2 churches sharing a building

[makingdisciples]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to get some opinions on a matter. I am in the process of leaving the church that my family and I have been attending for the past few years (a church of the Nazarene) and starting a non-denominational church. I have called around and gotten interest from a couple of different places that would like to rent space to the new church on Sunday mornings. So finding a place is not an issue. Yesterday, I spoke to the Pastor at the church I attend and told him that the Lord has called me to start a new church in the area. He was very excited and made me a proposal. He said the new church could use the gym on Sunday mornings. The gym has a stage and the pastor even offered installing a new sound system for us. He would like both churches to share Sunday School classes and then at 11am his group would go to the sanctuary to worship and my group would go to the gym to worship. What do you guys think of this situation? If you were/ are unchurched would this appeal to you or confuse you?

 

[BryanW92]

Its a little strange for two churches to be having services at the same time on the same property. If I was looking for a church, I'd avoid both because it looks like a church that has split and both sides are stubbornly refusing to give up their half of the property. I would look at it and think, "Major drama here."

I am curious though: what are your qualifications and what church ordained you (if any)? Is your new church going to have a Wesleyan theology or are you moving in a different direction? which direction?

 

[Tigger45]

I like it's great. An attitude of cooperation.

 

[jehoiakim]

Certainly a strange situation, yes I would also like some more background information. How and why did you feel a call to begin a new church. Who has expressed interest in this church. Why is your pastor see this as such an exciting thing and not as someone who is trying to divide your current church? Not that I am accusing you of anything it is just odd

 

[beaverpond]

I have known other churches that have done it in the past, but not in at the same time, not sharing Sunday School classes, having you in a gym...makes me want to go hmmm. I too see a church division in the future. I also see something else where either you are doing more of the work or he is doing more of the work and one of the two of you is reaping the rewards of the others hard work. I see that as a problem.

I sincerely hope you give this some serious thought before jumping into this. I know of some churches that when they start up use the local community center or maybe an old school building or other municipal building. Just something to think about.

 

[makingdisciples]

Thank you for the responses I have received so far and hope I have answered your question.

BryanW92: I tried to keep the answers short.

By qualifications do you mean other then 1 Timothy 3:17 or Titus 1:5-9? I am called by God and saved by the grace of God. I have grown up in the church and have studied the Word for many years. I have mentored those that are spiritually immature, led men's bible studies, taught adult Sunday School, children's Sunday School, Children's church, currently run a youth group and preach any opportunity I get.

I was ordained by a non-denominational church that has since disbanded but this is a moot point as any church can ordain (so the new church has the right to ordain).

I do not wish to get into theology as not to start a debate rather it be Wesley, Calvin, Luther, etc... I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and without any mistake. I can not say this about men and some of their theological views. We should take any teachings and compare it with the Scriptures to see if it is true.

Jehoiakim:
I find the question of why I felt a call to begin a new church a strange one. The Lord decides who to call to lead His flock not men. The early Christians sure would not have called Paul by their own devices. It was the Lord that called Paul to the ministry. With that said men should be able to tell when you have been called by the Lord not only because of what you say but because of how you act and what you do. I felt the calling of our Lord to start a new church but this was also shown evident because I have had a few people now ask me to begin one. I feel that this is also shown by Pastor backing me. The Lord is gathering a flock for me to shepherd.

It is my hope that Pastor views my calling of starting a new church as exciting because he sees it as the Lord's Kingdom growing. I am not trying to cause any division in the church and will not attempt to take any Pastors flock from him. There are many that are lost and do not have a church home. I do not see any ministry that is doing the Lord's Will as being in competition with another that is also doing the Lord's Will. He uses different people to reach the lost in different ways. Some plant, some water and some harvest. Some people have more of a calling to help the hungry, while others the homeless, while others those that are affected by tragedy, etc... The Body of Christ has many parts, each with different gifts. So it is my hope that Pastor just wants to help a new group as they do the Will of our Father in Heaven as all Christians should want to help others. Churches should work together.

