what's in a building?

Churches should leave their doors open throughout the week, making use of their facilities for more than just Sunday worship, the Archbishop of Wales says.

Dr. Barry Morgan is scheduled to speak to church delegates Monday at the Transforming Communities and Congregations conference in Llandudno, North Wales, to encourage them to "think creatively" about how their buildings are used.

An article in the Christian Post this morning reveals that the Church in Europe may be having the same re-think-about-how-we-use-our-buildings discussion as many local churches on this side of the pond.

"A church that is closed Monday to Friday is the worst possible advertisement for Christianity," he said, according to BBC News.

Making the most of church buildings includes opening it up for use as conference facilities, for school groups and for counseling services, among other things.

Conference attendees will be introduced to Church in Wales churches that are already adapting, including St. Hywyn's at Aberdaron, Gwynedd, which has been renovated to serve pilgrims making their way to Bardsey Island, as well as local visitors. St. Maelog's at Llanfaelog, Anglesey, built a meeting room above the church for wood and glasswork by local artists, and hosts concerts and classes, as well as worship, as reported by BBC News. And at St. John's in Llangollen, Clwyd, pews were taken out to create a flexible space for intimate or contemporary services.

The idea takes on a slightly different flavor in Europe, it seems, where churches meet in centuries-old feats of architecture. It's more difficult to remove pews or create multi-purpose space in that setting.

But still, the conversation continues: In our increasingly post-Christian, isolated societies, what should a church building be?

seth godin knows

Seth Godin gave a great interview on the Catalyst podcast here. Allow me to reflect some of his thoughts through the lens of church architecture:

"People don't buy products, they buy stories."
Ed Bahler talked about the power of story at the Chicago Cornerstone Conference last September, and it's probably something a church should revisit once or twice a year. What is the story of your church? Is it an exciting story? Is it on your website? Are there "family" pictures from years of ministry on the walls of your living room/third place?

On social networking:
"Friends are not a fad."
Facebook won't look the same in three years, but people like people. This is a plug for your third place space, and for your church's Facebook group. Social networking may seem like a silly teenager fad right now, but those teenagers are growing up with it. Every company and organization has a website, but are you on Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Squidoo?

On bloggers and social network-ers:
People who succeed offer goodness to people who want it, as opposed to those who push it on people because they think they have a right to.
For a generation with a digital, hyper-linked worldview, this principal extends beyond the internet. Are you offering the gospel or pushing it? In a society with so much being offered, is your offer relevant to people's lives? The emerging generation doesn't recognize the Church's "right" to speak into their lives like their grandparents did. We need to engage them.

building for your neighbors

In Breakout Churches, Thom Rainer identifies the VIP (Vision Intersection Profile) factor. It is where the pastor's passions, the congregation's passions, and the community's needs overlap. Churches that break out of the eroding church model are very often those who write their vision and mission in that small cross-section.

And we know that from Kevin Ford's Transforming Church, (and abundant experience) that a ministry building is the outer-most visual representation of that ministry. A church facility should show its community what kind of church this is, and serve the congregation as they serve their neighbors.

Which is why Barna's new study is both interesting and applicable.

American adults have been redefining "church." There are new (however correct or incorrect) ideas of what it means to be the church, to "go to church," and to know God. With these new opinions in mind, it is becoming difficult to assess church health, so Barna is redefining some standards. Instead of "churched" and "unchurched," the Barna group is suggesting:

Unattached - People who have not attended a church or organic church community in the past year.

Intermittents, or "under-churched" - People who have attended a church or organic church community in the past year, but not in the past month.

Homebodies - People who have not attended a traditional church in the past month, but have attended a home church.

Blenders - People who have attended a traditional church and a home church during the past month.

Conventionals - People who have attended a traditional church in the past month, but not a house church.

It's not as clear as "churched" and "unchurched" anymore. The people in your community have a wide variety of experiences and expectations that they're bringing into your church when they visit.

Some characteristics of the "unattached:"

• More likely to be stressed out
• Less likely to feel they are making a difference in the world
• Less optimistic about the future
• More likely to define their sociopolitical views as "mostly liberal"
• Much more likely to believe the holy texts of different world religions teach basically the same things

How is your church building allowing you to serve or minister to these people? How is it helping to attract these people?

motivation

The Pew Forum released the results of their U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Some interesting findings:

• 28% of American adults have left the faith they were raised in for another religion, or no religion at all.
• The number of people who say they are currently unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were unaffiliated with a particular faith as children.
• Of those who report no religious affiliation, the majority (12.1% of the adult population overall) describe their religion as "nothing in particular," as opposed to atheist or agnostic.
  
• One-quarter of young adults (18-29) are currently unaffiliated with a particular faith.

Some of the Forum's observations:
"The United States is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country."

