Using Green Practices to Build Rural Churches
 Each year, jury members gather at The Duke Endowment to choose the Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards. Sponsored by Faith & Form Magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, the awards honor the best in architecture, liturgical design and art for religious spaces. This year's panel included (clockwise, from back) Siddiq Karim, James Shields, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Cindy Evans Voorhees and Laura Kruger. To support United Methodist congregations in rural North Carolina, The Duke Endowment provides technical advice and grants to build facilities for worship and outreach.
Insights
Four key insights helped shape the Endowment's building grants. We invite others to use these as a starting point for their own efforts.
- Through its grants, the Endowment provides no more than half the funds needed for any single project. James B. Duke specified this percentage in his 1924 Indenture of Trust; it encourages congregations to take an active role in raising money.
- The Endowment always has insisted that churches be properly designed by architects — sometimes a hard point to sell to struggling congregations that could barely find funds for building materials. But the stipulation has improved the appearance and durability of rural Methodist churches; churches built according to model plans developed with Endowment assistance can still be found in rural North Carolina communities today.
- In looking for the most strategic way to use grant dollars, the Endowment reserves its support for new buildings and extensive renovations, not routine maintenance. Projects are considered only if they involve enough structural change to require an architect.
- As architects and contractors become more familiar with the techniques, the Endowment soon might require congregations to consider "building green" before a grant is awarded. The goal is to raise awareness and help churches discover the importance of environmental sustainability, even when efforts are modest.
Impact
Over the years, the Endowment has helped build or renovate more than 1,000 churches across rural North Carolina. Some of the structures are simple and some are stately, but each shows that rural buildings need not be inferior.
Even more important, each has a history that reflects a congregation's faith and commitment.
At Calvary Memorial United Methodist in Snow Hill, for example, the Women's Missionary Society operated a food booth in front of the courthouse to raise construction money. In Beaufort County, members of Ware's Chapel United Methodist quickly rebuilt after a devastating fire.
Brevard's Chapel in Lincoln County features fanciful sawnwork detailing. In Halifax County, Weldon United Methodist has Gothic-arched doors and windows and two soaring towers.
Many of the churches are unaltered, despite decades of use. Whitakers United Methodist in Nash County still occupies its 1917 brick building. Near the coast, Fairfield United Methodist looks the same as it did in the late 1880s.
The churches have served thousands of people through worship and outreach, and they've strengthened communities across North Carolina.
Contact Us
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Director of Rural Church
704.927.2251
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