GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Christian Reformed Church in North America voted last week to sell its Grand Rapids office building.
For more than 65 years, the denomination has based its U.S. headquarters on the corner of 28th and Kalamazoo, ministering to more than 1,000 churches across the continent, including dozens in West Michigan.
But the declining condition of the building and a desire for a "smaller, more decentralized and flexible ministry structure" prompted the decision to sell, according to a release.
READ MORE: Synod 2023 denies Neland Avenue CRC's appeal
"Its ongoing maintenance is becoming financially unsustainable," Dan DeKam, director of U.S. Ministry Operations, said in a statement. "It is time for a new shape."
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic "forced staff into different ways of working," according to Zachary King, general secretary of the CRCNA.
The shift in style meant the CRC no longer needed the larger office space provided by the current location.
Now, as the denomination seeks "flexibility for the future," it plans to search for a smaller, more adaptable workplace.
In the Sept. 1 release, the CRC said a welcome area in the new building would "celebrate the denomination's past, display its ministry work, and highlight the new."
"To adopt a phrase borrowed from a local church, the new workplace will 'dignify the ordinary,'" DeKam said in a statement.
"In keeping with the character of the denomination, it won’t be showy or extravagant. Instead, the space should communicate stewardship and an overall value of ‘every square inch,’ being intentional so that our part of God’s kingdom work can be accomplished.”
The CRCNA will list 1700 28th Street for sale this fall.
