Intro
Let me begin by saying I am sure we will all have different opinions about this, which is fine! You should do what is right for your church, your beliefs, your values, and what God is calling your church to do in each season. I do, however, think this is an interesting and important topic to explore.
The New Covenant Shift
I believe our buildings are immensely important. They are places where we encounter the living God and should be treated with the utmost care. For many, they hold the echoes of life’s most significant moments, from an encounter with Jesus to the joy of a wedding or the hope of a baptism. Each of our traditions interacts with the building in unique ways, and that is something to be celebrated.
The point I have been reflecting on lately, however, is the profound transition that took place when we entered the New Covenant. In the Old Testament, the Temple was the singular, physical location where God’s presence dwelt: a space kept holy through rigorous ritual and separation. But through the work of Jesus, that curtain was torn, and the Spirit of God now makes us His people, His primary dwelling place.
If our bodies are now the ‘Living Temple’ and God’s true sacred home, it fundamentally changes our relationship with our buildings. While our buildings remain dedicated to worship, they are no longer the exclusive containers of the Holy. Instead, they have the potential to become a vital resource entrusted to the church body to fund and facilitate our work.
We are no longer bound by Old Testament obligations to maintain the holiness of a space through ancient rituals because Jesus has already sanctified us by His work on the cross.
I’d like to suggest that this transition allows us to think in a new (yet still wise and discerning) way about how we use our physical spaces as tools to support the mission He has called us to. By shifting our focus from protecting a building to empowering a people, we can view our venues as assets meant to be used for the Kingdom’s growth.
Why did Jesus Cleanse the Temple?
A passage that people often reference when bringing up concerns is Matthew 21, where Jesus overturns the tables in the temple. It is a powerful scene that reminds us the church must primarily be a house of prayer.
However, I wonder if there is room for our buildings to be, secondarily, a place of fundraising for mission? Interestingly, the root of Jesus’ anger wasn’t necessarily the presence of commerce, but the fact that the money changers were exploiting the worshippers and the poor. It was an issue of injustice and the protection of the vulnerable.
This passage specifically highlights the dove sellers. In that sacrificial system, doves were the mandated offering for the poor who couldn’t afford a lamb. However, historical records from the first century show that the cost of doves in the temple had become astronomical. There are references in ancient Jewish writings to doves costing as much as a golden denar, which is roughly 25 days’ wages!
Essentially, a system meant to facilitate worship had become a mechanism that exploited the very people it was supposed to serve. Through this inflation and greed, it was the poor who suffered most.
Our heart is to empower you to pursue venue hire in a way which is exactly the opposite: we want to enable you to generate the resources needed to protect and serve the poor. It is wonderful to see how income from a corporate hire can directly fund a homeless meal program, a social supermarket, or a community toddler group.
Extending Hospitality
Beyond the finances, venue hire can serve as a beautiful form of outreach. In a culture that is often suspicious of agendas, many people are hesitant to walk through a church door for a service.
Venue hire offers a safe first step:
- Familiarity breeds comfort. Someone who has enjoyed an event in your hall is far more likely to accept an invitation to a carol service or a community meal because the threshold fear has already been removed.
- When a local business or group uses the space, they begin to form a positive relationship with the building and the people within it.
Worship and Hire
Of course, the priority remains our worship. This is where wise diary management becomes an act of stewardship. Most churches have periods where their buildings sit empty. The question is: if we struggle to keep our doors open or expand our mission, are we truly allowing the building to be the resource God intended?
In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus challenges us to multiply the resources we’ve been given rather than burying them out of fear. Are our buildings genuinely open and accessible to those who wouldn’t yet consider themselves Christian, or are we keeping our most valuable assets ‘buried’ for most of the week?
Unexpected Provision: Lessons from Ezra
The book of Ezra offers a striking example of how God provides. When it came time to rebuild the temple, God didn’t just use the resources of His people; He moved the heart of the King of Babylon to provide the funding.
“Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs… must be given them daily without fail…” (Ezra 6:9)
When businesses use our spaces today, they are doing more than renting a room. They are, in a sense, investing in a community that cares for the poor and the well-being of the local area. It creates a cycle of blessing where the ‘wealth of the nations’ helps rebuild the work of the Kingdom.
Viewing venue hire as mission has been transformational for me. It isn’t about selling the church; it’s about opening the gates wide, stewarding our ‘talents’ well, and ensuring that our buildings serve as a blessing to the whole community.