vision casting

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Review: Your church's building is a ministry tool. It should be built or renovated in order to help your specific ministry do the specific work that God has called you, specifically, to do. It should express and serve the vision of your church, which means vision is important to your building process.

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback sent me an email this morning (alright, I'm subscribed to a newsletter and it probably wasn't even him who sent it). The first section highlighted an article by Pastor Warren called "How to share God's vision for your church."

Vision is important to your building process in two ways:

1. Building projects can put undue strain an unhealthy church. A healthy church, however, is united behind the vision for their collective ministry, and can see how a new/renovated building is going to further that vision.
2. The building project itself needs an acute vision. It's part of your over-arching vision, but let's face it: this is a big project. Just like your children's ministry has a specific vision that fits into the vision of your whole church, your building project needs specific vision.

So while Pastor Warren's "seven things" to help people understand your vision is referring to the first kind of vision, they can easily be applied to the vision behind your building project.

1. Who you are. This is the VIP factor that Thom Rainer talks about in Breakout Churches.
   
2. Where you are going. How does the new/renovated building fit into the bigger vision?
3. Why you are going there. Why can't you do that in your current space?
4. What it feels like to be going there. "To get people behind your vision, you need to communicate to them how fulfilling it will be to join God in what He's doing through your church. People are looking for significance."
5. What people can do. Help people see how they're needed.
6. How you're going to do it. Share the plan with people. Show them the floor plans and the BIM images.
7. What the rewards will be. This goes back to 1 and 2, but months into the process people will need to be reminded. When the new building opens, how will it make our ministry more effective? How will it please the Lord that we've been faithful to do a hard thing in order to expand His kingdom?

For the whole article, with Pastor Warren's comments and explanations on each, go here.

the gothic conversation continues, continued

The Wildesign blog is moving. I've been duplicating posts here to make it easier for you, but at the end of the week I will no longer be doing so. Please update your links and bookmarks, we're here now.

So where do all these ideas get us? No where in particular, but probably closer to understanding what the results of this LifeWay study mean for us.

• We decided that, as much as we might like to, we can't completely ignore LifeWay's findings.
  
  
• It may be possible to capture what the unchurched and the emerging generations like about the cathedral-type spaces without actually hunting down someone who can sculpt gargoyles. We can design the outside of the building to be recognizable as a place of worship. We can create vast worship spaces that reflect the majesty of God, with niches that allow visitors to have an intimate experience. We can incorporate lighting schemes that help transform a space from a public setting one day, to a personal setting the next day.
  
  
• When it comes down to it, we'll continue to do what we've always done. We'll meet the pastor, the leadership and the congregation. We'll survey the neighborhood and the surrounding community, and we'll help the church discover why it's there. From there we can design a facility that will demonstrate the beauty of our God, as well as serve the people He died for.

There simply is no formula. It would be nice to survey the general population once every year or so, get an idea about the trends, and decide on a cookie-cutter church building model that will appeal to the most generic crowd.

But you and your ministry are not called to appeal to the most generic crowd. You're called to the highways and byways; you're called to the suffering and the destitute; you're called to find the lost. We could grab a hold of the latest survey and start stamping out church facilities, but we're called to help you.

the gothic conversation continues

The Wildesign staff had lunch together today, and the conversation about the recent LifeWay study continued. Nothing was resolved just yet, but we got a little closer to wrapping our heads around the implications of the thing. Here are some of the ideas/comments that came up:

• Designers today, church designers especially, frame a building around cultural norms or according to what we reasonably believe the public wants. That's not how early houses of worship were drawn up. Moses' tabernacle, Solomon's temple, and early Catholic church buildings were all designed to communicate God to visitors. Floor plans and decor and vaulted ceilings revealed God's character. The focus was God, not people.
  
