While no firm site has yet been determined, City Baptist Church pastor Jeff McKinnon said the move was part of a larger overhaul of how the church operated.

Last year, when the two buildings were first put up for sale Pastor McKinnon flagged that decision was influenced by a desire to expand to a younger demographic.

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"We're very keen to be an intergenerational community with more of an emphasis on young people," he said.

As part of that change, Pastor McKinnon is stepping down at the end of the year from leading the church to allow younger voices to step in. He has served the church community for more than a decade but said it was time for a change.

"We just want the church to be whatever it needs to be for the future and we want to let some younger heads shape that," he said.

"We will continue to have a Sunday morning service, but that will change too as things do change. We don't want to be traditional for the sake of being traditional," he said.

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Pride of place in the church's new iteration will be a city centre location more available to the public.

"It's a big old building and for some people, it's not very inviting.

"There are plenty of churches being used as churches in Launceston, we wanted to do something different without worship. We think you can be Christian community without the trappings," he said.

"We want a facility that can be a bit of a community centre in the CBD, a place where anyone can come and find help."

From this new location, the church hopes to double down on its work with migrants, refugees and those in need.

"We primarily want to work with people at the margins of society," he said,

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"We want a facility that can be a bit of a community centre in the CBD, a place where anyone can come and find help."

Ultimately, Pastor McKinnon hopes the new location will help make the CBD a more welcoming place. He also flagged that the new centre would hopefully continue to engage with artists and musicians, as the church had in the past.

"We think there's a lot of loneliness in our society. We want somewhere where people don't have to buy something but can come in to chat," he said.

That said, with few commercial properties for sale in the city centre, Pastor McKinnon said he and the incoming church leaders were thinking flexibly about the next step. The building's handover is expected to be finalised in September. After stepping down, Pastor McKinnon intends to continue working within the community and advocating for those on the margins.

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