COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus church has sold its property to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for $7.3 million, but the congregation isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Livingston United Methodist Church, which sits on 1.9 acres at 200 E. Livingston Ave., completed the sale on Oct. 1, according to Franklin County auditor’s office records. Despite the change in ownership, the church is remaining in its current building under a lease agreement while it searches for a new home.
Ohio House honors Pope Leo XIV, first American-born pontiff
The property, listed in 2024 as a “redevelopment opportunity,” sits just blocks from the hospital’s growing main campus. At the time of the listing, the church emphasized that a sale would support the congregation’s mission, not end it. Watch a previous NBC4 report on Livingston United Methodist Church’s listing in the video player above.
The 16,700-square-foot church, built in the 1960s, is home to a congregation that traces its roots to 1843, when it was founded as an outreach to the city’s German immigrant population. In an Oct. 6 social media post, church leaders shared that the sale closed and offered reassurance to congregants and neighbors.
“While we are still working on securing our next home, we want our community and friends to know that we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon,” the church wrote. “The church is still the church, and we will remain in the current building, doing ministry as we do, for at least the next two years, if not longer.”
Ohio Supreme Court to decide if state law regulating guns in bars is constitutional
“While the property may have a new owner,” the post continued, “we still do what we do in Jesus’ name, so that whatever new space we do find, we will continue to be well-equipped to love our neighbors, as they are, where they are.”…