  
• It's easy to blame boring or ugly church buildings on "stewardship," but that may be a very western mindset. In Haggai, the Lord gets upset with people for having nice homes while His temple is falling apart. He tells them to fix it up so He can take pleasure in it. As temporary as this all is, God does occasionally take pleasure in what we create.
  
  
• Gothic cathedrals were designed to teach people about God. Stories were represented in art and the structures themselves inspired awe at the majesty and the magnitude of God. Illiteracy is not such a problem today, but young people especially are growing up with no Christian influences. Is there a time coming when church architecture should once again help to demonstrate some of the basics about God's nature?
  
  
• The arts are fading from places of Christian worship and an emerging generation notices. It's not to our credit.
  
  
• On the other hand, none of the exterior pictures that the unchurched were given to choose from is really contemporary. They all have steeples and they're all moderately unattractive. There are no big windows, no adapted store fronts or warehouses, and no landscaping. It looks like they were given one cathedral and three traditional churches to choose from.

So where does this discussion lead us? We'll talk about that tomorrow.

authentage

Mr. Ed Bahler of the Aspen Group has, apparently, been filtering through six and a half Google pages of articles about the recent LifeWay study about church architecture. He points us, via lengthy quote, to one by a Benson Hines - a young man on a mission to explore college ministry.

As an expert on young adult ministry, Hines was not surprised by what LifeWay found. Emerging Church and New Monastic movements are both pronounced examples of young people moving back to a "vintage" faith. His analysis combined with his experience make for a great read, especially for anyone who may be struggling to come to grips with the uncertainty LifeWay has managed to expose.

My favorite part, though, was his use of the term "authentage." I don't know if he made that up, but I like it. And I quote:

"These stats certainly continue to confirm the appreciation for 'vintage' among many in our culture. An old church building is true vintage; it’s even more 'rooted' than candles put on a stage to manufacture a vintage environment. I continue to believe that some ministries could find great success by taking advantage of vintage elements they already possess.

"But vintage best connects with this generation when it’s paired with authenticity. Traditional building plus a 'traditionalist' congregation isn’t a good draw. But historic building plus alive and real congregation can be mighty attractive to somebody who’s into 'vintage' and 'authentic.' I like the term authentage myself. This generation loves authentage."

So how do we build authentage? First, I think we keep in mind the adjectives that the unchurched agreed should describe a church building: beautiful, simple, reverent, and traditional. Second, I think we keep doing what we've been doing for years: discover what God has called your congregation to, and design a building that will be your greatest ministry tool yet.

burning issues (part 2)

So what does any of this have to do with church architecture?

Well, as Kevin G. Ford of TAG points out in Transforming Church, your ministry's building is a symbolic expression of the code, or the heart/identity, of your church - whether you're aware of it or not. The core of who your church is will naturally flow out from leadership to the congregation (via values, mission, strategy etc.), and from the congregation to the world outside (via traditions, marketing designs, and architecture).

In Breakout Churches, Thom Rainer locates this code at the "vision intersection profile" or VIP. The VIP is where the passions of the pastor, the passions of the congregation, and the needs of the community all overlap. The vast majority of churches that break out of the mold of "boom, plateau, erode" found their calling at this vision intersection.

If the passions of the generation that is currently breaking into local churches is in social justice, you know where to start. What social justice need is there in your community, and which of those really speaks to the heart of key leadership at your church? That is where you find the code of your ministry, and that is what you build for.

If unemployment is up in your neighborhood, maybe you need an adult learning center where tutors can set up meetings and people can do job searches online. If homelessness is a problem in your community, maybe you need a commercial kitchen and a multipurpose space that can be secured from the rest of the building for soup kitchens and over-night shelters. If violence is plaguing your schools, maybe you need attractive youth space, a basketball court, or a skate park.

Designing a facility with your call in mind will help your ministry answer that call to the best of your ability. It will also reflect your passions to your community and attract a younger generation who wants to make a difference in their world.

burning issues

The validity of Relevant Magazine in the western Christian community is debated, but the fact remains that it is a key focal point for hip young people who identify themselves as Christians. Or at least Christ-curious. The May/June issue featured a piece called "Burning Issues: You Asked the Questions - We Found the Answers."