Thanks again for the responses so far! I am very curious to see how others perceive the situation.

 

[makingdisciples]

Beaverpond, thanks for your response! I do have other options but want to see how others view this. For example, I have the opportunity to rent a movie theater and another one to rent a skating ring.

 

[Willie T]

We did exactly the same thing in one place I attended... Regular older Baptist in the auditorium, and contemporary non denominational in the Fellowship hall. No sunday school for adults, as I recall.

 

[beaverpond]

The churches that are sharing having a sign out front with the two different church names. So people realize the difference. They also do meet at two different times as to have their own separate activities, whether it be Sunday School, a Jr Church mesage, a separate choir, your own missions if you go that way, your own youth program eventually, and the list goes on. You want to create your own identity.

 

[makingdisciples]

We did exactly the same thing in one place I attended... Regular older Baptist in the auditorium, and contemporary non denominational in the Fellowship hall. No sunday school for adults, as I recall.

How did that work out for the churches?

 

[makingdisciples]

The churches that are sharing having a sign out front with the two different church names. So people realize the difference. They also do meet at two different times as to have their own separate activities, whether it be Sunday School, a Jr Church mesage, a separate choir, your own missions if you go that way, your own youth program eventually, and the list goes on. You want to create your own identity.

I agree on having our own identity. This would be one of my concerns. If something was to happen to one of the churches, would it affect the other church?

 

[beaverpond]

It could and that is why it is important to not only do things separately, but if you can...in separate buildings, but I realize that in the beginning that is not always possible. This is why you may want to establish a building fund right off the bat so this way you can start on your way to heading in your own direction.

Also be on the lookout for foreclosure properties, especially land. Municipalities will sometimes sell land for what is owed in back taxes plus fees and an additional percentage for the general fund. Our town does this to get the property off the towns books. No town likes dead weight. If you find a piece big enough for the church and a home, they can still collect property taxes on the home but nothing else in most cases.

 

[Albion]

It's difficult to answer this because there are so many unanswered questions. For instance, do you have the nucleus of a congregation at present...or is the idea that they'll show up when you advertise that there's a new church in town?

And what distinguishes this proposed new church? Presumably, there wouldn't be any reason to have one if there were nothing wrong with the existing
one(s).

In theory, the offer of sharing space could be much to your benefit, so I wouldn't be too quick to decline it. But then again, are you expecting people to head to the gym instead of the Nazarene nave, even though there are no significant differences in doctrine or practice??

 

[Tigger45]

Hello everyone,
I just wanted to get some opinions on a matter. I am in the process of leaving the church that my family and I have been attending for the past few years (a church of the Nazarene) and starting a non-denominational church. I have called around and gotten interest from a couple of different places that would like to rent space to the new church on Sunday mornings. So finding a place is not an issue. Yesterday, I spoke to the Pastor at the church I attend and told him that the Lord has called me to start a new church in the area. He was very excited and made me a proposal. He said the new church could use the gym on Sunday mornings. The gym has a stage and the pastor even offered installing a new sound system for us. He would like both churches to share Sunday School classes and then at 11am his group would go to the sanctuary to worship and my group would go to the gym to worship. What do you guys think of this situation? If you were/ are unchurched would this appeal to you or confuse you?

Your pastor seems to be a pretty special guy. Sounds like he wants to put the Kingdom first over his own self interests. Things can get complicated if you guys let them but I have seen similar situations work even over a long duration of time.

 

[makingdisciples]

It's difficult to answer this because there are so many unanswered questions. For instance, do you have the nucleus of a congregation at present...or is the idea that they'll show up when you advertise that there's a new church in town?

And what distinguishes this proposed new church? Presumably, there wouldn't be any reason to have one if there were nothing wrong with the existing
one(s).

