Boston Preservation Alliance Addresses Threatened Religious Properties Workshop held on Saturday, November 13, at Roxbury Presbyterian Church

To a packed room of over 120 people, Reverend Hurmon Hamilton, Senior Pastor at Roxbury Presbyterian Church, kicked off the Boston Preservation Alliance’s one-day workshop on the preservation of religious properties on with a rousing call to action. Generously sharing the story of his congregation’s tireless work to raise funds to renovate the historic building, Rev. Hamilton started off the day on a truly inspiring note, encouraging other congregations to have faith and take charge of their buildings.

Throughout the rest of the day, the workshop addressed the grave threat faced by many of Boston’s religious buildings, as congregations with scarce resources struggle to maintain their properties. The event featured advice from experts, information sharing amongst participants, and guidance from preservation agencies and organizations. A number of local ministers who have successfully renovated their buildings presented case studies to serve as models for others. Emmanuel Gospel Center, Historic Boston, Incorporated, The Black Ministerial Alliance, and The Fellowship of Hispanic Pastors of New England (COPAHNI) cosponsored the event.

“Some of Boston’s most beautiful, and architecturally significant, houses of worship are in dire straits,” said Judy Neiswander, architectural historian and conference coordinator for the Alliance. “They often have decades of deferred maintenance and their parishioners, through no fault of their own, just don’t have the funds in this economy to fix them up.”

Many religious buildings dating from the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century are defining landmarks in their communities. They are beloved by their congregations, often have great historical and artistic significance, and provide facilities for an enormous amount of social service. Nevertheless, the upkeep of these buildings can be challenging. The goal of the conference was to assist building managers and others in charge of stewardship of religious properties to developing strategies for taking action.

“Deferred maintenance is a huge issue facing the owners of every church and religious building in the city,” according to Jeff Bass, director of the Emmanuel Gospel Center. “The challenge is immense, but I believe that with hard work, cooperation and God's grace, we can make progress, and this conference is a big step in the right direction.”

The workshop provided tools and information for building assessment and maintenance, described a process for moving forward when a building has problems, provided resources for on-going assistance, and promoted peer-to-peer networking, assistance and support. In addition to the panels of experienced professionals who spoke, extensive handouts were made available and participants were each given an “Owner’s Manual” for religious properties. The workshop took place at Roxbury Presbyterian Church on Warren Street, where a major restoration has recently been completed.  The day concluded with tours of the facility, which allowed participants to see first-hand, the dramatic improvements that have been made to this highly valued space.