"Most large churches have meeting spaces other than the main sanctuary -- classrooms, meeting rooms used for everyone from scouts to community bands, even gymnasiums. Those churches double as community centers, and there's usually a pretty clear line between the sacred spaces and the ones devoted to community functions."
Non-sactuary areas are OK for Orthodox Jews. Here:
http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=276&o=2089218
> Non-sactuary areas are OK for Orthodox Jews. Here:
From what I read, it's just the images and pictures that trouble the muslims:
"Umar said, ‘We do not enter your churches because of the statues and pictures.’ Ibn ‘Abbas used to pray in the church provided there were no statues in it." (Bukhari vol.1, chapter 54)
http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/things/depictions-of-muhammad-in-islamic-art.htm
That's about what I figured. And that's why, in my reckoning, so many churches (and synagogues, and even mosques) have such spaces. The religious functions and the community functions are connected, both driven by a commitment to service, but distinct; physically separating the two allows them to be as inclusive as possible in hosting a polling place, providing affordable child care, clothing and feeding people, and so on.
I went to preschool and kindergarten at one Presbyterian church, summer day camp at another. I happened to be Presbyterian (sort of), but many of my classmates weren't.