Sanctuary Beyond Sermons
Originally written with Al Coughlin in January 2024
Faith communities have been at the forefront of addressing homelessness and housing insecurity worldwide. Their efforts reflect the core values of their faith, seeing shelter as a manifestation of their faithful duty to love and serve others. Many Christian communities view their work in providing shelter as a direct response to Jesus' teachings about caring for the needy. Similarly, in other faith traditions such as Islam and Judaism, charitable acts, including providing shelter, are deeply ingrained as religious obligations.
Many faith communities in Waterloo Region are on a path leading them to ask what they can, and should, do with their property in the long term. The status quo is unsustainable in many cases, but there is an opportunity to embrace bold change.
With this in mind, we point to three examples within Waterloo Region where faith communities have given new purpose to their underutilized property as an instrument to address housing insecurity.
At the corner of King & Green, right beside Grand River Hospital, is what was once St Mark’s Lutheran Church. As the community changed they decided to let go of their building. It has now been rebuilt and repurposed by Indwell to provide supportive housing for 40+ people who have struggled to keep up with the world around them. The outline of the church is still very much present from outside and from within, but now it provides a different kind of shelter. More can be learned here.
Closer to DTK is (or rather, was) Trinity United Church on Frederick St between Duke and Weber. For a long time, this community supported their neighbours through the Out of the Cold program, but a few years ago they took the path to let go of their property and relocate to another location on Benton. The building was demolished and replaced with the condo tower we see today. The faith community is stewarding the proceeds of that sale to support their ongoing faith journey and other aligned projects across Waterloo Region. More can be learned here.
Finally, and on the same block as the last example, is St Peter’s Lutheran Church on Queen St. For quite some time, their sign had this provocative message to the Kitchener community, offering partnership:
40+ Deeply Affordable Units
With Supports
We Are Shovel Ready
Over To You Govts
As we now pass by this church, the signs of construction and rebirth are unmistakable and it remains a living faith community. Someone saw their sign, read the message, and joined them in creating solutions for housing insecurity. Those units are being created! More can be learned here.
As faith communities grapple with the realities and opportunities of their changing downtown location, they can learn from these other communities…
What have they chosen that aligns with our mission?
What have they chosen that does not?
How can we make the best use of our property while staying true to our commitment to being a vibrant presence in Downtown Kitchener?
It’s not always necessary to start from “zero”, to reinvent the wheel. We can lean on and learn from the experience and wisdom of our neighbours. The examples we’ve touched on here have made permanent and irreversible changes to the communities, and it has not stopped them. The approaches chosen are varied and offer inspiration. Embrace this time as an opportunity!
The image accompanying this article was generated with the assistance of DALL-E.