in a rented facility for nearly five years, we are thrilled to have a permanent home in Dayton for our friends who have given up on church but not on God.” The report said the purchase was expected to create jobs and work for local contractors and suppliers.

The deal gives a large, empty anchor store at the mall a new occupant. It also gives a congregation that had spent years in borrowed space a very large building of its own, with room to grow once the renovation work is done.

Jamaica has its own growing churches renting school halls, community centres and commercial space, and its own empty or under-used commercial buildings. Owning ends the uncertainty of lease renewals. Buying an existing building can also be quicker than building new, but it brings its own questions: the cost of adapting the space, whether the zoning allows worship and large gatherings, parking, and whether the building’s services can cope. For congregations tired of renting, and for landlords with hard-to-let space, the Dayton purchase is a reminder that these two needs can meet.

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