In theory, the offer of sharing space could be much to your benefit, so I wouldn't be too quick to decline it. But then again, are you expecting people to head to the gym instead of the Nazarene nave, even though there are no significant differences in doctrine or practice??

Thanks for the response! Yes, we have a group of people that would like to be a part of the new church. I am not a big fan of the "if you build it then they will come" mentality.

If you look at any church then you could find something wrong. I would just like to say that the two churches will be different. One example, is that the new church will be trying to reach a younger generation. The Nazarene church's congregation is mostly made up of people over the age of 40 so the services, programs and events are aimed at that age group. Another example, would be how the church government is set up. The Nazarene church now has a board that is voted in once a year. This board makes all decisions for the church. Whereas, in the new church all members of the church will be able to attend meetings and have the opportunity to vote on things. These are just a couple of examples, there will be many differences. It is not a question of should we or should we not begin a new church. That question has already been answered by the Lord. I am just curious as to how it would be perceived by others if two churches shared the same building and had services at the same time.

I do agree that in theory sharing a building could be beneficial. One example is that it would be cheaper for the new church since the Nazarene church already has a lot of things we could use. Other expenses would also be cheaper for both churches since both would share the cost of the maintenance of the building and other bills. But if more of the lost and un-churched view this as a church divided then as two churches working together with an attitude of love and cooperation then the benefits would be far outweighed by the loss.

 

[Albion]

Thanks for the response! Yes, we have a group of people that would like to be a part of the new church. I am not a big fan of the "if you build it then they will come" mentality.

If you look at any church then you could find something wrong. I would just like to say that the two churches will be different. One example, is that the new church will be trying to reach a younger generation. The Nazarene church's congregation is mostly made up of people over the age of 40 so the services, programs and events are aimed at that age group. Another example, would be how the church government is set up. The Nazarene church now has a board that is voted in once a year. This board makes all decisions for the church. Whereas, in the new church all members of the church will be able to attend meetings and have the opportunity to vote on things. These are just a couple of examples, there will be many differences. It is not a question of should we or should we not begin a new church. That question has already been answered by the Lord. I am just curious as to how it would be perceived by others if two churches shared the same building and had services at the same time.

I do agree that in theory sharing a building could be beneficial. One example is that it would be cheaper for the new church since the Nazarene church already has a lot of things we could use. Other expenses would also be cheaper for both churches since both would share the cost of the maintenance of the building and other bills. But if more of the lost and un-churched view this as a church divided then as two churches working together with an attitude of love and cooperation then the benefits would be far outweighed by the loss.

Thanks for that additional information. We can now see better than at the onset of this discussion that you have more going for the new venture than we suspected.

There are no doctrinal differences of note, so this explains how the pastor is able to offer you all that he has. He sees you as becoming his unofficial youth pastor, or so I think.

In any case, I now think you might as well go for it and accept the pastor's suggestion. If your group weakens, as might happen...or if something else doesn't click, which is always possible, you'd be in a much better position than if you cut your ties with the CoftheNazarene totally and went out on your own, with or without a group in place. And if you prosper, your hands aren't tied in any way because you took up the pastor's offer in the beginning.

 

[food4thought]

My old church spent a couple years sharing a building with another church. It was like that when I first became a Christian and started going there, and I did not view it as divisiveness. There were problems, though. We were distinct congregations that shared the same sanctuary and meeting hall, so everything had to be done at specified times on Sunday morning. The church going first (us) had to be done with the Sanctuary by a certain time so they could set up for their service, and we couldn't linger in fellowship at the church, since we needed to be cleared out by a specified time from there, too. It wasn't terrible, and we got along fine, but it did put a scrimp on what the first church could do on Sunday mornings.

From what you've said here, it sounds more like two separate services for the same congregation more than two separate churches. Shared Sunday School, and I'm assuming shared children's ministry and fellowship hall time. It could work. Keep praying for the Lord to give you His guidance, though.

Whatever you decide, may God bless you in spreading His gospel!