Many rural churches have buildings designed for congregations three times their current size. The sanctuary seats 300. Forty people worship there on Sunday. The building costs $18,000 a year to heat, insure, and maintain. And the congregation feels small and scattered in a space built for a community that no longer exists in the same form.
This is one of the most common and least-discussed challenges in rural ministry. The building is often the church’s largest asset and its largest liability at the same time.
The honest assessment first
Before deciding what to do with the building, know what it actually costs. Add up: utilities (heating, cooling, electricity, water), insurance, routine maintenance, and any deferred maintenance that will eventually need to be addressed. Divide that by the church’s annual giving. If the building consumes more than 25-30% of the budget, it is worth a serious conversation about whether that is the best use of the congregation’s resources.
Then ask: what is the building actually used for? Sunday worship, Wednesday night, and occasional funerals? Or is it also used for community events, meetings, and ministry throughout the week? A building that is used five days a week is a different asset than one that is used two hours on Sunday.
Option 1: Repurpose unused space for community ministry
The most common and often most faithful option. Unused classrooms, fellowship halls, and meeting rooms can become:
- Food pantry or food distribution site. High community need, relatively low operational complexity, and a direct expression of the church’s care for the community.
- Community meeting space. Town halls, nonprofit meetings, community events. This builds relationships and trust that benefit the church’s ministry over time.
- After-school programs. Especially valuable in communities where the school has closed or reduced services.
- Recovery programs. AA, NA, and similar groups have high need for meeting space and are reliable, respectful tenants who often become connected to the congregation over time.
Community use of the building does not generate income, but it generates something more valuable in a rural context: trust and relationships.
Option 2: Rent unused space
Renting unused space to community organizations, nonprofits, or small businesses can generate income that offsets maintenance costs. Common renters include recovery groups, homeschool co-ops, small businesses that need meeting space, and other churches without their own building.
Rental income rarely covers all costs, but it can make the difference between a sustainable and an unsustainable building. It also keeps the building in active use, which is better for the building and better for the church’s community presence.
Option 3: Right-size the worship space
If the building cannot be sold or significantly repurposed, consider creating a more intimate worship area within the larger space. Closing off the back third of the sanctuary with a temporary partition, rearranging seating to create a more gathered feel, or moving worship to a smaller room in the building can transform how the congregation experiences Sunday morning.
A congregation of 40 people in a space designed for 60-80 feels full and alive. The same congregation in a space designed for 300 feels small and scattered. The physical experience of worship space affects the congregation’s sense of vitality.
Option 4: Sell the building
Sometimes the most faithful option. A building that consumes 40-50% of the church’s budget in maintenance and utilities is a building that is preventing the church from doing ministry. If the congregation is small enough that a house church, a rented space, or a shared facility with another congregation would serve them better, selling the building and redirecting those resources to ministry is a legitimate choice.
The building is not the church. The people are the church. A congregation that frees itself from an unsustainable building often discovers that it has more energy, more resources, and more capacity for ministry than it had before.
Rural Church Leadership Resources
MinistryPlace has resources for rural churches navigating facility decisions, financial sustainability, and community ministry, including a church health assessment and revitalization guides.
Related reading
- The Rural Church Health Snapshot: 10 Questions to Know Where You Stand
- Replanting vs. Revitalization vs. Restart: What Rural Churches Actually Need
- What Is Faithful Presence? A Theology for Rural Churches That Are Staying
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a rural church do with a building that is too big?
The first step is an honest assessment of what the building actually costs to maintain and whether those costs are sustainable at the church’s current size. Then consider: can the unused space be repurposed for community use (food pantry, meeting space, community events)? Can it be rented to generate income? Can it be sold and the congregation move to a smaller, more sustainable space? Each option has tradeoffs, and the right answer depends on the church’s financial situation, community relationships, and long-term vision.
Can a rural church rent out its building?
Yes, and many rural churches should. Renting unused space to community organizations, nonprofits, or small businesses can generate income that offsets maintenance costs and keeps the building in use. Common renters include: AA and recovery groups, community organizations, homeschool co-ops, small businesses that need meeting space, and other churches that do not have their own building. The rental income rarely covers all costs, but it can make the difference between a sustainable and an unsustainable building.
Should a rural church sell its building?
Sometimes. A building that consumes 40-50% of the church’s budget in maintenance and utilities is a building that is preventing the church from doing ministry. If the congregation is small enough that a house church or rented space would serve them better, selling the building and redirecting those resources to ministry is a legitimate and sometimes faithful choice. The building is not the church. The people are the church.
How do you use a large church building for community ministry?
The most effective community uses for rural church buildings are: food pantries and food distribution (high community need, relatively low operational complexity), community meeting space (town halls, nonprofit meetings, community events), after-school programs (especially in communities where the school has closed or reduced services), and recovery programs (AA, NA, and similar groups have high need for meeting space and are reliable, respectful tenants). Each of these uses also builds community trust and relationships that benefit the church’s ministry.
What is the right size for a rural church building?
A useful rule of thumb: a church building should be sized for the congregation it has, not the congregation it hopes to have. A congregation of 40 people worshipping in a sanctuary designed for 300 feels small and scattered. The same congregation in a space designed for 60-80 feels full and alive. If the building cannot be right-sized, strategic use of the space (closing off unused sections, creating a more intimate worship area within the larger space) can help.
Sources
- MinistryPlace: Rural Church Leadership Resources — practical guides for rural churches navigating facility, financial, and ministry decisions.
- Rural Think Tank: Rural Church Health Snapshot — includes financial health and facility sustainability as key areas of rural church health assessment.