Welcome to Part 2 of our series of “Simply Strategic Stuff”.  As I mentioned last time, these are taken, with permission, from the book Simply Strategic Stuff by Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens.  I strongly recommend that you pick up the book as there are 99 great insights…and we will only be addressing a handful as part of this series.

This post has special meaning for me as it ties in very closely to my new book SUCCESSFUL MASTER PLANNING: More Than Pretty Picture. I also used to do a workshop for the NC Southern Baptist each year entitled “Why Build When you can Grow”.  That workshop was intended to challenge the traditional thinking that you needed an owned facility to grow your church.  Frankly, that is as far from the truth as you can imagine.  Now…if you have explored all of your options and facilities are still the right choice, then by all means pursue that…but do it the right way.

OK…enough soap-box preaching…let’s see what Tim and Tony have to say:

SIMPLY STRATEGIC STUFF #38 – Build Your Church Before You Build Your Building

Those of us who have rented space for church services have heard people say, “Tell me when you are in your own building, and I might visit then.”

But the church building isn’t the church. The church is a living organism. It is the people. It is those who have given their lives to Christ and have gathered locally to make a difference in their communities. There are churches all over the world that have no building or facilities and yet are living, thriving local churches!

Putting up a building before the church is ready could cause troubles down the road. Do the following before you consider breaking ground:

• Define your mission, vision and values
• Build broad ownership of those defined values through your entire core of believers
• Make sure that your leadership team is strong and growing
• Develop a culture of volunteerism
• Develop an infrastructure of leaders and systems that can handle the demands of a facility
• Take the spiritual temperature of your church, and make sure that the people are continuing to take spiritual steps.

Make sure that having a facility will serve the purposes of God in your community. Make sure that it will facilitate reaching more and more people for Christ. Remember, the church is a living organism made up of the people Christ died for.  A building is only beneficial if the people are thriving.

Great insights! I would add that the above truths are not only for churches that are currently in temporary space or rented facilities…but for any church that is considering an expansion or building program of any kind.  The above steps and tenants are universal…use them wisely.

Join us next time as we take a quick break from the “strategic stuff” and  look at the rising cost of construction that can impact not only your building projects but also the maintenance and management of your existing facilities.  See you then.

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