An already
difficult task becomes quite painful when you don’t understand and
adhere to a good building process. That is why experience is such a valuable
commodity. It does not matter whether you are baking bread, building
a rocket ship or trying to build a church, you get better with
practice because you discover and apply the best practices that make
the job easier and your effort more effective.
If your church follows a proper
process of doing the first things first, then your building
experience will be a more positive and rewarding one. We strongly
suggest you read the article "Insights on Achieving a Positive
Church Construction Experience" listed under the related links
heading at the top of this page.
When most
churches think about building, they jump right into building design;
they call an architect or builder to develop a building plan. This is
often putting the proverbial cart
before the horse, and will often lead a church down a path where
they develop a building plan they cannot afford to build and/or does
not truly meet the needs of the ministry.
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The fruit of a poor process can be bitter
indeed.
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The fundamental pre-construction
process can be summarized in the following points:
- Understand how the vision for
your church dictates a need to build.
- Understand whether it is the
Lord’s timing for you to build.
- Understand what you can afford
to build and how you will pay for it.
- Understand what you need to
build and why it is the right thing to build in order to meet
the needs of the ministry within the constraints of your budget.
- Develop a church building plan
that is defined and bound by the budget and needs of the
ministry.
- Develop or purchase a
building plan
- Complete site engineering and
develop your site plan
- Secure financing
-
Then, and only then, are you
really ready to start construction."
The above is
an excerpt from the book "Preparing
to Build"
Did you notice how far down the
list the step for church plans is found? It is not uncommon for churches to take a "by guess and by golly" approach to the size of their building, which will lead to building too much or too little space. Saving money in church design begins with understanding your real, objective, quantifiable needs balanced against what you can afford. The church needs to understand its needs, and to know what it can
really afford before it starts looking at church building plans or floor plans. It is recommended that the church do a
needs analysis with the help of a church consultant.
