When you hear about a pre-engineered metal building you might think of a simple metallic skinned structure that a church uses for a gym, shelter house or storage facility.  You might also think it’s an economical building for a church, lower in cost to put up compared to other kinds of construction.

The truth is when it comes to pre-engineered metal buildings (PEMB), these kinds of impressions aren’t completely right or completely wrong. A PEMB is a structural system that can accomplish many things.  It can be used to construct a low cost space or for complete structural designs.  The key is knowing how to use this flexible building system in the correct situation, to your advantage.

The McKnight Group has over 35 years of experience putting up pre-engineered metal buildings in a variety of situations. Every so often our knowledge using these structures for church facilities is acknowledged in the form of various awards from the building and manufacturing industry. The McKnight Group has received over 40 awards from pre-engineered metal building manufacturers during those 35 years.

For example, every year A & S Building Systems recognizes outstanding building projects from its customers around the country. Recently, The McKnight Group has been fortunate to be chosen to receive the A&S Award of Excellence twice in consecutive years.

2012 – Brooke Hills Free Methodist Church

This church had been averaging a weekly worship attendance of around 200 people for twenty years when we began working with them in February, 2010. They knew they needed a larger, more modern, technologically-equipped worship space in order to grow. What they didn’t realize until after our assessment was that there were a number of other building-related factors hindering their growth. These included the separation of key spaces by stairs and narrow hallways; the size, location, appearance, and security of the nursery and children’s ministry areas; and inadequate parking with steep grades that fed multiple building entrances.

We worked with this community to create a church building that filled their needs. It included a new 9,662-square-foot addition with a flexible, 400-seat multi-ministry worship center; and we renovated 4,000 square feet of existing space into a safe, modern nursery, and children’s and youth facilities. Outside the spacious and inviting lobby, the parking lot was expanded and graded to allow easy access to the new church building.

The impact was immediate.  After one year, worship attendance had grown by 50%, multiple new ministries were developed by an excited and energized congregation and the church leaders were able to make double payments on their construction loan. Today, they are getting ready to expand their nursery again to meet a still growing need.

2011 – Crossview Church

This church community recognized that their ministry vision could not be contained within their current church building, so they purchased land and turned to The McKnight Group for help in creating an effective and innovative design that fit their vision. We developed a beautiful and flexible 400-seat worship center and a 100-seat, highly flexible community room that handles everything from youth ministries to fitness and community events. We also built convenient and secure nurseries and classrooms, as well as an administrative suite.

Helping them think ahead, we constructed an unfinished shell space for expansion and added provisions for an outdoor theater. Once again, our work helped transform this church’s ministry: The congregation doubled in size in only two years.

To learn more about how we can help bring your church building project to life, register today for our free i3 webinar series, and contact us with any questions you might have.