Tips and Tricks
Teaching Old Church Buildings New Tricks
Over this gentleman’s objection, the congregation went ahead and invited a facilities consultant to help them find ways to make maximum use of their building. A few months later they had a remodeling and utilization plan that would allow them to grow to 750 with no new construction. A church in Warsaw, Indiana, which averages…
Read MoreConstruction Progress Schedule
Before a professional progress manager will begin a major construction project, one of the first steps to be undertaken is the creation of a Construction Progress Schedule. The importance of establishing a progress schedule can be seen in the saved hours of labor, reduction of construction conflicts by overlapping trades and avoidance of delays in…
Read MoreContracts
What is a “Contract”? A contract is defined as a set of promises. In order to be enforceable, all contracts must contain the following elements:¨ There must be an agreement between the parties, “a meeting of the minds” on the subject matter of the contract. “The subject matter must be lawful.”“There must be sufficient consideration.”“All…
Read MoreBuilding Begins with Vision
Said another way, vision and mission are the starting point and direction for your efforts and will be the lens through which many future decisions must be examined. The vision of the church is a defining factor in many things: property size, location, building form and function being just a few. Before building, you need…
Read MoreMinistry Tip: Demographics Guide Strategies
Most churches are surprised when I disclose through a detailed demographic analysis of the surrounding community that at least 75 percent of the population is adults, perhaps 18 percent are school-age children, and about 7 percent are preschool children. Furthermore, in most instances, at least the majority of households do not have children at home…
Read MoreWhy Plan?
Let me begin by saying that the Church today is in a very difficult situation. Trying to organize the construction of a new building is no doubt a situation in which you have little ongoing experience. This fact alone would not be so bad, except for the fact that the construction industry is continually changing,…
Read MoreBuildings That Are Not Square
It has only been within the last fifty years that circular, octagonal or decagonal style sanctuaries have gained in popularity. As any architect or construction estimator knows, any building that is not a square or rectangle will be more expensive to build and furnish. Here is a simple way to understand why this is true.…
Read MoreStaying Focused During a Building Campaign
“This church is very active and growing, so we’re just about out of space.” (I can see that.) “We’ll need to build soon . . .” (Uh-oh.) “. . . for the preschool we’re starting, our expanding Sunday school, a bigger sanctuary, and a gym. We really need a gym!” To these expressions of enthusiasm,…
Read MoreBuilding Committee Checklist
What is the structural condition of the building? What is the condition of the roof, windows, doors and walls? What is the condition of the major systems of the structure? Are HVAC, electrical, sprinkler, alarm and plumbing systems in good working order? What repairs need to be made to each of these? How many people…
Read MoreMaster Planning
We need a master plan that will facilitate the ministry. Site Capacity Begin by determining the maximum capacity of the site. If all the land can be used (no wetlands or elevations that cannot be developed), we can usually plan on 100 people per acre for church use, not including the major sports areas needed…
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