“Bigger Than the Building Itself”: An Arlington Church Sold Its Sanctuary Site to Make Way for 173 Apartments

• Arlington Presbyterian Church sold its historic building in 2016 for the Gilliam Place apartments
• The 173-unit complex keeps space for the congregation and a job-training kitchen
• A Catholic parish in Austin is planning a 29-storey student housing tower
• An Episcopal church in Placentia, California, is behind 65 homes for seniors

As American congregations shrink and their buildings age, some are deciding that the most faithful use of their property is to house people. A Reuters report republished by Premier Christian News in July 2024 set out how several have done it, and what it cost them.

The best-known example is Arlington Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Virginia. In 2016 it sold its historic building so that a 173-apartment complex, Gilliam Place, could be built on the site. The development keeps space for the congregation and houses La Cocina, a bilingual job-training kitchen. Church member Jon Etherton explained the decision: “the call from God to create, do something about affordable housing was bigger than the building itself.”

Others are following different routes. St Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, Texas, is working with developers on a 29-storey tower with 200 beds of affordable student housing. In Placentia, California, the Episcopal Church of the Blessed Sacrament partnered with National Community Renaissance on 65 homes for seniors with a community centre, and the local diocese aims to build affordable housing on a quarter of its 133 properties. In Washington, DC, Emory United Methodist Church developed the Beacon Center, with 99 affordable units, community space and job training for people leaving prison, while keeping its sanctuary.

The report also noted the pressures behind the trend. Presbyterian minister Eileen Linder has suggested that “100,000 churches may close in the next few decades.” Congregations can sell land, lease it or rent out unused space, but they often need help with zoning, finance and development. Groups such as Enterprise, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Partners for Sacred Places offer technical support, and in New York, West-Park Presbyterian Church has faced nearly a decade of opposition to plans to redevelop its landmarked building.

Jamaica has many churches in a similar position: large old buildings, shrinking or ageing congregations and land in good locations. The Arlington model, where a church gives up its old building but keeps a place to worship inside a new housing development, is one worth studying in Kingston and Montego Bay. Jamaican congregations in the United States that own or rent older buildings may also find partners and funding through the same programmes these churches used.