Been “off-blog” for a bit, and have come to appreciate the discipline, time, and effort needed to truly blog on a regular basis, so hat’s off to you “real” bloggers out there!
At this time of year we often pause, however briefly, to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. It’s unfortunate but true that this is often the only time we stop to really be thankful each year, and I’m as guilty as anyone. This has been a trying year for many around the country and last Sunday NorthStar Church held an “open mic” Sunday and gave people a chance to come up and tell everyone what they were thankful for. There were very few dry eyes in the place after hearing story after story of people giving thanks for God bringing them through tragedies such as divorce, loss of loved ones, personal or family health issues, loss of jobs, and on-and-on, but always beginning and ending with “thanks” to God and their friends in the church who helped them through all these circumstances.
Hearing these stories made me feel even more overwhelmingly blessed to be coming through a relatively “uneventful” year (from a negative perspective). I’m so thankful that I have an amazing wife, three wonderful, healthy children, and a job where I can work with churches around the country. We also just enjoyed a fabulous long Thanksgiving weekend together. For the first time in recent memory we didn’t make the trek back to Virginia to be with family and instead Lisa and I and the kids went and spent Thanksgiving in a secluded cabin in the north Georgia mountains (“How secluded was it?”…Turn off a winding paved road onto a narrow winding gravel road, then turn off onto a single lane dirt road…still called a road on the GPS, then follow that uphill on winding switchbacks until the GPS shows you are no longer on any road at all and you are sure you will never find your way out again, and then go another mile or so and you will dead end at the cabin we stayed at).
We enjoyed time with just us, sitting by the fireplace and roasting marshmallows, playing board games and card games, relaxing, reading, laughing, and having a great family renewal experience. We did drive into the big town of Helen, GA, a unique Alpine village (yes you read that right, look it up or stop by if you are in the area), and saw the town lit up for Christmas and the kids saw Santa.
It was just a great time to unwind, reflect, recharge, and to give thanks for all of our blessings. It is something I should do more often and it shouldn’t take an annual holiday or a getaway to the wilderness to make me remember to do it. What are you thankful for and how often do you remember to give thanks?
Visioneering Studios was honored again this year with multiple Solomon Awards at the annual Worship Facilities Expo conference in Charlotte. Following up on wins in 2007 (Most Innovative Church Facility and Best Overall Church project for Crossroads Christian Church in Corona, CA) and 2008 (Best Church Architect for Central Christian Church in Beloit, WI), Visioneering swept the Solomon Awards in 2009. We took home awards for: Best Overall Church Project and Best Church Design (2,001+ seats) for Mariners Church in Irvine, CA; Best Church Architect and Best Church Design (801-2,000 seats) for Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC; and Best Church Design (301-800 seats) for Northside Christian Church in Spring, TX. Our construction partner on Elevation Church, Cogun, Inc., also won a Solomon Award for Best Building Contractor for their work on that project, where we successfully used Integrated Project Delivery to complete the project. Mankin Media also won two Solomon Awards for their Audio, Video, and Theatrical lighting systems on our project for Southeast Christian Church’s Youth Building in Louisville, KY.
While it is nice to be recognized for projects we’ve done the most important thing to us is that in each case we were able to partner with dynamic churches and tailor a design to meet their unique DNA and serve their specific ministry needs and goals. We love working with churches who love reaching the unchurched…whether they have 5 acres or 100, whether they have 200 in attendance or 20,000, whether they are in a rural small town or a major metropolis, whether they are a church plant or a 100 year old congregation, and whether they are unknown in the “church world” or are a major national influencer. If their heart is on the unchurched and they have a vision and mission to reach them we want to be their first call. So if your church fits one of those categories and you are looking to renovate, build an addition, or start a new campus, give us a call.
Worship Facilities Expo
Worship Facilities Magazine did a cover story on Elevation Church’s new facility in Matthews, NC for their September/October issue. This is one of their three locations where they have 11 weekend services around the Charlotte area. Visioneering Studios designed the adaptive reuse project converting an old Ashley Furniture warehouse into the church’s first “permanent” location. This was a cool project that I got to be a part of, and it gave me a chance to work with some out-of-the-box thinkers who are reaching unchurched people all around the Charlotte area. More pictures are available at my Flickr site.
I hope you are ready to jump into some controversy with me today because I’m going to talk about things that many Christians (and church architects) take personally and seriously…what a church “should” look like. But, I may surprise you with the analysis if you think you know where I’m heading because I work for a “contemporary” architectural design company like Visioneering Studios.
I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. Let’s start with the definition of “church”. Webster’s defines “church” as, “1) a group of Christians; any group professing Christian doctrine or belief; 2) a place for public (especially Christian) worship.” Is this definition in alignment with the Biblical definition of “church”? The Greek word for church is “ekklesia”, which means “that which is called out,” and that is the only word for Church in the whole Bible (and it is only used in the New Testament). Obviously this is talking about the people who have been “called out” and become followers of Jesus. Jesus even said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Wherever followers of Christ gather together there is the church. So, how did we get so confused and hung up on the form and structure of a building that we refer to as the “church” and that to most people, especially non-Christians, is seen as THE church? Jesus’ first “church” services took place on hillsides or beside lakes while he spoke from a boat. The disciples first “church” service (the day of Pentecost) took place in the temple court. First century churches met in houses and wherever there was room for people to gather.
