Religion is prominently woven into Boston's streets with Protestant and Catholic church facades gracing almost every major block. Christian organizations still hold over 300 properties in Boston—about 250 used primarily for worship.

Yet, studies reveal a notable trend: on average, churches in North American cities such as Boston use their buildings only 15% of the week.1 However, since not all areas of the building are occupied at once, the actual space in use per week can drop to below 1% of the total square footage, leaving large portions of the building—such as halls, classrooms, and sanctuaries—empty outside of Sunday services.

Even though religious organizations own only about 4% of Boston’s total land,2 this still represents a substantial share of real estate that lies underutilized daily. This discrepancy is particularly striking in a city where physical space is at a premium. Depending on the neighborhood, office rentals range from $35 to $70 per square foot,3 and retail spaces command around $25 to $80 per square foot a year.4 With social service agencies, nonprofits, small businesses, and individuals all struggling to find affordable facilities, houses of worship possess an extraordinary, yet often untapped, resource: their properties.

The question is, what will churches do with this opportunity?

This study focused on hearing the experiences of leaders involved in the administration and management of property for 10 churches in Greater Boston. These articles expound on themes these leaders discussed and delve into the significant challenges, opportunities, questions, and decisions that Boston's churches face as they navigate the complex terrain of property utilization and management.

The vision I hope to catalyze through this series on Exploring Church Spaces is one where churches strategically leverage and steward their owned properties to contribute to the vitality of their local communities, fulfill their missions, and be indispensable places for generations to come.

 
 
  1. Eric Bahme, “4 Ways to Fill Your Church Building Every Day,” PushPay (blog), accessed October 1, 2024, pushpay.com/blog/4-ways-fill-church-building-every-day.↩︎
  2. Boston Municipal Research Bureau, “Government Owns 79% of Boston’s Exempt Area,” October 2017, https://bmrb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BUExempt1017.pdf; “Boston’s Tax-Exempt Property Snapshot,” July 18, 2018, https://www.bmrb.org/bostons-tax-exempt-property-snapshot/. ↩︎
  3. Statista Research Department, “Rental Rates for Office Space in Boston in the 2nd Quarter of 2023, by District,” Statista, November 3, 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1272212/office-space-rental-rates-by-district-boston/. See also “Boston Market in Minutes Office Q3 2024,” Savills, accessed October 10, 2024, https://pdf.euro.savills.co.uk/usa/market-reports/boston-mim-office-q3-2024.pdf.↩︎
  4. “Boston Retail Space for Lease,” Loopnet, accessed October 1, 2024, https://www.loopnet.com/search/retail-space/boston-ma/for-lease/. See also “Boston Area Retail Market Report for Q2 2024,” Associated Brokerage Group, accessed October 10, 2024, https://abgrealty.com/retail-market-report/.↩︎

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