Intentional Property Redevelopment Team: Update, June 2025

Purpose

Recognizing the urgency of our situation, especially the increasing financial challenge of operating and maintaining our historical sanctuary while also supporting the vital ministries of our congregation, Session has created an Intentional Property Redevelopment Team (IPRT).  This team has been given the responsibility of recommending to Session and the congregation a plan to use our property and other assets to accomplish the two-part goal of preserving both a viable congregation and our historical sanctuary for the foreseeable future.  The team will use an asset-based visioning process, inviting input from Clarksville leaders and close neighbors as well as the congregation.  

Most Recent Developments

This team is still in the early stages of its work, especially initial fact finding.  With the approval of Session, we have contracted with Dana Dabek of Partners for Sacred Places (https://sacredplaces.org/) to serve as our consultant to plan and implement a Community Asset-Mapping event.  This event will be scheduled for the fall of this year.  Following that event, the congregation will be invited to participate in the development of a Property Mission Statement, using what has been learned in the Community Asset-Mapping event.  (Watch for a Save the Date announcement!)  At the end of the process this fall, the team will present to Session an initial report with clear goals for using the property to strengthen and preserve the congregation and community and a strategy for sustainable stewardship for the foreseeable future.  In addition to our work with Partners for Sacred Places, the team has, with the approval of the Finance Committee and Session, also engaged the Presbyterian Foundation to conduct a thorough review of our finances and to provide projections for future giving to aid in our planning and we have requested funding support in the form of a grant from Presbytery's New Church Development and Church Transformation Committee. 

History

For the past decade, Session has been studying the challenging context in which churches like ours--historic, mainline churches in city centers with large, costly buildings to maintain--are meeting those challenges and not just surviving, but thriving.  At our Session retreat on September 14, 2024, Session decided that it is time for FPC to consider potential property redevelopment options, with the two-part goal of preserving both a viable congregation and our historical sanctuary for the foreseeable future.  To that end, Session met with Matt Lyle on February 21-22, 2025.  Matt introduced us to the asset-based discernment process available through Partners for Sacred Places (https://sacredplaces.org/).  At its March 16 meeting, Session invited a discernment and decision-making team to help us chart a deliberate and intentional path toward a sustainable future.  That team consists of Todd Harvey (Chair), Ann Waddle (Secretary), Marshall Duncan, Jennifer Ellis, Charlie Foust, and Issac Wright.  Session anticipates that it will take approximately 6 months for the team to complete its work and to arrive at recommendations on which the Session (and congregation) may act.  Please offer prayers and support to these individuals as they engage in this challenging work on our behalf.

The team conducted an initial, organizational meeting on April 9 and met again on May 7 and June 4.  The pace of our meetings will increase as we get closer to the anticipated fall events.

Original Charge from Session

The charge to the team is to determine how FPC’s property may best be redeveloped to support our mission and sustain our ministry, meeting the needs of both our members and the community.  The team, with the support of Session, will provide a comprehensive asset map (including full conditions assessment) to ensure that decisions will be based on our own agency in shaping our future.  The team will form and consult with a Community Advisory Committee.  It will summarize and report its findings and evaluate options for redevelopment.  After an appropriate period for reflection and prayer, the team will present its recommendations to the Session (and, potentially, to the congregation) for a decision.  The team is encouraged to consult regularly with members who have legal and financial expertise and to seek the advice of Matt Lyle as they proceed.  The team will follow the templates and outline provided by Partners for Sacred Spaces in their document “Transitioning Older and Historic Sacred Places.”

Additional Reading

Are you interested in what the Session has been reading over the past several years as we prepared for the work that is now under way?  Here are some of the titles:

Bolsinger, Tod.  Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory.  IVP, 2015.

Burge, Ryan P.  The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going.  Fortress, 2021.

Elsdon, Mark.  We Aren't Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry.  Eerdmans, 2021.

Elsdon, Mark, et al.  Gone for Good?  Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition.  Eerdmans, 2024.

Up next!

Snow, Luther K.  The Power of Asset Mapping: How Your Congregation Can Act on Its Gifts.  Rowman & Littlefield, 2004.

Pomroy, Grace Duddy.  Funding Forward: A Pathway to More Sustainable Models for Ministry.  Fortress, 2024.