Keeping the main thing the main thing: Churches and building programmes

Every now and then in the life of a church, its facilities may need to undergo significant renovations to accommodate its expanding membership and changing activities. Luke Tattersall shares some of his wisdom and experience on how to stay focused on the important things. Building programme: these two words strike fear into the heart of even the most devoted churchgoer. Few things have the same potential to divide a church like a building programme. They involve lots of money, enormous amounts of time, endless meetings and dozens of decisions. But any church with good facilities knows how helpful building programmes can be. And any church with poor facilities knows how helpful it is to have good facilities. I have had the opportunity to be involved in two building programmes—a whole new church complex and a rebuilding following a fire. From both these experiences, there have been a few lessons I have learned:

1. Keep the main thing the main thing

Firstly, without a doubt, the most important lesson is this: keep the main thing the main thing. Churches are in the gospel business: we exist to see the good news about Jesus communicated in our world. We exist to see those who know Jesus grow in their faithfulness to him. We are not in the property business. We may have property, but we use that property for the benefit of the gospel, not for the benefit of the church. We need to make sure that all our decisions about buildings are shaped by the gospel. Now, if you are wondering what the gospel has to do with buildings, then the answer is: a lot. We should try to make our buildings inviting and friendly. God does not dwell in buildings, and he is not honoured by buildings that are imposing and intimidating to outsiders. Instead, God is honoured when the good news about his Son is made clear to people. Furthermore, we need to make sure that we build buildings that are low maintenance. You don’t want to be stuck with edifices that require endless working bees to clean and maintain them. So keep the main thing the main thing. Keep reminding the building committee that we are in the gospel business, not the property business. The buildings need to serve that end.

2. Plan for the future

Secondly, try to plan for the future. All building programmes need to make decisions with the next five, 10 and even 20 years in mind. This might sound obvious, but it is amazing how often it is forgotten. Without good forward thinking, you will end up with buildings that suit your immediate purposes, but they will end up limiting growth or change in the church. With the building programmes I was involved with, I was conscious of the fact that if we didn’t get it right, we would have to live with the problems for a long time. So in your planning, think about where you would like your church to be in five or 10 years. What facilities do you envisage you will need? It may be less expensive in the long run to add to the building now, rather than to try to modify or extend it in the future.

3. Maximize your asset

In terms of dollar value, church buildings are the greatest asset a church will have. There are plenty of churches that are sitting on large blocks of land—churches that are made up of enormous buildings that cost a fortune to maintain. My denomination, the Presbyterian Church of Australia, have taken some great steps forward in this area recently. They are trying to identify the churches that can better utilize their existing assets, and they are helping them to do just that. How can churches better utilize their assets? Here’s one example: I was involved in the construction of a new church building on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia. We were able to get new facilities and also create rental office space in the complex. This gave us rental income for the short-term and space to grow into in the long-term. ~ No matter what the state of your building programme, make sure you remember to keep the main thing the main thing. We are in the gospel business, not the property business.