Clockwise from top left - St. Peters, God's Creation, Traditional Church, Metal Box
What we all have to realize is that “traditional” or “contemporary” are just man-made concepts that are totally unrelated to salvation. It may seem patently obvious to state it this way, but Jesus didn’t sit in a pew or a theater seat. He didn’t sing from a hymnal while a pipe organ played or sing with words on a screen while a band rocked out. He didn’t wear a suit and tie or a t-shirt and shorts. He didn’t preach in a church with stained glass windows and a steeple, or in a church with a coffee shop and a video venue.
The message of the Bible is timeless, but the presentation of the message is cultural. Jesus reached people where they were in that day and time in a method and in a location that they could be comfortable and relate to (see John 4:4-26 about the Samaritan woman at the well). I strongly believe that if Jesus was walking around in America today He would be using technology, music, buildings, and everything else at His disposal as tools to reach people where they are.
Northside Christian Church - Spring, TX. Design by Visioneering Studios. Photo by G. Lyon Photography.
Don’t ever compromise the message. Don’t ever change the story of salvation. But, maybe it’s time to look at the method and environment where that message is shared. Is it more important to keep things they way they’ve always been because the people who are already “saved” and are already inside the walls of the church like it that way? Or is it better to find out what will reach those outside of the walls and make them comfortable stepping foot inside the doors of your church even if it makes the “insiders” uncomfortable? Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort to reach out to others? Isn’t that why the church exists? All I’m asking is for you to think about it. Be missional.
Forehand Family - Photo by Cherry Berry Studio
Atlanta Flood - September 21, 2009. Neighborhood next to mine in west Cobb County.
This event was not as big and destructive as Katrina and the flooding in New Orleans, but for those who live in the Atlanta area like me, this is a big deal and hit close to home. Plus it is estimated that less than 10% of those impacted had flood insurance because they weren’t considered to be in a flood plain! To get a sense of what happened just go to YouTube and search for “Atlanta Flood”. The news report below is just one of hundreds of incredible videos and images of this event.
But I don’t want to dwell on the flood itself because I want to use this post to highlight some heroes who have helped in the aftermath. Churches often get a bad rap in the media, and lately the media seems to think the only solution to any problem is some government program. I know I will be leaving out dozens of other churches and thousands of individuals who helped out, but I know of some specific people and churches that I am proud to highlight here. It was uplifting to see these churches mobilize their people and resources to “be the church” and help those in need and I want to give them special recognition.
Shaun King, the lead pastor at Courageous Church in Atlanta immediately jumped in to help the hardest hit people in Austell is southern Cobb County, and even created this website to raise help. Simultaneously Brian Bloye, the lead pastor at West Ridge Church, a large church in western Cobb County is helping to be a clearinghouse for disaster relief with groups like Samaritan’s Purse to get relief and resources directly to the people in need. And now through the social network Twitter, Shaun and Brian have been able to come together and coordinate their efforts, and provide even more help to those struggling through this crisis.
What is your church doing to help those in need in your community? What are you doing as an individual (and I’m asking myself this question as much as I’m asking you)? You may never have the opportunity to help with a major flood or some other big disaster, but everyday there are people in need (hungry, homeless, hopeless, etc.) in every community in this country and around the world. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 25:34-40…whatever you did to help those in need you did for Him.
If you haven’t read part 1 feel free to go back and check it out here. It talks about whether you need to build at all. The rest of these articles won’t be in any particular order. I’ll just be writing them as they come to me, or as readers respond with specific questions or topics they’d like me to cover. Today’s topic is on doing your own thing. What does this mean?
God has given your church a specific place and people to minister to. There is no other church in the world exactly like yours, equipped to serve God and your community exactly the way He intends for you to do it. To borrow a phrase from my friend, David Putman, you’ve got to break the missional code of your community. David co-authored the book “Breaking The Missional Code” with Ed Stetzer. In a nutshell this says that you need to find out specifically what it is that your community needs and be that for your community in order for them to be receptive to the gospel.
Find out what this is for your community and then go be it. Rick Warren was successful with his church model in his specific community in Southern California, but that doesn’t mean you will be successful with his church model in your community in rural Tennessee. Understanding this should give you a sense of relief and freedom, and it should transform your church programmatically and physically. Understanding this will help you see how you can employ intentional and strategic design to best utilize your site and facilities to become the heart of your community.
