Remodeling your church is a big decision, one that can be difficult to make because of both real and perceived obstacles. In this post, we look at three of the obstacles we’ve seen church leaders face and discuss how they can be addressed.
Poorly Used Space
One common obstacle to church remodeling is the idea that you don’t have enough room to accomplish what’s needed, but our experience is that churches may have space — they’re just not using it very well. For example, when extra classrooms aren’t being used, they can become storage locations or junk magnets. The space to expand existing programs might easily be found after a big rummage sale or a more efficient storage plan.
Another situation we’ve seen is that a church’s ministries change in size, but the spaces don’t. This means that a shrinking ministry may still be using the largest room in the building while a growing ministry is outgrowing the space allocated to it. This is where a church remodeling discussion can be helpful. Focusing on your church vision for the future rather than the glory days of the past can help make needed changes clearer.
Finally, you can look beyond your church building to the land around it. Is that land being used efficiently, or might there be room to expand your existing church building to accommodate additional ministries?
Church Building Code Upgrades
Whenever you begin a church remodeling project, you need to know whether it’s a big enough project to trigger a building code review. If you’re just tearing out old carpeting or repainting, you’re most likely not going to encounter problems. But the moment you start tearing down walls or changing doors around, you’ll likely need to upgrade the part you are remodeling to meet current codes. In some cases, you may cause an entire church building system (i.e. fire alarm, etc.) to need an upgrade to meet the latest building codes.
Not all code upgrades are expensive. Some can be made with minimal expense. However, the older your church building is, the greater the possibility of incurring an expense you may not have counted on to upgrade your facility to meet current building codes. Therefore, it’s always wise to consult with a church building professional before you begin any church remodeling project.
Lack of Unity about Church Remodeling
As we’ve said many times, your building is a tool for your ministry. People are the critical component for any successful church vision. A lack of unity around your church remodeling project can be a major obstacle to achieving your church vision. In the example mentioned above, if you take the larger space from the ministry that’s declining and give it to the ministry that’s growing, you can create some friction and hard feelings if everyone isn’t on the same page.
This means that one of the first tasks for church leaders when considering a church remodeling project is to get everyone on board with your vision for the future.
Vision is a key component of any successful church building project, so we talk about it frequently in our i3 webinars. If you’re ready to start getting your entire church community on board with a remodeling project or want to learn more about church building, sign up today for our next free i3 webinar.