Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Episcopal congregations in Indiana continue to find new ways to thrive through the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships (CBCP) initiative, as we first shared with Vital Practices in 2022.

CBCP provides a model that any church can follow to increase vitality and serve mission by making the most of their buildings as assets and by developing new and stronger community partnerships. Here are two examples:

Church of the Nativity in Indianapolis created an agreement with Mujeres Conectadas to rent church spaces for educational workshops, meetings and events, connecting Spanish speaking women with resources and tools for personal development. Nativity also welcomed Arrows Learning Academy, an independent co-learning institution, to rent its Nature Room as their new home. In the accompanying photo, Academy students are enjoying a Valentine’s Day dance at the church.

For several years, folks at Trinity in Fort Wayne considered how best to utilize two apartments in service to refugees or others in need. When community leaders toured the church, a vision focused: transform one of the apartments into temporary living quarters for an unhoused family, in collaboration with a local non-profit organization, Just Neighbors Interfaith Homeless Network. Now a lease agreement is in place. Just Neighbors provides case management to the family residing at the church, and Trinity provides a safe, clean, living environment to allow adult family members more time to establish employment, childcare, and/or transportation.

More CBCP stories are found on our new website: www.cbcpindiana.org. We welcome any congregation to visit and use the website’s information to inspire and strengthen your ability to create and sustain community partnerships for ministry and space sharing. Topics are organized into “Tool Kits” populated with inspirational how-to information on everything from mission alignment to preparing for space sharing, to guidance on pricing, policies and procedures.

CBCP is a collaboration of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, Partners for Sacred Places, and Indiana Landmarks. CBCP is made possible by a grant from the Thriving Congregations Initiative of Lilly Endowment Inc. For more information contact [email protected].

Linda Buskirk is the Project Director, Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships, Indiana.