Property Management
The changing place of legacy churches in Canada requires innovative new approaches to ministry and, at the same time, careful stewardship of our built assets.
Since 2017, Toronto United Church Council has acted as an interim property management agent, first for Toronto Conference and its successor, Shining Waters Regional Council; and more recently Kindred Works and East Central Ontario Regional Council. Duties include the management and supervision of surplus properties being held for redevelopment, acting as agent for the sale of properties, as well as negotiating the care of cemeteries that may be associated with them.
In 2021, TUCC moved its offices to Lansing United Church, assuming full management of the recently rebuilt property on behalf of the congregation, allowing the congregation to focus on its ministry. An agreement with neighbours Cummer Avenue United Church, to develop and manage the rental business for its freshly renovated building is expanding this work. The online platform ‘Spaces United‘ is part of the service.
This most recent expansion of TUCC’s role, essentially a new form of social enterprise, may not be suitable for all situations as the switch from volunteer to professional church management requires a strong revenue potential, but represents another way in which TUCC is offering hands on support to our changing church.