Any church building committee member can easily look at a swelling Sunday congregation in a cramped sanctuary, see the need for a larger facility and hire a contractor to begin construction on the church property. But is that the way churches should approach building projects? Church building experts at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) and LifeWay Church Architecture say definitely not.
Before any experts are hired, before one nail is hammered and before any supplies are ordered, all churches should plan extensively to ensure the best immediate outcome and future of the church, according to Gary Swafford, who heads the new work and church building services office at the SBOM.
Emphasizing the vital importance of good planning, he tells churches to look at least 30 to 50 years into the future before beginning any building project.
“Dream beyond your immediate construction needs,” he noted. “The facility that 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.”
Gary Nicholson, an architect who specializes in church architecture and works as a national church building consultant for LifeWay Church Architecture, agrees with Swafford. He believes that churches should consider one very important phrase before undertaking any building project — to fail to plan is to plan to fail.
“To successfully plan for the ultimate and best use of all of your church’s property and buildings is to plan to succeed to reach your church’s full potential to minister and reach people for Christ,” he told an audience at the SBOM annual church construction conference held in late January.
Although most Alabama Baptists know planning is a crucial element in the success of any church building project, many have no idea what type of planning to do or where to begin.
Every year, more than 300 state convention churches with this dilemma contact the SBOM associational and cooperative missions office, according to Swafford.
At the point of initial contact, Swafford and other SBOM associates recommend that churches contemplating a facility expansion begin two types of preparation: long-range planning and master-site planning.
Steve Cloues, who heads the associational missions and long-range planning office at the SBOM, describes long-range planning as a formal, rational process whereby the church seeks to do two things: understand God’s general and particular will and direction for His local church and determine specific ways to accomplish it, now and in the future.
Long-range planning is “very important to church expanding so that all new elements and actions fit together to accomplish God’s will,” he stated.
Cloues believes that this phase of the building process helps church members remember their purpose and become proactive rather than reactive.
He also believes it stimulates motivation, hope, unity of purpose, direction for the church and commonality of purpose for clergy and laity.
To achieve these outcomes, he recommends that churches spend between seven and 10 months completing a long-range plan using the following steps:
Preparation (2–3 months to set up the process).
Study the purpose of the church (2–3 weeks to clarify the mission/purpose).
“Buildings are just tools to help fulfill the ministry and vision of the church,” said Swafford. “We get involved in the details so quickly that we may forget the church’s purpose and why we are building in the first place.”
Conduct research (3–5 months).
“Research will clarify the needs and minimize subjective opinions,” said Cloues. “Seek information about the needs of people both in the church (saved) and in the community (unchurched/lost). Then, gather information about the resources of the church leaders, finances, land, buildings, programs and activities.”
Because this portion of the planning process may seem overwhelming to many Alabama Baptist churches, the SBOM offers useful statistical resources including community demographic data, church statistics and religious facts to assist them with this step. In addition to providing information, convention associates tell churches how to find valuable data from other sources including their own church records and members, their association and associational missionary and from community officials.
Write goals (1 month to write and clarify).
Seek church approval of plan (1–2 months for presentation and approval).
Swafford tells churches that it’s not the time to start building until the majority of the church feels led to do so. “If the Lord is leading you to do this it can be done,” he said. “If you as a church do not feel led to do this, spend more time in prayer until you have consent.”
Undertake implementation (may take 2–5 years).
Nicholson advises churches that are planning for long-range growth to bathe every decision in prayer, set aside personal desires, seek God’s plan for the church and seek wise counsel. In addition, he disagrees with church leaders depending on prayer to make up for poor preparation, ill-conceived planning and cheap construction unless they have done their very best to prepare, plan and build.
As a low- or no-charge service to Alabama Baptist churches seeking to develop their long-term plan, the SBOM offers training, consultants and planning manuals upon request.
Other services to convention churches include a map showing the lifestyle distribution of people around a church, assistance
in preparing and compiling surveys and questionnaires and preparation of a 10-year church or associational statistics printout.
After completing long-range planning and discovering the vision of the church, a church should know if there is a need to relocate, expand or renovate. When that decision is made, the next step is master-site planning, which presents your complete vision in attainable phases.
As congregations and ministries grow and the need for larger facilities increases, many church leaders are pressured to make decisions about building projects. Oftentimes, churches that complete construction projects without the proper planning are only satisfied temporarily if they are satisfied at all, according to Swafford.
“The purpose of a master-site plan is to avoid this problem and project beyond the church’s immediate building needs,” he added. “It starts with an outline of how much property you own and will continue with two to three steps beyond your present situation and what you are presently building.”
Concurring with Swafford, Nicholson believes a good master-site plan provides a plan of stewardship for the church property, a growth-driven strategy for its facilities, an investment in the future of the church, a means of avoiding costly mistakes, a representation of the church’s long-range vision and anticipation of the facilities that church growth will demand.
According to Swafford, every master-site plan should include the following:
Location.
“The location should be convenient to the primary target group of people that you expect to reach,” he said.
Adequate land.
Swafford added that churches should make sure they have the property to support their long-term expectations. “You should take seriously the rules of thumb basic principles that guide the use of space and the trends over the years,” he noted. “The trend is that we need more land than we needed in the past. More churches are using land for recreation including ball fields, playgrounds, common areas and expansion of parking.”
Dream your property full.
“A master-site plan shows what buildings you have and how additional buildings may be added so that you can make the best use of your entire property over the years,” Swafford explained. “It ensures that each addition will compliment a well-designed cluster of buildings and keep improving your church facilities and the flow of people inside the building.”
Acquire a 3-D picture.
“It gives people the image or visual that communicates your building committee’s vision for the future, he noted. “The people who will be involved in the capital funds campaign need to see your vision, goals or anticipated accomplishments for the future.”
Celebrate and commit.
“The completion of a building marks the beginning of a ministry,” Swafford said. “As we celebrate and dedicate the building to the Lord, we should commit ourselves to the new and expanded ministry opportunity the building makes possible.”
Swafford added once a master site plan is complete, it should be evaluated and updated regularly, especially before any additional building or capital development is considered.
Leaders interested in learning more about the building process can also attend a church building conference held annually in north and central Alabama. The 2004 conference will be Jan. 29–30 in Decatur and Clanton.
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