Think back to the places where you’ve gathered to worship—was it a soaring cathedral, a converted storefront, or maybe a borrowed community center? For many, church isn’t always a steepled building with stained glass. It’s wherever the community meets, prays, and grows together.
Today’s church startups and established congregations alike are reimagining what a sanctuary can be. Whether it’s a pop-up in a park, a prayer circle in a living room, or a bustling congregation in a renovated warehouse, these spaces offer creative, cost-conscious alternatives to traditional church buildings. They let finances breathe and allow the church to focus on people over property, especially while resources grow.
From the humble storefront church with a hand-painted sign to modern sanctuaries in former factories, these nontraditional models—outlined in Peyton’s 2023 research—show how faith communities can thrive in all kinds of settings. Maybe you’ve worshipped in a place like this, or maybe you’re dreaming up the next one. Either way, these recycled edifices remind us that church is about connection, not just construction.
Table 3: Nontraditional and Storefront Church Models and descriptions (Peyton, 2023)
Pop-Up Model
The popup church model brings congregations together in spaces never intended for traditional worship. From parking lots and public parks to schools, banks, and theaters, these churches make use of whatever’s available, transforming ordinary places into temporary sanctuaries.
Traditional Storefront Church Model
In the traditional storefront church model, congregations occupy ground-floor commercial spaces, adapting them for worship. These locations often see everything from minor touch-ups to major renovations to create a fitting religious atmosphere. The church’s name is usually posted out front, either on a permanent sign or a temporary one.
Sub-tenant/Occupant Storefront Church Model
This church model involves congregations that share space with a host church or religious facility, usually by renting or subleasing during times when the main church isn’t holding services. The primary owner keeps the property, opting to lease it out rather than sell, making shared occupancy possible.
Residential/Home Storefront Church Model
In the residential storefront church model, worship happens in places like homes, apartments, hotels, timeshares, mansions, or hospitals—basically, any residential or affiliated space that wasn’t built for church gatherings. Whether the space is rented, owned, occupied, or donated, it serves as a temporary sanctuary for the congregation. (Cress 1998)
Modern Storefront Church Model
Modern storefront churches take over massive properties—malls, warehouses, factories, mansions, or sprawling retail buildings—and reinvent them for worship. While the space gets significant renovations or new construction for a sanctuary, elements of the original architecture are often left in place, giving the church a unique, memorable look that sets it apart from more traditional sanctuaries.
Non-storefront Church
A non-storefront church is any congregation that builds its own place of worship from the ground up, often starting with a plot of land and a groundbreaking—ceremony or not. Sometimes, this also means completely remodeling an existing property until it looks brand new, with no trace of the building's former design inside or out. Whether the church rents, leases, or owns the property outright, the space is constructed or transformed specifically for worship.
Reference
Peyton, A. (2023). Collaborative Information Behavior: Storefront Church Gospel Churches of Musical Practice (Doctoral dissertation, Dominican University). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/openview/e55f937ff77c3115ef82a106839b88cc/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y