They asked a carefully selected response panel (Chuck Colson, Cindy Jacobs, N.T. Wright, etc.) about seven of what teenagers and young adults identified as the most important issues in our society. What is more interesting than the answers offered by renown writers and speakers is what issues were identified as "burning," and the results of the readers' poll on each issue.

I chose three for you this morning:

Q1: Is our focus on social justice out of balance?
RP: 74% of the Relevant target market said evangelism ("spreading the gospel") is equally important to service ("meeting the basic needs of others"). When asked what area the Church needs to work on most, 24% chose "social justice," another 24% chose "poverty," and 23% chose "unreached people."

Q3: Faith - What are the problems facing the Church today?
RP: When asked where the church has shown significant progress, 43% said "social justice," 26% chose "unreached people," and 17% indicated "poverty." When asked which issues they were most tired of hearing about, 33% said "war."

When asked what readers personally struggle with the most, the response was very nearly split between four of five possible answers. The majority (27%) chose "materialism," but "apathy" came in a close second (24%). "Disconnectedness" and "disillusionment" were tied for third at 21% each.

Q6: Consumerism - How do we escape the excesses of culture?
RP: 79% of readers are happy to tithe. When asked what would be most difficult to give up, 66% said relationships and 12% said money.

The other questions focused on homosexuality, political parties, influencing culture, and war. Serious stuff. I'm highlighting these three because they show a very interesting side of the emerging face of Christianity.

They do not separate the gospel with social justice. They believe that when Jesus said "go," He meant it. Those issues that they identify as the ones that the Church needs to work on, are also the ones they recognize the Church has made good progress on. They see that the Christian community is trying, but they're not satisfied yet. Most of them are happy to financially support a local church, but I'm guessing they're not doing so with ministries that do not reflect their passion for the practical work of the gospel.

At the same time, they realize they are being weighed down by the world. They know that they struggle with materialism and apathy. In the face of a digital revolution - where the world is at their fingertips every time they log on - they're feeling disconnected and disillusioned.

(To be continued ...)

church technology from Barna

Our friends at the Barna Group released a new study a couple days ago on the use of technology in churches. The survey covered eight applications: large screens, the use of movie clips, email blasts, a church website, a blog from church leadership, a social networking page for the ministry, podcasts, and training via satellite. Only the first has to do with a church's facility, so that's what I'm covering. For the other seven, go here.

If you're using large projection screens at the front of your worship space, you're in good company.

• 65% of Protestant churches have large screen projection systems in their facilities.

In 2000, that number was only 39%. In 2005, it shot up to 62%. It's strange, then, that the number of churches using this system seems to have plateued.

The use of projection screens is related to the size of the church:

• 53% of churches with <>
• 76% of churches with between 100 and 250 adults/week use projection screens.
• 88% of churches with > 250 adults/week use projection screens.

Mr. Barna muses, "Many small churches seem to believe that new tools for ministry are outside of their budget range or may not be significant for a church of their size. It may be, though, that such thinking contributes to the continued small size of some of those churches."

So while we don't necessarily subscribe to the "if you build it, they will come" philosophy in terms of seating capacity - large projection screen systems may be another story. Your congregation may be small, but that doesn't mean it can't be digital. It also doesn't mean there aren't people outside who need to/want to come in.

If you feel it's something you need to do in order to better reach a post-Christian generation, a very traditional church may need to be eased into technology on a Sunday morning. Don't put up a couple screens and blast people with an elaborate multi-media extravaganza. Put up a couple screens and show one, short movie clip to emphasize the sermon. Don't even use them for worship or sermon notes for a while. Explain your heart to minister to teenagers and young adults. There may dissenters, but - well there always will be.