"Men are significantly more likely than women to claim no religious affiliation. Nearly one-in-five men say they have no formal religious affiliation, compared with roughly 13% of women."

"People not affiliated with any particular religion stand out for their relative youth compared with other religious traditions. Among the unaffiliated, 31% are under age 30 and 71% are under age 50. Comparable numbers for the overall adult population are 20% and 59%, respectively."

"In sharp contrast to Islam and Hinduism, Buddhism in the U.S. is primarily made up of native-born adherents, whites and converts. Only one-in-three American Buddhists describe their race as Asian, while nearly three-in-four Buddhists say they are converts to Buddhism."

why have a building?

The Future of Church Facilities has been a hot topic for conversation this week. Barna released and interesting study Tuesday with heavy implications for church space, and without mentioning the research, the topic came up at a staff meeting.

Yesterday, Brad made some interesting observations on the Church Marketing Sucks blog about a student ministry gathering. Apparently it's been in the works for quite a while, but they had a lower-than-expected turnout. He writes,

Gone are the days when event-goers were content with being captivated by the energy of crowds and connected with like-minded peers. It used to be that you could put on an event with awesome experiences (technical) and spectacular content (spiritual) and it would be a winning combination with little competition. These days, events are a dime-a-dozen with often little distinction between purpose, people or participants.

Take a big step back, and I think there's a pattern emerging (no pun intended).

Barna shows us that budding Christians - for whatever reason - don't think they need to attend a church to further their relationship with God. This idea has been festering for years, and what has the Church done? She's kept pace with the social order and turned worship into an experience. Way to engage.

Now it's becoming more and more evident that "events are a dime-a-dozen," and the next generation isn't coming out. They don't starve for social connection like their parents did when they were teenagers, because Twitter tracks their BFF's every move. So what is the Church doing?

It's a question that the western Church as a whole, and that your local church leadership, needs to seriously brainstorm on. Especially if you're in a building project. What is about to dawn that we need to prepare for, plan for, and build for?

10 Most Innovative (3 of 3)

One more observation about the top 10 churches on Outreach Magazine's "Most Innovative" list:

All of the top 10 churches are "broadcast era" churches.

In his epic classic, The Millennium Matrix, Rex Miller divides written history into four basic "eras."

1. The Oral Era. Very few people can read. Tradition - including religion - is handed down through the spoken word. In church, this means stained glass tells Bible stories and sanctuaries are constructed to communicate the majesty of God. Priests tell Christians what they believe.
   
   
2. The Written Era. The printing press changed everything. More people had access to literature, and so many more learned to read. In church, this meant the Bible was in the hands of the laity and they started to have their own ideas. Church buildings became more functional and the Bible, not the priest, was exalted.


3. The Broadcast Era. Television changed everything again. People are learning more by experience than reading, and the popular mindset became less "beginning to end - left to right." In church, this means helping people experience God. Sanctuaries are designed to reflect modern culture and ease an increasingly hostile society into the truth of Christ.


4. The Digital Era. The Internet upset life again ... or is upsetting. "Beginning to end" has been demolished by hyperlinks, and people learn by interaction with others or their subject matter. In church, we're only beginning to understand what this means.

All of the 10 most innovative churches have kept up with the pace of our culture. All 10, at least in some measure, realize that the U.S. is a mission field, and they need to use the native language to communicate.

10 Most Innovative (2 of 3)

We're in the process of reviewing - via very fine-toothed comb - Outreach Magazine's 10 Most Innovative churches, as a people who like buildings.

Only two of the 10 most innovative churches are being innovative about their building.

This surprised me. "Innovative" is developing a connotation that has to do with the latest and greatest technology. Microsites (such as ineed2change.com from Fellowship) and web-based technology (such as youversion.com from LifeChurch.tv) may be the easiest way to innovate, but it's not the only way.

Mars Hill Church in Seattle (#2 on the list) transforms its main campus each December 31 for its annual "Red Hot New Year's Eve" party. They create a safe, dry (except for the champaign at midnight), and really hip environment for New Year's eve. A feat I can't imagine in the the heart of Seattle. Their newest campus is a renovated dance club (which caused a stir in the community), and they're offering pet-sitting during weekend services.

Seacoast in South Carolina (#5 on the Innovative list) is also re-thinking the use of space. From Outreach:

Seacoast Church continues to expand to multiple states and is looking at a micro-site approach, asking how small a site can be and still be a church ... Informal versions of Seacoast have cropped up in non-traditional sites, including submarines and military bases around the world.

Local churches, especially if you're not multi-site (yet?), may find more value in thinking innovatively (yup, made that word up myself) about their buildings.

If you're in a building project, or getting ready to start one, turn your Innovative switch to ON and tape it there. Get your building team together and have some crazy, the-box-is-no-where-in-sight brainstorming sessions (you can reel them in later). Don't just create what you've seen, or what works for Seattle. Ask your team what God has called you to do, what you're passionate about, and what your community needs, and build a facility that will help you do that.

