Church at Grove and Malvern soliciting interest from developers ahead of move

The church has been at the corner of Grove and Malvern avenues since 1950. (Courtesy Seventh Street Christian Church)

For the first time in nearly 75 years, a West End church is getting ready to go on the move. 

Seventh Street Christian Church is preparing to relocate from its longtime home at 4101 Grove Ave. and sell its land. 

The church has been at the corner of Grove and Malvern avenues since 1950, though its roots go back much further. It was founded in the 1830s as Sycamore Christian Church and spent decades at the corner of East Grace and North Seventh streets, operating out of a building where a city parking lot is now. 

Rev. Hollie Woodruff said the congregation is preparing for the church’s next move, even though they don’t know where they’ll land. 

Hollie Woodruff

With a congregation of around 70 people, Woodruff said Seventh Street’s existing, 20,000-square-foot church was too large and getting too expensive to maintain, with nearly half of the church’s $250,000 annual budget spent on the building. 

“We’re pretty small, which is why we needed to ask different questions about this big space that we have: ‘Are we using our resources wisely by holding on to this space?’” Woodruff said. “Our building is not keeping up with our missional demand and it just needs a lot of work.”

Seventh Street’s property spans nearly 2 acres fronting Grove Avenue and is adjacent to the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, which hosts the Richmond Greek Festival. 

Woodruff said in addition to paying utilities and taking basic care of the structure, the Seventh Street building’s also needed things like a new boiler in recent years. At a certain point, Woodruff said, they had had enough. 

“A few years ago the light switch went off and we were like, ‘Is our mission going to be this building? Or is it going to be the Richmond community?’ Because this is where we can choose to put our financial resources and our time,” she said. “I couldn’t ask my congregation to try to raise $5 million to keep this building. That’s absurd.”

In lieu of listing its property for sale with a broker, Woodruff said the church is planning to issue a request for proposals to see who’s interested and what they’d like to do with the property. 

It’s likely the property will garner interest, as in the nearly seven years that Woodruff’s been at Seventh Street, she said she’s received calls monthly from folks inquiring about the property. 

“There’s only so many developers that could probably buy this, and there’s other people in the community that have already reached out and are curious,” Woodruff said. 

“This isn’t even a ‘the most money wins’ (situation). We’re not trying to be super selfish here. We just want an opportunity to do what’s right by the neighborhood and hopefully get enough proceeds in order to reinvest in our mission and ministry.”

The RFP process is expected to begin in about a month. 

Maintaining the 74-year-old structure has become cost-prohibitive, Woodruff said. (Mike Platania photo)

Seventh Street’s property was most recently assessed by the city at $3 million and is zoned for single-family residential use. The church operates with a place of worship tax exemption from the city. 

Seventh Street’s denomination is the Disciples of Christ, a mainline Protestant church. 

As for where Seventh Street lands next, Woodruff said she’s not sure. She said the plan is to find a temporary spot for the next few years, and once they do that, they’ll start thinking more critically about Seventh Street’s next long-term home. 

“Right now it’s kind of a chicken-or-the-egg situation. We can’t quite move until we are a little bit closer to learning whatever’s next about our property,” Woodruff said. “We’re going to land for two to three years someplace, and then get the lay of the land and let things calm down. We anticipate our congregation and needs will change.”

Duffy Myrtetus of Eckert Seamans is handling the RFP process for Seventh Street. Steve Sanderford is the church’s lead trustee, and Woodruff said they’re working with local consulting firm The Spark Mill on the search for the church’s next home. 

Woodruff said there’s a deep sadness in leaving Seventh Street’s longtime home, but that she’s excited to see what the future holds. 

“We don’t want to leave the property. In the big scheme of things, no one likes moving. The idea of packing up your house is often daunting. Imagine taking a church where we’ve been for 75 years. As the pastor, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the most overwhelming part,’” she said, laughing. 

“But downsizing or right-sizing can also be fun (by) simplifying life, and that’s what we’re leaning into.”