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One option for congregations that want to expand their ministry to the community is to share space with other groups. Sharing space can be as simple as allowing a support group to use one of your classrooms once a week, or it can be as ambitious as letting an entirely new congregation move in with you. Many congregations see sharing their building as part of their religious mandate-providing a home for other worthy organizations or individuals who have a vision for helping the community. Invite the entire congregation to take part in the decision-making as you determine whether sharing your building will enhance your existing ministries and outreach. Here's one resource to help you think about this issue:

• Space Sharing from a Pastoral Point of View
  

Sharing space can also entail sharing expenses-"sharers" can help a congregation pay the utilities or mortgage. Whether or not you hope to make a profit, you should carefully calculate the cost to your congregation of sharing your building before you decide how much, if anything, to charge. Charging rent for the use of your building may have implications for your tax-exempt status. These two articles address the tax issues related to sharing space:

• Ask the Technical Preservation Services Center
• Space Sharing and Property Tax Exemptions
  

Here's an example of one New York City church with a tradition of sharing space:

• Preservation Profile: St. Jean Baptiste Church
  

Two additional publications on sharing space are available from Partners for Sacred Places' Publication Center:

• Amazing Space: Opening Doors to Community Ministry
• Space-Sharing Arrangements in Houses of Worship: Federal and Illinois Tax and Legal Implications
  

Reusing Former Houses of Worship
At times, for various reasons, sacred places fall vacant. Sometimes a congregation decides to move to a new location, or two congregations merge, leaving one building empty. When this happens, a religious building can often be put to a new use, thus preserving a significant structure in the neighborhood and providing a home for a new congregation, another non-profit organization, or even a business or a family. The adaptive reuse of an empty religious building for a new purpose can change the gloomy scenario of an abandoned religious building into an opportunity for new life.

Religious buildings can be adapted for multiple uses. The simplest transition, of course, is for another religious congregation to occupy the old building. However, even this may require some changes-especially if the new congregation is of another religious tradition.
Congregations that plan to move into a building formerly occupied by another group should consider these guidelines:

1. Live with the adopted building for a while before rushing into hasty alterations. Many original features may be very well worth preserving.
2. Form a "building use" committee to generate a coordinated master plan for the uses and aesthetics of the building.
3. Use the expertise of architects or liturgical designers to advise on space planning for the worship environment.
4. Retain the architectural and artistic expressions and building elements of previous congregations to the extent that they do not conflict with your faith traditions.
5. Architectural or artistic elements that must be removed should be carefully dismantled intact and offered to other congregations. Consider also retaining these elements in place, camouflaging them with temporary screens, walls, etc.
   

There are countless examples of new congregations moving into buildings formerly occupied by members of another faith. For example, Omega Seventh-day Adventist Church in New Haven, Connecticut, was built in 1910 for a Christian Science congregation. Later it served as a Jewish synagogue for many years before the current congregation purchased the building in 1992. Each change in ownership required not only alterations to the furniture and the platform area, but also an adjustment in the overall religious symbolism.

Here are two more examples of congregations that moved into buildings formerly occupied by members of a different tradition:

• Spotlight on Canaan Baptist Church
• When Congregations Die, Do Landmarks Survive?
  

When the new occupant of a sacred place is not another religious group, the challenges can be greater. Nevertheless, there are many possibilities for the sympathetic reuse of a former house of worship, including cultural centers, businesses, and residences. Here are several examples:

• Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Commercial / Offices
• Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Community Facilities
• Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Cultural Facilities
• Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Institutional Uses
• Adaptive Reuse Profiles: Residential Facilities
• Putting Offices in the Sanctuary: Utilizing Rehabilitation Tax Credits for Adaptive Reuse of Religious Buildings
• A Creative Solution: St. Paul's Church Mart
• A Very Special Obligation: Reusing Churches
  

Not all reuses are created equal-in one notorious case, the Church of the Holy Communion in New York became a nightclub that was later closed down by police. But reuse can be accomplished with sensitivity toward the history of the building and the congregation that once worshiped there. In the best case, a building no longer used for worship can continue to be a source of pride and inspiration for a community-as a library, home, office, or cultural center.