New Life for a Parish House
In April 2023, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Albany hosted a community luncheon as its CBCP Phase 1 Site Visit. More than twenty community leaders attended. After that, according to The Rev. Allan Wallace, Rector, “The word quickly spread that we were looking at collaborating with our community and sharing space for services that align with our mission. As a result, people came to us looking for ways to partner.”
The church got busy making space for new opportunities, successfully applying for a CBCP Phase 1 capital grant for its Parish House, an historic home where church offices were located and with a vacant, deteriorating second floor. Rev. Wallace explains more about this CBCP success story:
“The CBCP program offered support for St. Paul’s to shift from a culture of scarcity to abundance. It provided the funds to refinish the upstairs hardwood floors, have plaster repaired and painted in vacant offices, and convert the upstairs sunroom into usable office space.
Midge Carney of Midge Carney Counseling, LLC, in her new office (with a signed 3-year lease agreement).
“Almost immediately, St. Paul’s began renting out two second floor offices to Project Recovery SO. IN, Inc. (one as their business office and one as their community room with plans to offer group therapy sessions). Because of the work done, we have attained an agreement with a psychiatrist who specializes in addiction to move into an office we renovated across the hall from Project Recovery. We also moved the Rector’s office to the converted sunroom so that a licensed mental health therapist can rent his previous office on the first floor.”
And that’s not all! A local potter heard about St. Paul’s space options through word of mouth, and he came to check it out. The potter took one look at the Parish House basement and said he wanted to host pottery classes there.
“I hadn’t even considered that space being used as it was in very bad shape and it was full of old church stuff, but he thought it was perfect. God is good!” Rev. Wallace says joyfully.
Students of New Albany Clay Collective, “a vibrant collective that thrives on expression and imagination.” The company began leasing space in September 2024.
The joyful news includes financial benefit for St. Paul’s, as Rev. Wallace explains: “As a result of the work, we generated income by leasing spaces that total $12,000 in 2024. We anticipate as much as $33,000 in 2025. None of which would have been possible without the expertise, partnership, and funding of the CBCP program.”
It all started with that initial CBCP Site Visit of Community Stakeholders, for which St. Paul’s is grateful, according to Rev. Wallace:
“The YMCA was the only existing rental partnership present at the luncheon. Project Recovery was referred to us by another person who attended. The potter then referred both the mental health counselor and the psychiatrist. We have a few other possibilities in the works as well. The luncheon for sure was the catapult for our relationship building.”
St. Paul’s New Albany’s success story is inspiring! Consider whom you might invite to tour your church property to discuss future possibilities for space sharing partnerships. To learn more, check out our Seek and Find Partnerships Tool Kit.
By CBCP Project Director Linda Buskirk - 2025