In a region and a time when its easy to just build a cookie-cutter church building, that's innovative.

Multi-Site Exposed

Why become a multi-site church?

The purpose of becoming a multi-site church is to make more and better disciples by bringing the church closer to where people are. The motivation is to do a better job of loving people, including different types of people, with an outcome of making significant advances in obeying Jesus’ Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37-40) and Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Churches report that conversion growth is greater on their extension campuses than at the original campus.

It seems like multi-site churches may be the mega-churches for an emerging generation. The Multi-Site Exposed Conference is coming to Chicago in September, but early-bird registration is only available through February.

Speakers in Chicago this year are going to be Dave Ferguson from Community Christian Church, Mark Jobe from New Life Community Church, and Jim Downing of First UMC in Sedalia, Missouri.

If your church is looking for a fresh way to reach deeper into your community, you might be ready to go multi-site. Contrary to first impressions, most churches do not go to a multi-site model because they are growing, but because they want to grow. Kind of a "if you build it, they will come" strategy ... and it's working.

take it from Jim

Hi everyone. I've been out of the country for two weeks - not slacking off. It's good to be home, and its been fun trying to catch up.

Jim Wideman posted his "Top 10 List for Life and Ministry Management" while I was gone. Several are good tips for building project management:

8. KEEP YOUR PRIORITIES IN ORDER
For a lot of ministries, this comes after actually identifying your priorities and that's okay. Once you get a healthy assessment of your church's situation and realize, for example, that there's a community college across town, keep your priorities in order.

6. PLAN FOR INTERRUPTIONS
Avoiding interruptions is nice, but don't count on it. A permit may take longer than you hoped, or your building committee will refuse to agree on how many restrooms you need, etc.

3. GET SOME HELP
Talk to other pastors who have been through this, talk to us, read a book. "Don't try to reinvent the wheel."

2. PLAN FOR GROWTH
"Remember, people follow people with a plan." People also follow people who are going somewhere. If you're not moving, no one can follow. If your church is building/expanding its building it's probably because you're growing. Think big.

1. PRAY
Amen.

growth is in the eye of the beholder

Usually, a churches takes on a building project because it is growing. After your facility has been renovated/expanded/razed and reborn, your body will probably grow. During the process, maybe not so much.

A building project is a serious analysis of the health of a local church. It will call people out - How serious are you about this place? It is not uncommon for little rifts to crack during a building project, and ya, a few people may leave.

Craig Groeschel, pastor of LifeChurch.tv, has been posting an interesting series of blogs (which are making for even more interesting conversation in the comments sections) called "Leaving the Church." Number 3 in the series recounts one special Sunday wherein Craig taught on the church's vision and lovingly encouraged everyone who didn't think they could sell out to that vision, to consider finding another church. He had information in the lobby on ten other churches in the area that he knew and respected.

The next week, we had about 500 new seats for people who could get excited about the vision. Within a short period of time, God filled those seats with passionate people. Many of those who left our church found great, biblical churches where they could worship and use their gifts.

Also interesting is Jim Wideman's recent blog post titled, "Why people resist change." He lists ten really good insights. Number 7 is, "Change requires additional commitment."

Now, if 500 people leave your church during a building project, something is wrong - especially because your church is probably not as big as LifeChurch.tv. But if a few families get a clearer picture of the vision and direction of your church (and they should), and decide it is not for them, don't get upset about your eroding numbers.

It's easy to read about church growth, and all of Outreach Magazine's "25 biggest and best" lists, and make that the goal. Yes, a healthy church will grow, but it will grow best when everyone is where he should be. Church leaders also need to remember that while you have been made responsible for your local church, the people are Christ's. If someone is not blossoming in your ministry, it is more important that you move him to another one.

So yes, a few families may leave, but rather than conduct an exit survey - help them find a local church that they can get excited about.

build outside the box

Your building is a tool to aid in your ministry. When your church gets to the point of renovating or building a facility, it is because God is moving you to bigger and better things. That's exciting!

In Matthew, Jesus teaches that people don't put new wine into old wineskins, because the wineskin would burst and both would be ruined. "But," He explains, "they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

As you consider how to build a facility that will support the strengths of your ministry, make sure your team is looking forward as well as back. Plan to continue the good work your church is doing, but remember to talk to God about where He's taking you with this new facility. Get creative teams together and brainstorm. Consider your community and ask yourselves what you may be able to do that you haven't already. Trust God to show you what He wants to do through you and build for the possibilities.

Don't take the new thing God is doing in your church and build an old wineskin for it.

