building, fully paid off , was an underused asset. With- out a viable Sunday school, the eight-room education wing was being used only for storage. But an ineffi cient use of space wasn’t the heart of the
problem, Piro said. Without any purpose, these rooms served as a visible “reminder of who they had been,” she added. “It was abandoned and it felt awful.” T rough a serendipitous conversation with a mem-
ber, Piro and the congregational council began to research the possibility of renting space to a mental health counseling offi ce and then to a massage therapist. Council members had to work through their concerns about the impact of charging rent on the congregation’s tax exempt status, but legal advice helped them under- stand how to make it work. In October 2014,
on the day the Chris- tian church honors physician/evangelist Luke, the “St. Andrew Lutheran Church Healing Arts Center” was dedicated. “It’s been remarkable,” said Piro, noting a
change in the congregation’s spirit and vitality. T e congregation used to lock the
sanctuary during the day, but now the doors are always open, inviting guests inside. A healing arts fair introduced visitors to the building, strengthening the congregation’s community presence. T e tenants are also doing well, with one business expanding into a second offi ce space at the church. T e congregation’s renewed focus has made a diff er-
ence. T ere’s a “really good spirit here now and people are noticing”—and visitors are starting to show up at worship, Piro said. Congregational growth, however, was
never the point, she said. St. Andrew now has a presence and role in the community. “[Members] are seeing themselves as ... a hub
of activity that extends outside of Sunday morn- ing. ... It’s like we’re walking out of the catacombs of death into life,” Piro said. Small congregations like St. Andrew can still have
a big impact on their community, said Stephen P. Bouman, executive director for ELCA Congregational and Synodical
18
www.thelutheran.org
‘[Members] are seeing themselves as ...
a hub of activity that extends outside of Sunday morning.’
Mission. But they will likely need to engage with their community and seek out partnerships and collabora- tions, building from an appreciation of their collective assets and not a focus on their defi cits. “In the way of Jesus, small can be beautiful,” Bouman
said. “[Congregations of any size can] hunker down and make a diff erence in the lives of their community and lives of their members. Usually when you come to that identity, you start to grow in spite of yourselves.”
Growing beans, not members
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Mulberry, Ind., is home to Katie’s Commons, an ecumenical
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