Walking with a congregation through the decision to sell their building (and join the community)
15 min 33 s
Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman
- An inspiring story of a church that sold its building and joined the community;
- Shift from, “The church is falling apart,” to, “The church is falling open;”
- Wisdom about the twists and turns of a building sale;
- The shift from a downsizing to a restart;
- Selling a building is highly context dependent;
- Renovating the building without reconnecting with the community is futile;
Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman has been engaged in professional ministry for the past 25 years. He has served congregations in the midwest and northeast as a settled pastor, Transitional Senior Minister, Senior Co-Minister, and church planter. He is currently serving as Transitional Senior Minister of First Congregational Church of Granby.
Rev. Yonkman has been ordained in the United Church of Christ since 1999. He is an Interim Ministry Network accredited Professional Transition Specialist. He has Professional Certified Coach level training and is a member of the International Coaching Federation. He serves on the Temple Development Committee for the Worcester Zen Center, and is UCC representative to the National Council of Churches Buddhist-Christian dialogue. His publications include Reconstructing Church: Tools for Turning Your Congregation Around, (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).
Rev. Yonkman and his wife, Rev. Nicole Grant Yonkman, have two adult daughters, three house rabbits, and a black lab named Mayleen. Check out Pastor Todd’s blog at www.todd-grant-yonkman.net. He can be reached at toddyonkman@gmail.com.
- Recorded in November of 2021
- Listen to more from Rev. Dr. Todd Grant Yonkman