Here's an example: Outreach Cinema. "We help you reach your church and local community by providing a turnkey feature film experience that is easy, 100%, safe, and potentially life transforming." You're probably planning to put seats in your building, and many churches are using overhead screens to aid in worship. If you aren't planning for overhead screens, but you think this is something that could really help you reach your neighbors, maybe you should think about those screens.

get passionate, get vision, then build

"Relevance should be the supernatural consequence of Kingdom-living."

There's a great article posted on Relevant Magazine's website titled, Pursuing Relevance. Jason Johnson writes,

The truth, however, is that when we engage ourselves in pursing the Kingdom of God and setting our hearts on becoming a people through which His Kingdom is most effectively able to be ushered into this world, then our lives will supernaturally develop within them a brokenness for the broken, a longing for the lost, a hope for the hopeless, and a love for those who do not know love.

The idea reminds me very much of what Thom Rainer refers to as the "VIP (Vision Intersection Profile) Factor" in his book Breakout Churches. The VIP Factor is where the passions of church leadership, the passions of the congregation, and the needs of the community all intersect. It is where a local church's vision is not developed, but discovered.

So what on earth does this have to do with church architecture? Everything.

In Before You Build, Bill Couchenour emphasizes over and over again that a church building is just a tool to aid in ministry. He encourages church leaders to celebrate the completion of a building or renovation project as a beginning, not an end, because that is what it should be: the beginning of the next thing God has called your church into.

What vision do you have for your ministry? Where and to whom is God calling your congregation? Where do your passions, the passions of your people, and the needs of your community meet? Is your vision a statement on paper, or something the members of your church are living out?

If you're starting or considering any kind of building project, make sure everyone is after the same vision. If your community needs a Christian pre-school program and there are volunteers in your church who love toddlers, maybe you need to add or expand their classrooms/playground. If there's a community college in your neighborhood, maybe you need more Third Place space.

Ed Bahler recently commented on the Cornerstone Conference Blog that,

Buying property or designing buildings without clarity of both 'Code' and 'Calling' is analogous to beginning a vacation without a clear destination ... resulting in the risk of backtracking, wrong destinations, frustration, and hesitation.

National Community Church is an example of a church doing this right. Their vision is to reach the unchurched in the Washington, D.C. area, so they have foresaken the idea of constructing their own church home in order to meet in movie theaters at Metro stations around the city.

facts on growth

Faith Communities Today and the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership (CCSP) has released Facts on Growth - a study of over 14,000 local churches, synagogues, parishes, temples and mosques to see what makes congregations grow (or not). Here are some interesting tidbits:

Tidbit #1: Congregations located in newer suburbs are more likely to experience growth than congregations in any other type of location. (If you're not in a new suburb, we do not recommend moving your church to one just to grow the congregation.)

Tidbit #2: Congregations that are composed of 2+ racial/ethnic groups are more likely to have experienced strong growth in worship attendance.

Tidbit #3: How old are your congregants? Congregations where older adults (60+) compromise 20% or less of active adult participation are most likely to grow. Similarly, larger proportions of younger adults lead to growth opportunities. Read: Your church needs to reach young adults and families.


Tidbit #4: A higher proportion of women is associated with decline. "As was the case for younger adults, the congregation that is able to attract larger proportions of men, who also tend to be less religiously active, is the exceptional congregation - and is more likely to grow."

Tidbit #5: Conservative or liberal? Growth is least likely among congregations that say they are "right in the middle." Only 27% of centrist congregations are growing at the highest level.

Tidbit #6: "More important that theological orientation is the religious character of the congregation and clarity of mission and purpose. Growing churches are clear about why they exist and about what they are to be doing."

Tidbit #7: Congregations that have experienced major conflict are quite likely to have declined in attendance (42% did). The interesting thing here is that minor conflicts didn't seem to have much affect. That's how important it is to not let a little problem get out of hand - 24% important.


Tidbit #8: Make a joyful noise. 86% of the congregations who described their worship as "joyful" are experiencing strong growth, whereas almost 60% of congregations who described their worship as "reverent" are declining in attendance.

Tidbit #9: Congregations that involve children in worship were more likely to experience significant growth.

Tidbit #10: The programmatic activity that is most strongly related to growth is establishing or maintaining a web site for the congregation.

Tidbit #11: Have a party. 44% of congregations that sponsor an event to attract non-members experience significant growth.

digital fasting

In case you're not clear on the role digital networking plays in the lives of an emerging generation - or if you're still holding fast to the idea that our communication medium does not affect our worldview - check this out.

It's an article published on CNN last week that discusses a new kind of sacrifice Catholic young people are making: fasting from MySpace.

"Some of my friends think it's silly, since people usually give up food," said 16-year-old Emily Montgomery, who says she's given up her access to MySpace. "I wanted to give up something that's really hard for me."

Not only is this a fresh perspective on how central networking tools like MySpace and Facebook are in the lives of a digital generation (MySpace attracted 64.4 million unique visitors in February alone), it's a glimpse of culture a couple decades down the road.