To combat this problem, some fresh thinking will be required. Spatial Stewardship is nearly as important today than Financial Stewardship or Time Management. But to be successful stewards of the resources given or pledged to your building, you need to be better equipped to determine what square footage is essential, and what isn’t.

Spatial Stewardship isn’t about maximizing the square footage you build. It’s about maximizing ministry opportunity, it’s about Preserving Flexibility in finished spaces. It’s about having the dollars at the end of the project to fully outfit the space that aligns with ministry and culture.

If we can come up with new strategies to help design our church buildings, we can once again design buildings that enhance ministry, not hinder it.

1) Religious Americans Enjoy Higher Wellbeing – Read more at GALLUP.com:

- Americans who are the most religious have the highest levels of wellbeing.

- The difference in wellbeing between the religious and nonreligious populations is highly statistically significant given the large sample size Gallup’s research uses, and would occur by chance alone on an infrequent basis.

- The difference is also notable given that the Wellbeing Index scores do not vary widely across sub-groups of the U.S. population.

- Religious service attendance promotes social interaction and friendship with others.

2) Church Boosts Your Emotional State – Read more at GALLUP.com:

- Frequent churchgoers experience an average of 3.36 positive emotions per day compared with an average of 3.08 among those who never attend.

- Not only do Americans who attend a church frequently report having higher wellbeing in general, but they also get an extra boost to their emotional state on Sundays – while the rest of Americans see a decline in their mood.

3) Strong Social Ties = Health Satisfaction – Read more at GALLUP.com:

- Individuals who say they have family and friends they can count on to help them in times of trouble are consistently more likely to be satisfied with their personal health.

- People who are socially isolated tend to have more physiological stress, poorer immune function and a host of biological risk factors.

Please (as Reggie McNeal says) don’t hear what I’m not saying. The fact that it may be good for your health should never be a reason for being part of a church.

The church is God’s vehicle for the Gospel of Jesus between now and when heaven and earth are joined together. And following Jesus means we make many counterintuitive choices (die to live, serve to be honored, give to gain, forgive not retaliate, love your enemies, depend on God not yourself, joy in hardship, honor the poor not the celebrities, etc.). But it is interesting to learn it’s good for your health.

But for capital campaigns, the summer months are usually quiet.  Few churches focus on financial goals while so many families are scattered to the wind with vacations and the summertime agendas of their kids.  Seats often flip from full to empty to full as the Sundays roll by, and only when the hectic back-to-school rush subsides does the church refocus on moving their renovation or building campaigns forward.

This should not be time wasted.  The external focus may be elsewhere, but summer is a premium time to shore up many of the time consuming details involved in implementing and communicating a grand vision.

It doesn’t take a large team.  It doesn’t even take a small team.  One or two key people can accomplish a great deal (while enjoying the air conditioning), including:

• Developing a capital campaign logo with a graphic artist
• Compiling testimonies, statements, stories and vision-related information to be dispersed throughout the fall in bulletins, brochures, media, etc.
• Designing campaign print materials and/or developing them through an external company
• Scheduling fall prayer groups, volunteer meetings, leadership dinners, etc.
• Working out the logistics of special promotions, banquets or other events
• Aligning the sermon series to coincide with key aspects of the campaign
• Selecting and organizing the people who will be the life blood of the vision strategy

Sometimes, downtime is the best time to put the chess pieces on the board and move them strategically toward the end game.  And while others are packing the minivans and working on their tans, you can be quietly paving the way for a successful, positive and life-changing experience when they return.

One of the strengths I appreciate about my church is not only their mission, but the drive to accomplish it.  More than that, the vision is actively shared with other churches in Chicago, and the church partners with them instead of “competing.”  Attendees and partners know exactly what they are a part of, what their investment in the church yields, and who it serves (another strength is that once a year they break down the finances in detail for the church to see during the service).  Many churches would be well served to pause for a week or two and share exactly why they do what they do, what that has grown from, where that is leading and how people can grab on and dive into a bigger part of the action.

And yes, this is a GREAT way to not only encourage and increase giving to the church, but to get people excited about giving to the church. Transparency and action such as this, leaves people wanting more and results in increased investment in the church, and its vision and mission.  Many times, this kind of vision presentation precedes a capital project or another specific season of accelerated generosity.  The same principles that guide a church’s vision during a campaign should be as or more evident every week. After all, most campaigns exist to fund the vision while leading people through a discipleship process in the area of generosity.

By the way, here is the vision: To be a Biblical community where the Gospel of Jesus Christ transforms lives, renews the city and impacts the world.  One dream is that through partnerships with other churches, planting and multi-site strategy, there would be a Bible based church in every neighborhood of the city – within walking distance of every person in the city.