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#139: Reimagining Church Spaces: How to Transform Underutilized Buildings into Community Hubs

Tim and Tabitha share the inspiring story of transforming a unused church basement from 1985 into the thriving Center for Belonging.

Many congregations today find themselves wrestling with inherited buildings that no longer fit their present reality—spaces that are underutilized, expensive to maintain, and disconnected from their neighbors. But what if reimagining church spaces could transform these perceived burdens into powerful assets for community flourishing? Tim Anderson and Tabitha Montgomery, co-executive directors of Flourish Placemaking Collective, have spent years helping churches discover exactly that possibility.

In this conversation with host Dwight Zscheile, Tim and Tabitha share their journey from community organizers searching for programming space to consultants helping churches practice what they call “placemaking”—centering the broader community rather than just congregational needs when thinking about church facilities. They discuss the practical steps churches can take when reimagining church spaces, from honest self-assessment to developing a “theology of space,” and share inspiring examples like their own Center for Belonging, where a unused church basement became home to seven thriving nonprofit partners. Whether your congregation has 15 members or 150, this episode offers hope and practical wisdom for stewarding church property in ways that serve both faithful mission and neighborhood flourishing.

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Featuring

Headshot of Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson

Tim Anderson is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of Flourish Placemaking Collective, a community development organization rooted in South Minneapolis.

With over a decade of work collaborating across diverse neighborhood stakeholders, Tim's passion centers on reimagining and repurposing underutilized church space for the flourishing of its neighbors. Flourish's first project, the Center of Belonging, is a collaborative of eight cross-sector nonprofit and for-profit organizations and acts as a blueprint for church innovation.

Tim lives in South Minneapolis with his wife, Emily, and their three boys.

Headshot of Tabitha Montgomery

Tabitha Montgomery

Tabitha Montgomery is the Co-Executive Director of Flourish Placemaking Collective, which owns and operates the Center of Belonging in Minneapolis. Tabitha is meaningfully reimagining how church space can be used for the sake of the neighborhood. Their work demonstrates what it looks like when congregations move beyond trying to fill their buildings with traditional programming to creating spaces where community flourishing becomes the primary mission.

Meet Your Host

  • Dwight Zscheile

    The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

    A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.