Is your growth strategy team fresh out of ideas on how to accommodate your steadily increasing church membership? Are you planning to build a new sanctuary or church facility? Have you been thinking about remodeling your church to a more contemporary look?
Every year, a large number of Alabama Baptist churches answer yes to these questions and many begin construction projects without proper knowledge of the building process, according to Gary Swafford, an associate in the office of associational/cooperative missions for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
According to Swafford, his office, which handles church building and new work, receives more than 300 calls each year from churches that need help planning and building new facilities.
“The difficult part for the church is the decision-making, to clearly focus on what their needs are,” he said. “(Churches should) keep the emphasis on people. The building should be appropriate for the people and the constituents to whom they minister. “
Swafford believes that churches should build only when their buildings are 80 percent full and/or if they want to start a new ministry that requires a new facility or larger space. Usually churches don’t build when they don’t need to, but some do build their facilities larger than they should, he explained.
“To shed some light on the intricacies of church construction, The Alabama Baptist will begin providing a new monthly guide called ‘Building God’s House: One Nail at a Time,’ said Editor Bob Terry.
Through expert advice and real-life examples, the newspaper will provide readers with the rules of thumb and newest trends in church construction.
“The Alabama Baptist has been providing a construction package for Alabama Baptist churches for the past five years,” Terry said. “We have received such a tremendous response from churches eager for more information that we decided to provide a monthly resource guide on different aspects of church construction.
“Church construction is a complex industry and there are a myriad of topics and issues that can be addressed,” he added. “Each stage of church construction has numerous components which lend themselves to information and resources we can deliver to our readers through this new service.”
In each issue of Building God’s House, churches throughout the state will learn important information on the various stages of church construction. The first and most important phase of building is long-term planning.
“Good planning is vitally important,” said Swafford. “I tell churches to dream beyond 20 to 30 years from now. What do you think this church might become? How is the building we are building now going to fit with present and future buildings? What you are going to construct must be designed in a way that it fits in with what you are going to be building in the future.”
No matter how much planning churches do before construction, Swafford believes that they must keep God in the plan.
“When I am talking to a church about planning for people and planning for growth, I try to make the point that if the Lord is leading you to do this it can be done,” he added. “If you as a church do not feel led to do this, spend more time in prayer.”
He references the promise of God and call to prayer in Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV) to tell churches that it’s not time to start building until the majority of the church is in consensus.
“A church building when God is in the planning can unite the church and mature the congregation,” said Swafford. “Building for any other reason will likely cause conflict which sometimes leads to people leaving the church.”
The planning stage is such an important aspect to the process that the April 3 edition of “Building God’s House” will focus on that subject.
In future issues of “Building God’s House,” churches will discover other stages of church construction such as research and church committee selection. Readers will find out why good research is so valuable in the building process and the correlation between research and long-term satisfaction. In addition, they will see how many in-church teams are really needed and what their responsibilities should be.
After extensive planning, thorough research and committee selections are complete, churches must determine what experts will be needed to achieve their construction goals.
“Building God’s House” will offer important information on how to choose architects, construction engineers and construction companies as well as other organizations that provide ancillary services to churches including landscaping, audio-visual and sound companies.
“Some people think that contacting the architect is part of the planning,” said Swafford. “A church does not need to contact an architect before they project the additional people that they want the structure to house.”
Also in upcoming issues, readers will acquire information on when and how to find prospective companies for other construction-related services including sound and parking. They will learn what questions to ask these professionals and how they all should work together.
“The building process is a team approach,” said Swafford. “The architect is the team leader, but the team needs to include the various professionals. Lighting, signs and landscaping are vitally important.”
Lynn Thompson, owner of Thompson Sound in north Alabama, concurred with Swafford.
“It is very important that the company providing the sound and lighting services be involved at the beginning of the project,” she said.
“We have seen situations where churches were built and the design was incompatible with the church’s acoustical needs. The audio experts were not brought in at the right time. This ultimately cost time and money to correct. Even though our work may not be done until the end of the project, our input is needed during the planning phase,” she explained.
Once the entire team is selected, churches must establish how building and consultation costs will be financed.
Topics on this subject will include saving versus borrowing, fund raising and capital campaigns and companies that specialize in financing building projects.
Other topics in the construction guide will include church architecture in the 21st century; the pros and cons of remodeling, rebuilding or starting from scratch; traditional versus contemporary styles of worship; church interiors and building maintenance.
Doug Acton of Acton Construction, a Birmingham-based business that is currently working on an expansion project at Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham, said a resource guide is a needed tool for churches going through any phase of building.
“There are so many components of church building that need to be taken into account,” he said.
“A resource guide like this is an excellent idea and one that churches will be able to refer to time and again.”
David Payne, an architect who is overseeing the renovation project at First Baptist Church, Montgomery, agreed with Acton.
“‘Building God’s House’ is going to be a great asset to Alabama Baptist churches,” he said.
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