90 Per Cent Used on Weekdays: How Two Methodist Churches Turned Empty Floors Into Clinics, Homes and Offices

• McKendree UMC in Nashville has 46,425 square feet, 90 per cent used on weekdays
• It hosts medical and dental clinics, housing for youth leaving foster care and a clothes closet
• Norfolk UMC in Virginia houses three homeless families and a teen mothers’ ministry
• It also gives free office space to four small businesses

Two United Methodist churches have filled their buildings with community services, UM News reported in December 2022.

McKendree United Methodist Church in downtown Nashville has 46,425 square feet, about 90 per cent of it used Monday to Friday. “When I got here in 2009, the third and fourth floors (of the church) were vacant,” said the Rev Stephen Handy. The building now offers free haircuts, housing for young people ageing out of foster care, housing for missionaries, food services, medical and dental clinics with Meharry Medical College, and a clothes closet. “We’re just reclaiming our roots. It’s part of our history that we had abandoned,” Handy said.

Norfolk United Methodist Church in Virginia, with about 300 members and more than 16,000 square feet, runs a ministry for teen mothers, provides transitional housing for three homeless families and gives free office space to four small businesses. “It’s not a burden. It is a challenge. But it is a part of the larger vision,” said the Rev Sherry Daniels.

Joel A. Gilland offered a principle for such work: “The first thing is to always keep the church first.”

Both churches show how space that would otherwise sit empty can be put to work. Some uses bring in income, while others are offered free as ministry; either way, a busy building is better maintained and more valued by its neighbours.

Jamaican churches with unused rooms, upper floors or halls could look at similar partnerships with clinics, training programmes, small businesses or housing ministries. Written agreements on use, costs, insurance and safety are essential, and churches should check how any rental affects their tax position.

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