Don’t let any architect presume to tell you who you are as a church. A good architect will find out what your DNA is and design a solution to meet your specific functional needs as a church…and your missional needs for your community. A good architect will design with the regional context in mind, taking the time to understand what makes a site in Atlanta different from a site in Louisville, or Los Angeles, or anywhere in between. A good architect will investigate and understand the specific opportunities and constraints of your site, and won’t suggest a “stock” plan to plop down on any site and “make it work”. Your church in not McDonald’s, so don’t let your building look just like another McChurch down the road.
If your architect or design-builder brings you a set of “stock” plans to pick from (or a set of plans that might as well be, because it looks just like every other church you’ve ever seen), just remember, you get what you pay for, and what you get may have worked for the first church is was designed for, but you aren’t that church, and it may not work for you or your community. Now what I’m NOT saying is that every project has to be designed from scratch. Each project doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. In fact, I’ll butcher this quote, and don’t know who to attribute it to originally, but I’ve heard it said that good architects borrow 50% of what they design, and great architects borrow 100%.
What this means is that there are so many good design elements in existence in both the church and “secular” world, and there are well established design “rules-of-thumb” for various ministry programs that a good architect can draw from a wealth of resources and knowledge of built environments to pull together the elements into a cohesive, but still unique, plan that is right for your ministry and your community. The key thing for you to look for in an architect is how well they listen to you about who you are and who you are trying to reach. A good architect will help you do your own thing better than you can currently imagine.
“Simple Secrets to Success” is a series (how’s that for extending the alliteration) of “articles” that I’ve been thinking about writing for some time about best practices for church design and construction. In the life of a church, a new building project can either be a great blessing and tool for ministry or it can be an absolute nightmare. If you think your church needs to build, renovate, or move then these articles are for you.
Many of these articles could probably be expanded into their own book, and maybe someday when I get some free time I’ll sit down and write one, but I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, and I don’t know if there’s anyone out there who would care enough to read a book that I might write anyway. So in the interest of brevity, since this is just a blog after all, I’m going to hit the high points and share these “secrets” over the coming days, weeks, and months. By the way I doubt that anything I share here is really a “secret.” Most of it is common sense, but as is often the case, common sense can be clouded by tunnel vision, tradition, thinking inside the box, and “not seeing the forest for the trees.” Hopefully from my experience working with churches all over the country you’ll find some information presented here that will make your project a smooth and successful endeavor.
My first piece of advice is to make sure you really need to build anything at all. This may sound too elementary or too simple. If you’re reading this it is probably because you did a Google search looking for church design or church construction advice because you are already convinced that your church needs more space.
In my experience too many churches look at their current facilities and say, “We’re out of space and need to build a new addition,” or, “We’ve outgrown this facility and need to sell it and move to a new bigger site.” Often I have found when touring their church that they have a very inefficient layout and that some simple first steps could buy them more time and create “space” for growth. Sometimes this has little to do with the building or site, and everything to do with programming or tradition.
If you are only offering one worship service and you are out of space, the obvious answer is to add another service and instantly you have doubled your capacity without building a square foot of new space. As obvious as this is, I’ve heard some churches push back and say that they can’t do this because they would no longer see all their friends (or some other similarly lame excuse). If your church’s goal is in alignment with Jesus’ goal to reach the unchurched then this won’t be an issue.
Other times children’s or adult’s programming can result in supposed space issues. Please don’t take this as a knock on Sunday School classes, because as a preacher’s kid I grew up going to Sunday School every week, but there is nothing more inefficient than a building carved up with dozens of small single-use classrooms that sit empty all but 1-2 hours a week. At current construction prices, can anyone really justify this as good stewardship? Multi-function group rooms with some small group breakout spaces can achieve similar results in less space for less money. Adult small groups meeting at other times of the week either on site or in people’s homes can also not only solve your space problem but increase your impact in the community.
Okay, so the scenarios above don’t apply to you. You already have multiple services, and you have already transitioned from Sunday school to large group children’s environments and adult small groups. The next question to ask is, “Do we really need to enlarge our facility or can we just reconfigure it?” Churches, especially older ones, typically grew up haphazardly with addition after addition with little foresight or planning for the future. The result of this is usually a maze of confusion for visitors and tons of inefficient space. A good architect can help you review your actual needs and come up with a phased renovation plan to help you get the most usable space out of your current building.
Renovation is not the answer to every building need, but after implementing programming changes, it is usually the cheapest and simplest way to buy some more time. Most churches will find it beneficial to enlist professional consultants to help with feasibility studies and to complete a strategic facility analysis in order to determine whether it is time to build and what their true needs are before deciding to embark on the daring mission of undertaking a church construction project!
Check back often for future installments in this series or subscribe to my blog feed. I would be curious to get your feedback on this article or to hear other specific questions or topics you would like me to address in future segments of “Simple Secrets to Success.”
One of my favorite bands, Switchfoot, has a new album coming out coming out entitled “Hello Hurricane” on November 10, 2009. Their first single “Mess of Me” has been released on YouTube as a video with footage from their summer tour. Can’t wait for the full album!
