One thing all federal party leaders agree on during this election is that Canada faces a housing crisis. Where they differ is on how to fix it.
But across Canada, some Lutheran churches aren’t waiting for politicians to come up with plans to provide affordable housing. Some churches in Ontario are finding creative ways to address the housing crisis by turning their buildings into homes.
One of those churches is St. Peter’s Church in Kitchener, Ont. For the congregation, the wake-up call came in 2018 when a family of three was discovered living in a below-ground air vent behind the church.
“It galvanized us as a community and as people of faith,” said pastor Mark Ehlebracht of the downtown congregation, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). “It was a defining moment in our journey.”
What made the experience even more poignant was realizing the church’s altar was directly behind the wall between the sanctuary and the family’s home.
“On the one side was us, the clergy were all dressed in our finery and the congregation was singing, praying and praising around God’s table, and they were living in an air vent behind us,” he said. “It broke our hearts.”
That discovery set the church on a mission to respond to housing needs in the southwestern Ontario city of more than 280,000 people. The city’s unhoused population exceeds 2,000 and there is a long waiting list to access affordable housing.
“As people of faith, we couldn’t be idle,” Ehlebracht said. “We decided to do something about it.”
What they did was strike up a partnership with Indwell, an Ontario-based, Christian organization that builds and manages affordable and supportive housing in the province. Together, they came up with a plan to build 41 apartments over what used to be the church’s education wing.
Founded in 1974, Indwell today serves 1,300 people in seven Ontario communities through 30 housing projects and supportive programs. This includes the former St. Mark’s Lutheran church, also in Kitchener, where the organization created 43 affordable apartments.
The construction at St. Peter’s was made possible by more than $14 million in funding from the Waterloo Region and provincial and federal governments. Construction started in the fall 2023 and should be completed this summer.
While the church provided the space, Indwell will manage the units and provide support to the tenants. “We have a resource in our property and we can do something about this need,” Ehlebracht said.
The project did pose a bit of inconvenience for the congregation. During construction — which includes renovations to the sanctuary to make it a more flexible space for community events — members have been meeting at a nearby Presbyterian church. “We squeeze into their chapel,” Ehlebracht said.
But it’s worth it. “We want to find new ways for our building to live,” he said, noting that those who originally built the church “did amazing things in their time. Now it is up to us to do amazing things in our time.”
‘Our niche’
Indwell’s goal is to provide hope, dignity and love for people on the margins of society who need housing and other supports, such as meals, medical care and addictions programs, said Indwell Chief Operating Officer Chris Finkbiner. “Affordable and supportive housing is our niche,” he said.
Indwell’s model seems to be working; 94 per cent of Indwell tenants stay a year or more. “It’s also cost effective,” Finkbiner said, noting it is less expensive than having people go to emergency rooms, shelters or jail.
Indwell likes working with churches, including those that find themselves property-rich but people-poor.
“When churches are downsizing, when they don’t need all the space, we can work with them to create housing,” Finkbiner said.
There is no shortage of churches for Indwell to partner with; by 2030, it is estimated that as many as 9,000 Canadian churches — out of about 27,000 — could be closed due to declining memberships and increased maintenance costs. Some of them could be re-purposed for affordable housing.
“As much as possible, we like to adapt and re-use,” Finkbiner said, noting they prefer to keep as much of an existing church structure as possible.
‘Identify your gifts’
The Faith Lutheran Church in Hamilton, Ont., is a 65-year-old church that is also part of the ELCIC. It closed during the pandemic and the congregation joined with members from three other Lutheran churches in the city to form Trinity Lutheran Church.
In 2024, the church sold its 9,000-square-foot building and land to Indwell for about $1.2 million, or about half its market value, so the organization could create an affordable housing project on the site.
The site is still in the planning stages, Finkbiner said. It is not yet known whether the existing building can be incorporated into the new housing project.
For the church, selling the property to Indwell was the right decision. “We discerned as a congregation that affordable housing was an important issue for us to address,” said Jordan Smith, a pastor at Trinity.
But the church also knew it didn’t have the expertise or resources to do it on its own. “[Indwell] helped us figure out finances and the process,” Smith said, noting that it’s impossible for a congregation to handle a project like this on its own.
“It’s important to identify your gifts as a congregation and then look for partners in the community,” he said. “Our gifts were not in building and running this project.”
While the congregation is excited about what will become of the old Faith church site, there is a sense of loss, too, Smith acknowledged.
“There’s always sadness about losing a place that was an important home to people,” Smith said.
The proceeds from the sale of the old Faith church enabled Trinity to update its downtown building, built in the 1860s. The church is now more accessible, has an updated kitchen and is more flexible for community use, with the pews all removed.
“We want to make it easier to use for things like concerts, art shows and other things,” Smith said.
A lot of grief
For Jennifer Hoover, the congregational redevelopment advisor for the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, stories like those from St. Peter’s and Faith Lutheran are “great to hear.”
While some may see churches’ declining membership as a sign of failure, Hoover sees it as an opportunity.
“We need to reframe that narrative, away from one of having failed,” she said, explaining that it is a chance for congregations “to think about what new thing is possible, about new ways they can use the building in ways that are consistent with their mission, vision and values.”
Selling or redeveloping their place of worship to provide affordable housing can be a way for churches to faithfully serve their communities, she said, adding it is consistent with what churches were built to do in the first place.
“This is just bringing that vision forward in a new way.”
At the same time, closing a place of worship can be hard. “There can be a lot of grief,” Hoover said, noting that there are strong emotional and spiritual memories from hosting baptisms, weddings and funerals.
“There’s no denying a lot of emotions can arise when leaving a church. But I believe people are resilient and want to do something new rooted in their vision and values,” she said.
One thing she encourages congregations to do is not wait until there are no other options but to close a building.
“It’s important to start having conversations before that point, not when your backs are against the wall,” she said. “That will give you time and space to be creative, and breathe new life into the congregation.”
Partnering with groups such as Indwell is also important, she says. “They can help churches see what is possible, things they can’t do on their own,” she said.
By responding in this way to the need for housing in Canada, churches can also change the way society views Christianity, Hoover said.
“It tells the wider society that we still have a role to play,” she said, noting that many Canadians today think religion is irrelevant. “Churches still have vital roles to play in their communities. The church is relevant.”
A unique aspect of how Indwell works is by offering people a chance to invest in affordable housing — not just donate to it — through community bonds.
For several new projects in Hamilton, Ont., Indwell raised $6 million through its Hope & Homes Hamilton community bond program.
“It’s a way for community-minded investors to use their resources to make an impact close to home, who want to make a difference in their community,” said Chris Finkbiner, Indwell’s chief operating officer. “It’s a way for them to align their values with their investments.”
Investors have the option of investing for three to five years, and receive different interest rates depending on the amount of time the money is invested. The funds are managed by Tapestry Community Capital, which provides professional investment and regulatory services.
People who invested in the bond did it “not just for financial return, but also because of the good they can do in the world,” Finkbiner said.
The funds help Indwell during the one to three years it takes to develop, plan and find funding for a project. “That phase is hard to finance,” he said. “Traditional lenders won’t take it on.”
