The Church of the ... Office Park?

With residential land tight, Petaluma congregations are finding refuge in commercial and industrial spaces.|

Reflecting a trend said to be occurring well beyond Petaluma, several of the city’s Christian churches are finding homes in often nondescript office and industrial buildings that bear little resemblance to the traditional steeple-topped buildings of the past.

The willingness to embrace those spaces comes with several benefits, like lowering the cost of entry for newer ministries and allowing some to pursue a unique approach tailored to a particular audience, according to leaders from several of those congregations in Petaluma.

The trend reflects a broader movement where churches are becoming increasingly flexible as they seek to grow and serve their congregations, particularly in densely developed areas where options for new and existing development can be scarce, expensive or both, those leaders said.

“I think the trend is, the church is not made by its building, it’s made by its people,” said Pastor Edwin Guzman, whose Iglesia Cristiana Shalom Elohim relocated from a tiny Petaluma office to part of a commercial building on Industrial Avenue in 2013.

Several churches in Petaluma have made a home in such spaces, with Sunday attendance ranging from around 20 people to congregations exceeding 500.

Among the current examples in the city is Calvary Chapel, a 20-year-old ministry that has shared a South McDowell Boulevard industrial building with its neighbor and landlord, Adobe Road Winery, for nearly 10 years, said Senior Pastor Zach Vestnys.

The church actually owned land outside of Petaluma when seeking a new home 10 years ago, but ultimately sold the property after determining the expense of constructing a new building at the site outweighed the benefits, he said.

“New building can be really difficult. It’s such a long and expensive process, most churches find it cost-prohibitive,” he said. “A lot of churches are rethinking, is that the best way to use those resources?”

The location has proven to work well with surrounding businesses, as the majority of church activities have occurred outside of regular business hours, the pastor said.

“I think one of the things that works out so well with that kind of use is that it compliments other uses,” he said, and that “rather than building new buildings in some of the outlying areas, it fills in existing vacancies.”

The landlord, Adobe Road Winery, echoed those sentiments.

“Their ‘busy’ times are opposite of our regular office hours, so there are not any problems with parking or similar. They keep the location very neat and tidy. They pay on time. The people in the offices are wonderful to work with. All good,” said Debra Buckler, the winery’s manager, in an email.

Dave Weidlich, founding pastor of The Vine Church of Petaluma, also said his congregation has enjoyed a harmonious relationship with neighbors. His church was founded in 2012, and occupies part of the Industrial Avenue building that now also includes Iglesia Cristiana Shalom Elohim.

The modern space and its amenities have allowed him to focus more on the church itself, rather than managing a building, he said. He recounted the sort of congregations described in biblical times as meeting in small groups in homes and other intimate settings.

“The model of purchasing a big piece of land and helping a young church build early on is a failed model,” he said. “Now we see the importance of building the congregation first, and then to focus on the building.”

Not all churches in such spaces are tenants. Several significant donations allowed 360 Church of Petaluma to purchase the 8-acre former headquarters of North Bay Construction off of Lindberg Lane in 2012, a property costing a total of $8.2 million, said Colton Irving, founding pastor.

The location has given room for the six-year-old congregation to grow to around 400 individuals, with room for sports activities, worship, smaller meetings and offices, he said. The church has invested around $1 million in remodeling the site, much of that from donated materials of labor.

The location has room for further growth in the future, he said.

“This is like a campus,” Irving said. “I originally wanted the church to be downtown, but now that we’re here, I’m glad we didn’t.”

Founded in 1998, New Life Church purchased the former Yardbirds Home Center headquarters on Clegg Street in 2007 for approximately $5 million, said founding pastor Ron Hunt. The 35,000-square-foot building includes a large stage and related amenities that support its use as a frequent host for community events, and has also been outfitted with the means to serve as an emergency shelter, he said.

“I founded the church always with the goal of building a community center the whole community could use. Our goal was not to have something that sits empty for six days” he said. “We didn’t want to build something that looked like a 100-year-old church building, or even a two-year-old church building. We wanted something more functional.”

Irving of 360 Petaluma said part of the forces driving ministries to be creative in their choice of real estate is the lack of a specific city zoning area for churches. A new or relocating church like his would be required to obtain special permission from the city planning commission to operate, a process that can escalate to a significant hurdle in the event that neighbors resist the proposal.

The nuances of that zoning treatment are evolving, however, following the city’s determination that federal law requires a church to be evaluated the same as a secular meeting hall like a performing arts center for zoning purposes. While a process to formally modify the city’s zoning ordinance is ongoing, staff applied the legal framework to a December 2014 proposal by Village Baptist Church to occupy a purchased space in a commercial condominium complex on Cypress Drive, said Petaluma Planning Manager Heather Hines.

If formally adopted by a city council vote expected later this year, the city’s zoning ordinance would explicitly allow a church to operate without a so-called conditional use permit in any zone where a meeting hall is treated similarly, she said.

With plans to begin church services in the coming weeks, Village Baptist sees the location as a place to grow as it explores other development opportunities in Petaluma, said Senior Pastor Emmanuel Akognon. The church has met in both Marin County and Petaluma for several years, and plans to sell the property it owns in Marin as part of an effort to one day embark on a church building and associated affordable housing development in Petaluma.

“We’re not building it just for church members. We’re building it for people who have needs,” said Akognon, noting that his ministry launched a similar project that resulted in 24 new units of affordable housing for seniors and the disabled in Marin City.

Speaking to the broader trend of churches occupying non-traditional settings, Akognon recalled a recent trip to his native Nigeria, where Village Baptist supports several medical facilities. While buying take-out at a restaurant one Sunday, he asked about some murmuring he heard from the floor above.

“They said, ‘Oh, a church meets upstairs,’” he said, laughing. “It’s not just happening in the U.S. It’s happening everywhere.”

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