Gone for Good Book — Mark Elsdon

Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition

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As tens of thousands, and billions of dollars, of church-owned property is sold or repurposed throughout the United States in the next decade, will those properties be gone for good?

Edited by Mark Elsdon with a foreword by Willie James Jennings, Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition, draws upon the experience and expertise of a diverse and interdisciplinary group of contributors from across the United States. These contributors highlight what we are losing as church property usage changes at an unprecedented speed and scale, and help us imagine the innovative possibilities that can emerge.

They describe the value churches have as centers of community life within a neighborhood and tell stories not only of churches that have built affordable housing, but also

reveal how church and civic leaders can work together so that properties become a new kind of social good
explore how public policy can encourage more good to emerge on church land
ask questions about how we should treat church land that was stolen from indigenous peoples.
consider the role philanthropy can play in these transitions, and more.

This book encourages church and civic leaders to engage in thoughtful, intentional church property transition so this once in a lifetime shift leaves us not gone for forever, but gone for good.

Gone for Good? is published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. It is available for purchase here or at your favorite bookseller.

What People Are Saying about “Gone for Good?”

"Tens of thousands of church buildings will close in the coming decades. Often, by the time these buildings are sold, much or all of their value will be consumed by lack of upkeep and unpaid debt ... not an auspicious end. Gone for Good? brings together a wide array of authors helping congregational and denominational leaders to find better paths forward. I often felt as I read, 'This chapter alone is worth the price of this book.' An important resource!"

-- Brian D. McLaren, author of Do I Stay Christian?

“The tidal wave of change is already upon us as church buildings close by the thousands each year, which makes Gone for Good? essential reading for bishops, judicatory leaders, clergy, laity, and anyone concerned about community and sense of place. As a bishop, I’ve long held that the care of souls is deeply connected to the care of church buildings and the community in which it is anchored. We may not have a compass or roadmap to navigate these current and future challenges, but offering theological and practical hope, the essays contained here can help us make thoughtful, just, financially prudent, and mission-minded decisions about the beloved sacred places left behind when the people have gone.”

-- Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis

“Mark Elsdon has brought together a host of rich voices that summon the church to face honestly and hopefully the crisis that many congregations soon must and soon will sell their property. The urging of the book is to face the crisis honestly, to plan carefully, and to utilize bold imagination in deciding new faithful futures for the congregation. The strong advocacy here is to think afresh and in concert with all sorts of potential allies from the state, to developers, to philanthropists. The accent is on mission and the new ways in which faithful mission may be undertaken. This book is a welcome read, given the church’s much too long devotion to buildings that may no longer serve well.”

-- Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

“Elsdon’s book weaves together the numerous factors affecting church property and its evolving role within and in the lives of its communities. With a sensitivity to the complicated history of church buildings and their deep importance to the communities they serve, he brings together diverse voices to describe the decline of traditional church buildings, and the essential social, economic, and spiritual functions they have provided. Crucially, Elsdon’s message is ultimately one of renewal, bringing to the forefront numerous ways in which church property can continue to fulfill these functions and its broader spiritual purpose even in new forms. A seminal work in these changing times of the church.”