Yes, churches need to get out of their buildings and into their neighborhoods.
Yes, missional is better than attractional.
Yes, aging buildings with lots of deferred maintenance are a drag on church budgets.
But today a kid from the neighborhood who comes to a weekly youth group and whose family aren’t “members” of the church told me that he’d be sadder if our decrepit youth room burned down than if his house did.
So, yeah. There’s that.
YoRocko! 
As much as I have supported missional thinking about the church and its need to follow Christ into the world that God loves so much, I am also convinced of the vital importance of sacred space, the gathering locus that for so many of us becomes a “thin place” between the spiritual and mundane realms. Here we encounter God as we stand around font or table or sit before the open Word. Here we see God in the faces of those beside us. Here we share grace in prayer joined with brothers and sisters. Sanctuaries and, yes, youth buildings are such places. It’s worth remembering that in our missional iconoclasm.
Thanks for what you do Rocky
I’m glad that kid has a place that matters to him
Agreed! You do so much for the kids and it’s so important especially for the kids who maybe don’t have an ideal home life.
Rocky, yesterday a woman who had never noticed our church before that day came into our building and sought our help to escape a domestic violence situation. As much of a pain as it can be to maintain a building, I wonder what would have happened to her if we didn’t have our shingle hanging.
Denise, I’m glad you’re leading that shingle-hanging community.