Addressing the Polycrisis of Housing, Community & Church
A Review of
Building Belonging: The Church’s Call to Build Community and House Our Neighbors
John Cleghorn
Paperback: Westminster John Knox Press, 2024
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Reviewed by Joe Davis
If you are a leader who has spent any time considering the state of your church, your community, or your home, you are likely well acquainted with the challenges of what pastor and church-based affordable housing developer John Cleghorn describes as a “polycrisis” or “a simultaneous occurrence of multiple catastrophic events.” Which crises in particular? Housing, community, and the missional imagination of the church. In Building Belonging: The Church’s Call to Create Community and House our Neighbor, Cleghorn presents a tangibly hopeful case that the Spirit of God is hovering over the chaotic convergence of these crises ready to create something new.
Cleghorn, pastor of Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, was inspired by his own church’s journey of rebirth and renewal that involved converting an unused church education building into dozens of permanent supportive housing units for the unhoused in Charlotte. But he and Caldwell Pres are not alone. Cleghorn provides 34 case studies to describe the church-based affordable housing movement sweeping across the US in recent years. Some of these cases studies are described at length – his own church and several others in Charlotte – while others receive brief treatment. Cleghorn roots these stories in a Biblical theology of land, home, and wealth drawing from the likes of Walter Brueggemann, William Stringfellow, and Clarence Jordan.
He then describes the polycrisis of housing, community, and church with recent economic, sociological, and missiological data and studies. This theoretical content is made practical as Cleghorn shares how his church has navigated through each of these crises. Before sharing case studies from churches across the country, Cleghorn takes a deep historical and geographical dive into Charlotte where he has lived and worked for several decades to give his readers an extremely detailed account of the context in which God has called his church to respond. His national survey of the movement goes from coast to coast and includes urban and suburban contexts with churches large and small from various denominations. Cleghorn concludes with a chapter summarizing patterns, lessons learned, and next steps for church and community leaders.
Building Belonging is a well-built book with a literary architecture that makes its heart – the stories of transformation through housing – stand out the most. The way Cleghorn illuminates the polycrisis (what a word for our day in time) of housing, community, and church is brilliant. He provides just enough information on each of these crises to give his readers a firm grasp of their reality without being overwhelming for a typical reader. The way he presents these crises in conversation with his own church’s experience is compelling and helpful for discerning how your own church is finding or could find its way through these common challenges. The case studies themselves are structured in a way that balances first-hand narratives from church and community leaders with all the fine print about how these projects were financed and the partnerships required with non-profits, government agencies, and housing developers. The combination of breadth and depth of these studies is impressive and helps you feel the momentum building through this resurrection work.
Cleghorn’s decades of experience in Charlotte and the use of his own church’s journey gives this book an exceptional level of integrity. It is realistic and hopeful; it celebrates the work accomplished without diminishing the immense difficulty involved. The chapter about Charlotte’s history is a cornerstone of this book. Cleghorn has done his homework to understand the nuances of housing, community, and church in a particular place over the course of nearly 150 years. This depth of understanding is a rare gift of stability that adds yet another layer of trustworthiness to this book. The details he provides are fascinating and the way he links these particulars to broader patterns is outstanding. Through this chapter, Cleghorn prophetically communicates a critique of Charlotte’s many injustices – often employing a race-critical lens that acknowledges the pioneering work of Black churches in this space – while simultaneously expressing a genuine love and hope for its people.
Even though Cleghorn is straightforward about the challenges churches face when developing affordable housing on their property, the book does not include any stories of failed church housing experiments. This would have added yet another dimension of realism and helped its readers understand the risks involved in this complicated process. A few examples of rural churches engaged in this work would have expanded its applicability beyond the reach of housing developers who tend to only focus on urban or suburban areas. Churches in rural communities tend to play an outsized role and the housing crisis is hitting these communities just as hard. This book may still inspire those rural churches to do something, but it does not provide them with much direction. The home repair, rehab, and construction work of organizations like Appalachia Service Project or Alabama Rural Ministry could have been helpful to explore even though their work is different from the types of church-property-based projects Cleghorn profiles.
When I finished reading this book, I immediately shared it with our church staff and wanted to give a copy to each of our Trustees as they consider selling a highly valued piece of our church property that includes five apartments. Cleghorn leaves you with a sense of excitement and possibility. He provides enough detail to get you started and includes many details on the discernment and preparation process he used with his congregation. Building Belonging is great for pastors, denominational leaders (especially those tasked with evaluating “church vitality”), church leaders, and lay people who feel stuck or overwhelmed by the needs they are facing. By simply naming the polycrisis of housing, community, and church, Cleghorn provides validation for these leaders and gives them energy and freedom to trust God through their own journeys. Oh, that more housing developers would read this book and catch a glimpse of the possibilities of doing good – or at least not doing so much harm – through their work!
Cleghorn succeeds in issuing a call to the church in America to build community and house its neighbors. This call is summed up well when he writes in chapter two:
“Do congregations have the energy to rethink how they use their properties, the creativity to imagine what radical sharing looks like? Do they have the stamina to pull off complex transformation, to take dramatic risks, to think generations ahead, to concern themselves with those we unthinkingly label the ‘other’? Is it too late to ask these questions? Is God still in charge?”
If you answered yes to any of these questions – or even if you are not sure – this book is for you.
Joe Davis
Joe Davis lives in Auburn, AL, with his wife and three children and serves as Director of Mission and Outreach at Auburn United Methodist Church. He also volunteers as the co-director of a non-profit called The Lee County Remembrance Project which works to confront and reconcile the history of racial terror violence in Lee County, Alabama. Joe received his Master of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary and Master of Arts in International Development from Eastern University.
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