By Bruce Anderson

We needn’t go much further than I Chronicles 17:1-4 to capture the heart of the challenges facing pastors today as it relates to building a new facility. If you recall King David’s conversation with Nathan the prophet, “Behold I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant is under a tent”. David was feeling guilty that he was living in a better constructed, and more comfortable place than the “ark of the covenant”, Nathan, advised David, go with your heart. We could even go so far as saying to our pastors today, follow the vision that the Lord has given you. There was a small problem for David however, the Lord instructed Nathan later that night to tell David NOT to build a new house for the Lord.

Building projects can catapult churches to new levels of growth and momentum. Projects can also spin out of control, leading to squandered resources and damaged reputation, especially if the Lords hand is not in it. But let’s assume for a moment that the Lord has told you to build His house, what should we do next? In previous articles, we've examined the process of carefully master planning a building project determining your financial capabilities, evaluating the environmental, code, zoning, parking, water retention impacts of your land, and now you are looking to determine the long-range goals of your church as it translates into space utilization to enhance ministry. Let’s now look at how to approach your building project.

WHAT IF GOD FULLFILLS YOUR DREAM?
In Bruce Wilkinson’s new book the “Dream Giver” his character Ordinary had been pursing a big dream, but didn’t realize that the Dream that God had given him was the picture of the “end results” not where the dream starts. The ministry is full of folks that have big dreams or visions that think that the Lord wants them to fulfill that entire vision now, when indeed it may be their life work, not their starting point of the dream. Look at Joseph, he was given a dream. Little did he know the heartache and trials that he would go through in the process, nor, that his dream was the outcome not the beginning.

Most ministry visions, as it relates to buildings and space, are limited to the capacity of the land to handle parking, setback requirements, and drainage issues, as well as, the financial capabilities and blessings of the church. Once these parameters have been established as to the maximum allowable square footage to be built on the property, it is time to understand how your current space will enhance or harm your overall vision and master-plan or whether you need to start thinking about relocation.

CURRENT SPACE UTILIZATION
I was in a church just the other day that was running approximately 1500-1600 in attendance on Sunday morning. The goal of the church was to try and modify their existing space to accommodate growth as they were feeling a space crunch. In fact, one of the minister’s offices was located in a cleaned out broom closet of about 25 sq. ft. When looking at the overall facility square footage of 25,000, their people capacity was only about 550 people. What happened? While the church was able to fit 1500 people in the sanctuary, the support space such as administration, classrooms, hallways, narthex, and fellowship were grossly lacking. Here is a good rule of thumb for you to use. For every person in attendance on site at any one time, you should multiply that number by 45-50 square feet to come up with adequate “campus” space to support the number of people adequately. So if you have a congregation of 500 people, then you would typically need a total facility space, including current space, of approximately 22,500 sq. ft.

Unfortunately, many churches are caught in a Catch Twenty Two of not having a strong enough giving base to support their attendance growth. So what kind of things can you do to maximize your facilities while growing your giving base?

Space Analysis- The first thing that you need to do is fully understand how you use or don’t use your space now. Let me use this analogy. Imagine that you have a 3000 sq. ft. home with 7 people living in the house. You have plenty of bedroom space, living room space, and kitchen space, but are only have a _ bath. The tendency is to say you need to build a bigger house, adding to the living room space, kitchen space, and bedroom space, when in fact you only need to add 2 bathrooms. Here are some rules of thumb.

Worship Space Area- 12-15 sq. ft. per person
Narthex Area – 15%-25% of Worship Seating Area
Pre-School Space – 35 sq. ft. per person
Children’ Space – 25 sq. ft per person.
Adult space – 12 -15 sq. ft per person
Multi-Use Rooms – 18-25 sq. ft. per person
Parking – 100 Cars per acre

Multiple Services- By reducing the number of people on campus at any one given time, you can significantly reduce your need for space. This is why we see several churches going to two, three and four services.

Space Timing and Utilization- Growth of congregations do not always translate into efficient use of the space that you have. This is where a solid assessment of what space is being used, by whom, at what times, what are the traffic patterns etc. This information may allow you to evaluate and change ministry habits that would better suit your current facility.

