Cincinnati native helping to start church for everyone in Over-the-Rhine

A new church in Over-the-Rhine will hold its first official service at 11 a.m. on Oct. 2 at the Woodward Theater. But Sanctuary’s founders want Cincinnati to know that it’s not your traditional church.
 
Sanctuary is non-denominational, and wants to give anyone, no matter where they are in their faith of lack thereof, a place to belong.
 
“We like to say that this is a church for the rebellious, rejected and right-brained thinkers,” says co-founder and co-pastor Shawn Braley. “OTR is full of those types of people — the rebellious and the creative — and we want Sanctuary to become a place for them.”
 
In medieval times, the church was at the forefront of artistic movements, i.e. the Renaissance. But over the centuries it has stopped being a trailblazer. Braley hopes to break that mold and create a space for creative people to flourish.
 
When Braley was a student at UC in 2009, he started hanging out in OTR and fell in love with the neighborhood. He loved the diversity and the rich history, but didn’t find a church that he connected to. (He grew up in a conservative church where he was loved but didn’t feel that he fit in.)
 
He didn’t go to seminary but ended up working for a church in the suburbs. While working there, he realized he wanted to start a church in OTR and told his pastor that. In 2014, Braley met Greg Knake, co-pastor of Sanctuary.
 
“Our visions of what a church would look like for OTR were spot on,” Braley says.
 
Knake had started a get-together called Beer and Hymns that met at MOTR Pub twice a month. A bluegrass band would play traditional church hymns, and attendees bonded over beer tastings.
 
As Braley met more and more people who were interested in starting a community in OTR, he realized they needed to hold more events. The OTR Potluck started around that time, and in 2015, Braley started Cincy Stories.
 
Although the nonreligious Cincy Stories grew out of Sanctuary, Braley hopes it will do the same thing and still be its own thing.
 
“We want Cincy Stories to be raw and real, and create a sense of community within a community, just like Sanctuary,” he says.
 
Braley and Knake chose to hold services at the Woodward Theater because it’s a beautiful and historic building that has a lot of meaning for the neighborhood. It’s also a picture of revitalization and has been brought back to life, much like the majority of OTR itself.
 
“OTR has always been a great neighborhood,” Braley says. “I love the inside and out of the Woodward and what it represents. I wanted Sanctuary to be in a place where the neighborhood goes that is established in a safe, comfortable and hospitable place that has visibility and history. The authenticity of the Woodward shows that Sanctuary is here to be in the neighborhood.”
 
With its first established church service on Oct. 2, the Sanctuary team plans to continue holding its tried-and-true events. Beer and Hymns is at 5 p.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month at MOTR, and the OTR Potluck is at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at Rhinegeist.
 
Braley also helped start Sunday of Service — everyone meets at MOTR and heads to a community on Liberty Street in the West End. They serve the community in different ways and build relationships with residents and each other. Sunday of Service is held the second Sunday of the month.
 
“We feel strongly about OTR, and we don’t want to be a church filled with new or old residents,” Braley says. “We hope to be a church that really reflects the city, where people from all walks of life feel like they can come and worship together in bigger ways.