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Bethel Lutheran, like many churches, was built for a membership much larger than today’s. Decades ago, more than 1,500 members filled the building’s halls and classrooms. But the Willmar, Minn., congregation now has more space than needed, mainly in their education wing. After returning from COVID-19 lockdowns, its council began asking how the building could serve the community and how to offset occupancy costs.
Jon Dahl, pastor of Bethel, recalls walking through the building when it was empty, inventorying its amenities and maintenance needs. “We had some cosmetic fixes to make—new paint and carpet—but the structure was still really sound,” he said.
The congregation decided to consolidate its programming into a smaller section of the education wing, clear out the storage and start looking for new space-use partners. Leaders met with other area Lutheran congregations to explore shared solutions for underutilized space in a community with many unmet needs.
At the same time, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota’s (LSSMN) Willmar location was feeling constrained. Its youth program had outgrown its limited space and there was no room for a food pantry or clothes closet.
When a Bethel member serving on the LSSMN board learned of the Youth Resource Center’s challenges with its space, they invited the staff to present their needs to the congregation. Bethel saw the opportunity immediately. “We had an entire third floor that was basically empty,” Dahl said. “This program fit right in line with our mission and identity as a church.”
“This program fit right in line with our mission and identity as a church.”
In spring 2024, Bethel proposed converting its third floor into a resource center with offices, a kitchenette, recreation spaces, and a food and clothing closet. Bethel financed the remodel, and LSSMN signed a five-year lease.
The project moved quickly. After just a few conversations and listening sessions, Bethel signed the agreement. Dahl and Angie Mateski, LSSMN director of youth services in Willmar, worked with the city on zoning and permits. They also connected with community foundations for some extra support. Less than a year after the proposal was presented to the congregation, the new Youth Resource Center opened its doors.
In just five months, the center welcomed 167 participants and distributed over 2,200 hygiene and clothing items. With a welcoming and spacious home base, LSSMN is now dreaming bigger. It hopes to pilot satellite programming in neighboring counties so youth don’t have to find their way to Willmar to receive support—and will know to look to churches for those sites.
Like Bethel, many congregations are discerning how to use their space to meet community needs. But for many faith leaders and community members, navigating the challenges and opportunities that buildings and land represent can be daunting.
Last year, the ELCA Church Property Resource Hub was launched to help meet this need for congregations across the country. The online platform equips congregations and synods with tools for faithful property stewardship—how-to guides, stories of creative solutions, eLearning courses and connections to professionals who can assist.
Forward in faith
St. John Lutheran in Madison, Wis., is another congregation connected to the Church Property Resource Hub.
The congregation has a storied history of modifying its building for the sake of its mission. Founded in 1856 by German immigrants, the congregation has adapted to many waves of neighborhood change, always asking, “How can our space best serve our neighbors?”
In the mid-1800s, St. John purchased land on Main Street and then moved a few years later to a location on fast-paced East Washington Avenue. Knowing there was a need for education in the community, St. John built a school. In the 1940s, it built a retirement home outside town (now known as Oakwood Village) to serve older adults, especially widows. In the 1980s, when the era’s deinstitutionalization left many neighbors in need of mental health care out in the cold, St. John opened its doors to provide them with companionship and shelter. That effort eventually launched Porchlight, one of Madison’s key housing organizations.
At the turn of the 20th century, St. John erected an elaborate, neo-Gothic sanctuary building, but its members never saw the structure as something that couldn’t be touched. When neighborhood children needed safe space to play, the congregation renovated the building to add a gym. When the original doors rotted through in the 1960s, it tore down the façade to make maintenance easier. When membership declined in the early 2000s, it rightsized its facilities, cutting the sanctuary in half and creating accessible fellowship space and bathrooms on the ground level.
Doing something radically different
Members know that their property is a resource for their mission. In 2018, when leaders realized that the congregation couldn’t sustain the property much longer, they began discerning again. “We had three to five years left,” said Peter Beeson, pastor of St. John. “We could sell our building immediately, continue to decline and waste our resources on building maintenance, or we could do something radically different.”
The congregation formed its Dreaming Team, which explored what new thing God was calling them to do. As the team read, prayed, attended community meetings and talked with other congregations, St. John continued to offer its building for community needs. It added more space-use partners that could contribute to building costs through lease agreements and continued to partner with local shelters.
“We heard over and over again that Madison needs affordable housing,” Beeson said.
The area had been flooded with new apartment developments, but most weren’t affordable for working families. St. John had a legacy of bold property decisions. The congregation heard a call to serve this need, but affordable-housing projects take time and money. And what about the sanctuary—where would members worship or hold weddings and funerals?
Then, in early 2020, St. John couldn’t use its building. “For us, COVID lockdowns were a blessing,” Beeson said. The congregation learned that its worship and prayer life were not bound by four walls. What mattered was the members’ ability to gather, even on Zoom.
“God has maybe run out of windows to open but is opening up sewer pipes and air-supply chains.”
Suddenly unencumbered by the building, it began to see affordable housing as a possibility. The congregation began the long and tedious journey of development: engaging architects, securing financing, building a network of allies and advocates around the city, and navigating the complexities of real estate.
The “More for Madison” building project will provide 130 units of workforce housing as well as community spaces and affordable office space for nonprofits serving the community. What began as a $30 million idea has grown into a $58 million project with 12 funding sources.
St. John has committed wholeheartedly to this vision and has already vacated the building. Members have said goodbye to the bricks and mortar but not to the church.
Now worshiping at the Crossing Campus Ministry headquarters, St. John continues to embody its mission. The recent interest-rate hikes and new tariffs on construction materials have extended its journey toward affordable housing, but the congregation has not lost its vision. “We’re not done yet,” Beeson said. “God has maybe run out of windows to open but is opening up sewer pipes and air-supply chains. Every time we hit an obstacle, we find a way forward.”
“Forward” is the Wisconsin state motto, and of St. John today. Forging through obstacles toward a vision of embodied ministry isn’t a radical departure from what St. John has always been—this is just the latest chapter in a long story of a congregation willing to risk, change and reimagine what a church building can be for the sake of the neighbors it loves.