Temporary Facilities- Once you have identified where the major pressure points are coming from, you may be able to place some temporary facilities on campus to relieve some pressure until which time you can afford to build.

BUILDING POSITIONING AND PROXIMITY
Over the years, I have seen so many churches rush out to build their next building without any forethought on what the entire campus will look like. Assuming that you already have a well thought out vision of your ministry needs, it is time to start thinking about practical issues that impact the worship experience and every day life. How far will my people have to walk to get to where they are going? What happens if it rains? What are we going to do to facilitate those that are handicapped and elderly? Do parents have an easy drop of method for the children? Will the building position enhance or detract from the overall aesthetics and rooflines of the building?

While many of these items seem like common sense, you would be surprised at how often they are not thought through. The better you understand your vision and your people, the easier it is to plan.

WHAT DOES THE BUILDING SAY?
Think for a moment about any other buildings that you have the opportunity to go into in the course of your everyday life. Whether it is a hotel, home, business or church. What is your first impression? Why? If you’re the Ritz Carlton, you are making the statement that you are special and we will treat you that way. If you are the cheapo deluxe motel, you are saying were cheap but we’ll keep the light on for you. What does your building say? Does it say that we care about our children’s program because of the décor and design? Do you have colorful murals, or even interactive disneyesque play stations, or does your children’s space say here is a room with blank walls and cramped space, kids aren’t important? Does your worship facility look like a fashion statement from the 1950’s or does it meet the demands of your target ministry of 2004? The challenge for any church and design/construction team is to match your ministry philosophy and construction costs to say exactly what you want your building to say to members and attenders. Consider having a group of folks come in from the outside of your church to tell you what your building says to them about who you are as a ministry and see how well it matches your vision of yourself.

FINANCIAL POSITIONING AND PHASING
Back to the story of Ordinary in the “Dream Giver”. Where are you in the dream or vision that God has given you? Yes, you may have a vision of a 150,000 sq. ft. campus on 45 acres, with an all glass sanctuary, BUT you are currently in a 9,000 sq. ft. rental space, with $3,000 in the bank, and a 300 attendance on Sunday.

One thing that I have learned about God over the years is that God is still in the miracle business today. I have seen Him bless churches with facilities and building projects that seemed impossible lest He be in it. But, I have also seen ministries run ahead of God and falsely assume that God is completing their entire life work in one year. This unfortunately leads to disappointment and stalled projects.

Now that we understand how much space that we need, what our site master-plan will allow, what ministry statement you want to make with your building, it is now time to think about phasing your building phases to match your financial capabilities.

The scriptures tell us to count the cost before building a tower. In other words, know what your limitations are, not Gods. We both know that God is unlimited as to what He can do. In phasing a project, it is extremely important to design the first phase of a project within the financial capabilities of your ministry. Most institutions that lend to churches understand what those boundaries are and can give you a pre-determined number as to what they will finance you for. Once you have done this, this becomes Phase 1 of your project. You are probably asking yourself, what about the God factor? God can do it all. You are absolutely correct He can, the question is will He? For this reason you have planned your facility in Phase 1 to the maximum of your human capability, having wisdom in many counselors, now its time to watch God work. You may have on your master plan (4) four different phases, of which you can only finance one of them, unless God shows up. If He does then build all four phases, if He does not, then you have at least been faithful in taking the first step of your vision and God has plans over time to complete the rest. This will give you and your people a peace that surpasses all understanding that only God can give.

About the Author
Bruce Anderson is the Florida District Manager of Cogun Inc, a leading design/build firm for churches and Christian non-profits. Cogun has completed more than 600 religious projects in 29 states and is a member of the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Anderson is a nationally recognized speaker, author, and consultant for religious non-profits.

The Cornerstone Knowledge Network is a central source for fact-based, experience-tested information that can help churches clarify their missions, improve organizational leadership and successfully complete building projects. For more information call 1-888-595-7360 or visit www.theckn.com.

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