When you visualize what you want your ideal church building to be, what does it look like? How can you bring that visualization to life? We have a road map to tell you about how to get there, but before starting a building or design project, you need to be sure you’re ready to move forward.
There are three indicators that you should look for to tell you that the journey is ready to begin. Once they are in place, you can move on to the first stop: conducting a needs assessment.
Three Indicators That It’s Time to Build
Starting a new church design, or building project, isn’t as simple as just thinking that you’re ready. These three indicators will let you know if the time is right.
- You have a vision of what you want to do and where your church is going. This is very important, because your new or remodeled church building must serve your vision.
- You have united leadership about the building project. Having everyone on the same page helps the budgeting and design process go much more smoothly.
- You have considered your ministry’s future needs. Your church building is a tool for ministry, so what you visualize for the building project should align with what you want to do with your ministry in the future.
If these three indicators exist, we know it’s a good time to start discussing a building project.
Conducting a Needs Assessment
Now you can proceed with the first step: a needs assessment. This should be ministry-based, meaning that you should look at your current space and determine what it lacks in terms of carrying out your ministry. Does a small space limit what is possible? If so, how much space do you need, and what do you want to do with it? The answers to questions like these will lead to a church design that will truly serve your ministry needs.
Consider leadership as well. It’s not about polling the congregation on what they’d like. We believe that the vision of where the church is going is given to its leadership through God’s guidance. A new church building project should not be about pleasing ourselves—it’s about helping others and ministering to others. So, it’s important that leadership is ready to expand on the vision, rather than just giving church members what they’d like to see.
By first determining how the church building will serve and reach people, the ensuing design will reflect the needs of the congregation and the community. That could mean many different things, like building a school, a recreation center, a senior center, or just updating your current facility—whatever makes sense for your ministry and vision.
Stay tuned as we continue to detail the stops on the church building road map in upcoming articles. And make sure to sign up for our free i3 webinar series, which offers an opportunity to gain greater insights into church building and design and get your questions answered.