Growing up in Memphis, I passed by First Baptist Church countless times. FBC is located at East Parkway and Poplar Avenue, a very prominent corner in midtown near Overton Park. Despite all those trips down busy Poplar Ave., I never had a reason to step inside this large, and historically influential church. But for the past two years I have made monthly visits to the third floor of their repurposed Christian Education building.

First Baptist might not have quite as many members as they once did, but they are still a strong faith community with an inclusive, outreach-oriented witness for Christ. This includes making unused or underutilized spaces on their campus available for community needs and services. From this comes my opportunity for the monthly visits.
 

As part of strengthening my mental health, I started seeing a Licensed Professional Counselor in 2023. An entire section of the third floor is occupied by a variety of independent mental health service providers who rent space at a reasonable cost for their client sessions. I have truly come to appreciate First Baptist Church for making this possible. The environment is clean, welcoming, quiet, and peaceful. To me it is far more appealing that visiting a medical facility or commercial office building where there is very little warmth and the feng shui does everything but relieve stress. The use of such space is a blessing to the church, the vendor, and the community.

Does your church have empty or little used rooms that could be made available for rent at a moderate rate? It doesn’t have to be just for providing mental health support…there are a variety of community-oriented services and small businesses that could benefit from having access to affordable office or meeting spaces. The extra income for a local church can provide resources for maintenance costs, missional needs, or covering other expenses.

If you or your church might be interested in learning more about how to transition some of your spaces for such needs, I encourage you to take part in an upcoming webinar provided by the good people at Wesleyan Impact Partners. Next Wednesday, December 10 they are hosting “Reimagining Church Property with United Methodist Foundations and Good Futures Accelerator”. Here is a LINK to learn more.
 

May your Advent journey fill your empty spaces with the hopeful future Christ offers…

The Reverend Dr. David Weatherly