With the launch of the New Futures ‘Churches Route Map’ this week, the New Futures: Former Places of Worship team have shared this blog post for the Research in Action on Church Heritage Blog. For more information on the resource, or to contact their team, see here.
The New Futures team has designed and written The Churches Route Map to help guide community groups who are looking at purchasing a building owned by the Church of Scotland, through the steps to community ownership. The Churches Route Map incorporates the knowledge gained throughout the first year of the New Futures: Former Places of Worship programme, which was launched in January 2025 to provide enhanced support to community groups considering taking ownership of a former place of worship in Scotland.
Based on the Negotiated Sale Route Map, the Churches Route Map adapts this well-used resource to focus specifically on the steps to community ownership of an asset owned by the Church of Scotland.
Although the Negotiated Sale Route Map could be used, we realised that there was a need to include some very specific information, both in relation to the church building, and in relation to the Church of Scotland as owners. Given the time pressures that community groups are often under, we felt it was really important to have a clear and visual overview of the processes and procedures.
The Churches Route Map can be viewed online on the Community Ownership Support Service website, or can be used as a paper copy. The paper version is specifically designed to be used in an active way, with space left on the page for notes and ideas to be written down. The route map unfolds to detail four key stages: getting started, preparing the project, developing the project and finalising the purchase. Each road sign on the map corresponds to a description over the page which provides an explanation and further detail of that step. This resource illustrates the process in chronological order, allowing community groups to follow each step in detail as they progress through their journey to community ownership.
Thanks to the New Futures – Former Places of Worship team for sharing this new resource and writing this blog.
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