Build churches to honor God, fulfill the Great Commission and reach people for Christ, building professionals repeatedly stated during the 2004 church building conferences Jan. 29 and 30.
Sponsored by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) and LifeWay Christian Resources, the event with the theme “Building to Revitalize and Evangelize” attracted more than 150 church leaders from across the state.
With two identical conferences at Parkview Baptist Church, Decatur, and First Baptist Church, Clanton, speakers provided vital information on how to conduct church building projects from start to finish.
In the opening address, Gary Swafford, director of new work and church building services at the SBOM, said that church buildings should be used as ministry tools and not as monuments to themselves.
“The building is the tool or resource that is used by believers to carry out the purpose of the church,” he said. “The design and structure of the building should be appropriate to enhance the worship of those believers in the community and to resource the ministries and various expressions of the church.”
Swafford added that churches provide the opportunity for believers to form the community in which they put into practice their Christian beliefs.
“In James, it says faith without works is dead, therefore faith without social expression has little meaning,” he stated. “Faith in God put into practice in your community not only helps your neighbor but gives satisfaction to you in your own life.”
Swafford also urged church leaders to concentrate on God’s purpose for the church instead of the church building itself.
An altar to God
“What makes a church more than bricks and lumber?” he asked. “It goes to the heart and purposes of the people, their focus and their commitment to God. Your attitude will determine whether your building is a monument to yourself or an altar to God.”
As an example, he noted the difference between the way Solomon and the children of Israel used gold in worship.
“Some of the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf, yet images of gold were put in Solomon’s temple to honor God.”
Swafford also encouraged church leaders to construct facilities that are appropriate to the culture to which they are ministering.
“We should do our best for the Lord and this principle also applies to building,” he said. “None of us want to build a spectacle at which visitors will gawk, but will we be any less guilty for building less than the best within our ability?”
To ensure God is honored, Swafford advised church leaders to be financially responsible and construct quality facilities that are attractively designed and tastefully furnished.
He also offered the following Bible verses to church leaders facing building projects:
Jeremiah 29:11–13 — “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’”
Haggai 1:8 — “‘Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the Lord.”
Isaiah 66:1 — “This is what the Lord says: ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house you will build for Me? Where will My resting place be?’”
Psalm 127:1a — “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”
Matthew 25:35–36 — “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Nehemiah 10:39 — “We will not neglect the house of our God.”
Ecclesiastes 10:18 — “If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks.”
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