According to Stephen Callender, pastor of Fourth Avenue Christian Church in Columbus, Ohio, the doors to this church are rarely closed. The congregation of Fourth Avenue Christian Church has learned how to be creative with its space by sharing the building with three congregations and a non-profit organization.
On any given Sunday, the sanctuary and space on the building’s first level is occupied by Korean Calvary and Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostés del Movimiento Misionero Mundial (MMM). Awaken Church uses the lower level. This doesn’t include the additional space on the lower level that is available to all congregations on Sundays and throughout the week for lunches and special activities.
“What is great about the shared space is that all the congregations exist in harmony on Sundays,” says Callender. “However, we keep the shared space on an efficient schedule,” he jokes.
Sunday’s schedule includes: Fourth Avenue worship service at 10 am; Korean Calvary meets at 12 noon; Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostés del Movimiento Misionero Mundial worships at 3 pm and Awaken Christian Church worships at 6 pm in the lower level.
Asia’s Hope, a non-profit organization that provides homes for orphaned children who are at high risk for sexual and economic exploitation in Cambodia, Thailand and India, occupies dedicated office space in the building’s upper level throughout the week. They have office hours and occasionally will have meetings in the evenings.
“For the daily routine, everybody collaborates really well,” says Callender.
For example, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights there are groups holding Bible studies in the shared space.
“It works well because we have enough rooms to share the space during the week,” he says. “It is a large building, which allows us to offer a great deal of dedicated space that people can use.”
According to Callender, there is an understanding that everybody is doing ministry and so they respect each other.
“We have open lines of communication.”
Each ministry has a designated representative if there are questions or concerns.
Belinda King, assistant vice president of Disciples Church Extension Fund, was introduced to Callender while on a goodwill visit to Fourth Avenue Christian Church. It was during this visit that King had an opportunity to see how the four congregations and one nonprofit are sharing sacred space. King has since returned to Fourth Avenue for a loan consultation.
“The congregation is looking at loan opportunities with DCEF to address further renovation and deferred maintenance issues with the building,” says King.
The concept of shared space at Fourth Avenue Christian Church was originated by the congregation’s former pastor of 13 years, Joe Bliffen, who died in 2014. According to Callender, a great portion of the space in the large building was not being utilized by the congregation.
“Pastor Bliffen decided to open the sacred space to other ministries,” he says.
The ministries that rent space also help pay for the utilities in the building. But according to Callender, it’s more than that. Asia’s Hope and Awakening have both invested in the building by making significant renovations to their space.
“The congregations and the non-profit organization are not just renting space in the building, they are our ministry partners,” he says.
Callender also mentioned that Fourth Avenue Christian Church has set up a fund named after the former pastor (Joe Bliffen) called The Joe Fund to assist with the cost of maintenance for the building. Joe Bliffen was known as a handyman around the church. He gave a lot of time to building repairs to save the church money.
“When he passed there was a void,” says Callender. “So we established this fund to help pay for some of the building repairs that Pastor Bliffen handled.”
Sacred space at Fourth Avenue Christian Church has become an innovative example of shared space and great partnership in ministry. Disciples Church Extension Fund staff members are also available to help your congregation discover ways to enhance your sacred space. Contact an advisor today.