Union Grove is a medium-sized, rural Methodist Church in a rapidly developing corridor of the Raleigh-Durham Triangle in North Carolina. In July, Eno UMC, a small church in downtown Hillsborough, merged with Union Grove and Union Grove assumed responsibility for Eno’s properties. The congregations must now develop and pursue a plan for the use of this space.

First I will learn about the church we’ve acquired, Eno United Methodist Church. I will compile a history of the church, document its beginnings, and fully understand the call of the congregants over time. I plan on interviewing the six remaining members of the church. I will work out from there, meeting neighbors and getting a sense of the community that surrounds the church.

Next, I will research the history of church land acquisition in America, auxiliary uses of church buildings and lands, and the ways that people have repurposed vacant and deconsecrated church sites. This would include site visits to Haywood Street in Asheville, NC (a church for the homeless in an unused Methodist church) and I Reality Ministries in Durham, NC (a day care for teens and adults with developmental disabilities). Since churches are also converted into restaurants, breweries, hostels, theaters, and art studios, I will investigate other uses people have found for church buildings that have lost their congregations.

Finally, I will open the conversation to the community, bringing people who can speak to city planning, parachurch ministries, and community organizing. This would be a time for the Eno neighborhood, as well as local members of the church, to discuss the needs of the community and possible uses of the space.

After the community has chosen a purpose for this building, I will write an essay about our process and my findings, to help congregations in similar circumstances think about their spaces that are no longer being used for corporate worship.