How to Begin the Church Building Process
[An excerpt from the book, Faith Building]How do we begin the Church Building Process? Countless groups have met for hours, days, weeks and months to discuss this question.
A very small percentage of churches build, add on or repurpose their facilities more than once or twice in a generation. Generally pastors and church leaders seek out people within their church family to begin a planning or building team. In most cases they also seek outside advice to assist in the important planning and feasibility phase.
Involving a design/build firm at this important stage early in the process can pay financial and space utilization dividends for years to come. Trust and an open relationship are key at this point in the process. Developing a trust relationship with a design/build firm is much like allowing a Dad to catch his trusting toddler when the toddler jumps off a table into Dad’s arms. The church has to allow and entrust the professionals to do what they do best. However that is not to say that the church just blindly allows the design/builder free reign, but it is to say that, working in partnership together, the Church trusts the expertise and experience of a good design/build team.
Trust That Leads to The Wedding
This trust is much like a marriage for a significant period of time. The courtship occurs during the time where the design/build team asks questions and learns of the church’s dreams and aspirations.
The engagement occurs when the church has contracted with the design/builder to develop planning schemes and illustrations during which time the church and the design/builder deepen their trust and relationship with one another. Both the church and the design/builder, much like transferring trust when first coming to faith, must be open and totally honest with one another. This is not a time for wavering or second thoughts about one another. You have now both gone through many meetings and learned of the strengths that will significantly impact your ministry. This time together can be significant and eventually leads to the actual wedding. On the wedding day, the church and the design/builder enter into a design build contract triggering the final design phase leading to construction.
This courtship, engagement and wedding concept and the churches transferring trust to the design/builder is vital to the Faith Building concept.
Faith Building will ask and answer key questions as to how to build a ministry tool. It will assist your ministry to focus and head in a direction that will help you ask and then answer the important questions.
For your FREE copy of Faith Building click here.
If you have considered planning for the design, renovation and/or construction of a new worship facility and are looking for a team of resources to help guide you through the process please contact PBS at 855-672-4010.
