Buildings can be shared on an informal basis, can be subject to a Sharing Agreement under the Sharing of Church Buildings Act (1969) and/or can be a Shared Building Local Ecumenical Partnership.
Whichever you are considering, ensure that you read the document Sharers, Guests or Tenants? (which is also downloadable at the very bottom of this page). This offers useful advice and good practice for churches looking to share buildings together.
The Sharing of Church Buildings Act
The book Under the Same Roof, about the workings of the Sharing of Church Buildings Act (1969), is available from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. CTE makes available an unverified updated version, in the document block at the end of this page.
Which churches are included?
A list of churches to which the Sharing of Church Buildings Act applies (Gazetted Churches) can be found here. This list has been added to the Schedule 2 of the Act itself as a result of a recent Measure which has made other updating amendments. To this list needs to be added the Churches listed in Schedule 2 of SoCBA (1969).
For current information and documents about the Methodist Church, please visit its website.
Further information
Sharing Church buildings on an informal basis
Information about sharing Church buildings on an informal basis
Sharing Agreements under the Act
Information about the Sharing of Church Buildings Act (1969)
A Shared Building Local Ecumenical Partnership
A Shared Building LEP exists when two or more congregations permanently share a building but do not become a single congregation, continuing to worship separately.
Documentation
- doc – Sharing Church Buildings general leaflet
- docx 04.02 Sharers, Guests or Tenants
- pdf 04.02 Sharers, Guests or Tenants
- pdf 0404 Agreement on Exempt Churches
- rtf 0404 Agreement on Exempt Churches
- pdf 0405 RC use of church buildings
- rtf 0405 RC use of church buildings
- pdf 0407 Baptist (read link doc below first) L05 Ecumenical Sharing Agreements
- docx 0407 link to Baptist Ecumenical Sharing Agreements document
- pdf 0408 Sharing buildings informally – a checklist
- rtf 0408 Sharing buildings informally – a checklist