Do you ever feel like your church building is working against you? Have your ministry needs outgrown your church building? In this installment of our series on church design transformations, we are going to illustrate how one church was able to remodel part of its existing facilities and begin from scratch with another part in order to meet its changing ministry needs.
Reason to Transition: Changing and Collaborative Ministry Needs
Trevecca Community CON – Before
The Trevecca Community Church of the Nazarene in Nashville is located on a college campus, where the original church structure was built to serve the needs of another era (see the before picture). The sanctuary, for example, didn’t have the flexibility that modern churches need. Its platform was small and crowded. There was no room for any screens, and they really needed to install modern lighting and sound.
In addition, the church had a tiny foyer, which was far too small to provide any space for fellowship or conversation. They also did not have enough restrooms for the size of the congregation. There was some additional space pictured to the left, but it was an attached, converted warehouse building that didn’t meet another element of their church vision: increasing their partnership with Trevecca University.
Matching the Church Building with Ministry Needs
Trevecca Community CON – After
Our church design plan was bold: Tear down the warehouse and build a new church building that would include a large foyer, ample restrooms, and additional spaces to use in collaboration with the university. In this case, the school had some specific needs: dining facilities, practice space for sports teams, and a place for college students to hang out and conduct different types of ministries with the community around them.
Trevecca Community CON – New Foyer
The old, small foyer was re-carpeted and functions as a lobby area for the nearby office. It’s also connected with the new foyer, pictured, which is many times larger and includes lots of bright lighting, casual seating, and a serving café. We installed a large, professional kitchen that serves both the café and the big multi-ministry room pictured. In addition to being an NCAA-sized basketball court, this room holds 750 for dinners and a thousand for a concert or service.
New Sanctuary Church Design Elements
Trevecca Community CON – Multi-ministry Room
In addition to building this new building, we remodeled the existing sanctuary to meet their modern worship needs. As shown in the picture below, we enlarged the platform area and moved it forward, allowing the orchestra to fit into a “pit” behind. We made that new platform movable, so that it could be brought forward if a larger orchestra was needed, or pushed back to add more seating for worshippers at other times. The choir modesty rails can also be removed and a baptistery added when needed, as well.
Trevecca Community CON – Platform Area
We also replaced the pews with chairs to increase the seating capacity. Modern theatric lighting and sound were installed and functional video screens were installed.
Are you ready to work with your church building, instead of against it? Is it time to let your church’s vision drive a new church design? If so, contact us today to begin a conversation about your own church design transformation, and be sure to sign up for our free i3 webinar series to learn more about all we do.