Have you attended one of our free i3 webinars? There are several good reasons to do so, and one of them is getting your questions answered at the session’s end. Here are some questions, and our answers, from the recent webinar on developing a clear church vision.
Can you start small and build as you grow?
This is something that can be done and should be considered. Church buildings can be very expensive and doing everything at once can be difficult without deep pockets. That’s where a master plan comes in. A master plan shows you what the first building phase might be, and also what future building phases you can grow into.
See our last post for a church that started small using a master plan and has now grown from 30,000 square feet to almost 250,000 square feet in over a dozen distinct phases—a great example of building as you grow. Starting small and building more later is a smart approach.
When there’s no clear vision, how does the McKnight Group move forward with the client?
To get the most out of your money and church design, it’s best to have some form of a vision or ministry plan, but it doesn’t have to be called a “vision.” That’s just the term we use.
If your church just wants a bigger or nicer building because everybody else has one, you run the risk of wasting your money, not knowing where to put your resources for the most impact. This can easily occur without a strong vison.
When helping a church to find theirs, we often start with questions to get a sense of where the church is going, and who it’s trying to reach. This process frequently leads to deeper conversations about where to go and what to do with the church’s ministries. It helps clarify some things, and it sets the church on the right path.
If you just want a nicer building, that’s okay, too. It’s simply better to have the money you’re spending go towards an overall plan with the end in mind, rather than just piecemealing it here and there.
As we travel around to see churches, we sometimes come across those that did just that, having no real plan or direction in mind. They want us to come in, make sense of all of it, and make it all work together, which can usually be done, but not as inexpensively as it might have in the past. So, beginning with the end in mind and having that clear vision is important.
If nothing else, we can be a catalyst to start those vision conversations and help draw people together. Vision is a very powerful thing. Without one, you can still do a building, but it’s a greater risk and a longer process.
Have questions of your own? We offer our i3 webinars to help with all aspects of church building and design, including answering questions. Sign up here.