Part 11: Conclusion – Call to Action

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3. Action. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1: 9 NiV
4. Understand your mission.  What is God calling you to do in your church?  Do you all have a shared vision? Clarify what you need to bless the world around you. Take time to get to a consensus about your purpose.
5. Is your current property helping or hindering? Ask a stranger to look at your building  Could you do more if it was different?  Is it a prize heritage building? If so, lets make it more accessible and enjoyed.  If not, is it attractive and welcoming?  We may be too familiar with our building. Take a look at others.
6. Advice and support.  Who is your independent ally?  Find a mentor who has been there before. Hire a good architect.  Assemble an enthusiastic team.  Seek experienced help. Have an in-house team of visionary leaders.
7. Identify opportunities.  Not all opportunities are obvious.  Architects are trained to think laterally. Allow ideas to be explored.  Test the opportunities against your mission.
8. Apply a process.  Simple brief, Missional identity, Mission Action Plan, Briefing teams or other.  Set milestones.  Ask: how will this enable our Mission?  How will tomorrow’s church use this?  We build for our children and all those who will find faith in the future. We create for the next 50 – 80 years of the church’s life.
9. Identify your solution.  Be clear about how it will benefit mission.  Compare this with current constraints.  Share this opinion.  Paint a picture of the new to everyone.  Communicate clearly. Use computer models, walk through videos, stories, physical models, illustrations and description.
10. If not, what?  Proceed, otherwise the progressives will leave unnoticed one-by-one.  Mission is often disruptive. Preach it.  So listen to each other and to God.  Share what you hear God saying.  Delay and postponement is easy. Do not be tempted to think that you can take forever or the enthusiasts wills leave. Compare with developers who need to build as fast as possible to get a financial return on investment. The church needs its missional return on investment in its buildings. Keep things moving.
11. Obtain funding.  Raise the challenge: cash, pledges, bequests.  Borrow within your means to repay.  Use cash and property assets.  Seek commitment from other users who will rent.  This is the major challenge, to see the investment in mission, not buildings.
12. Build / sell / use / enjoy.  Plan for relocation while building – St Alf’s grew by 100 while in the school hall !  Sell or lease – you are releasing inheritance for redeployment in mission. Celebrate, thank and praise.
13. Mission enabled.  Prepare people for the new work while building.  Hit the ground running.  Invite everyone in and outside to celebrate.  Be clear that this is for the glory of God and to bless the community.

10. Troubleshooting and FAQs -Discussion Resources

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3.  Opposition.  But when Sanballat …, Tobiah … and Geshem … heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”  I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding…”  Nehemiah 2: 19-20a

4.  Encouraging commitment. Set the scene: what’s wrong now.  A spiritual discipline.  Lead by example. As thanks for the past, you are gifting for the coming generation. How is the mission compromised by our facilities now? How could mission be improved with better facilities? Financial commitment is part of exercising faith. The leader team can start the fundraising by their own commitment – lead from the front. The improvements are for the future generations use – we fund them as thanks for our inherited spaces that we have used.

5.  Comfort in status quo. Acknowledge the challenge for all. Embrace the need for change. Mission is not comfortable. Preach creative tension. Paint the picture of a mission-enabled future. There will be no shortage of reasons to do nothing! It is a challenge for all including the leaders. Change is natural. Being on mission is not easy – many missionaries have it much harder. The preaching can prepare the way for change. 

6.  Dissent and fear. Visit dissenters early. Understand their main fear. Are their other concerns just supporting the main one? Seek to get a significant majority onside. Focus fully on mission but acknowledge their emotions. Come alongside any who cannot see the need for change and understand them. 

7.  Delay and inertia. Ask God for a timetable. When you have a clear way forward, take it. Set milestones along the path: claim each of them as victories. Challenge delays, no too-hard basket. Delay and postponement is easy. Do not be tempted to think that you can take forever or the enthusiast wills leave. Compare with developers who need to build as fast as possible to get a financial return on investment. The church needs its missional return on investment in its buildings.

8.  Buildings for us or… For our successors, our children. Investment in future generations. Unwelcoming facilities need renewal. Change is normal. Not for us – for those in need of faith. We build for our children and all those who will find faith in the future. We create for the next 50 – 80 years of the church’s life.

9.  Example- Goodlife Church was established in 2000. It has grown and supports missionaries in many countries. Its facilities have enabled local growth and thereby missionary support worldwide.

9. How can we pay for it? – Discussion Resources

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3. The Challenge. Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai:“Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Haggai 1: 3,4. The book of Haggai tells of God declaring that it was time to rebuild His house. Is God saying that to you? If so it will be His work that you will be sharing in.

4. What are we buying? A place to worship our God. A base from which to launch mission. A home base for gathering as church family .A blessing for the community. An investment in souls including our kids and grandkids.

5. Whole of life cost over 30yrs. Be sure that your design is efficient for the long term to control costs. Illustration is based on findings for a public building by CABE in the UK.

6. Cash in hand. Accumulated capital. Bequests. Specific purpose funds. Grants. Active churches rarely have sufficient funds available to carry out a building project. They may have something to get a process started. They may have a property or maintenance fund. Denominations sometimes provide grants to assist startup but it is the people that will fund the work.

7. Sacrificial giving. Raising the challenge. Getting realistic about building 21stC costs. Getting campaign support. Individual spiritual benefits of commitment. Pressure on normal mission funding. Boosted when construction starts. The example set by Acts 2: 42-47 is very challenging. Dale Stephenson (Crossway Baptist) says that it is important to first sow disequilibrium with the current situation. People need to be given a vision of the improvements the project will bring to the mission of the church. Sacrificial giving has often led people to deepen their faith.

8. St Aldates, Oxford. “Good news – we’ve found the money… Its in your pockets” joked Rev David MacInnes about St Aldates Project, Oxford in 1999. This project started with the senior minister raising the challenge in a paper entitled “Churches Have to Adapt”.

9. St Aldates, Oxford. In 1863 refurbishment borrowing took 15yrs to repay. 2 stage project 1999-2002 cost £3m ($5mAU). Challenging campaign by leaders for one-off gifts, pledges, tithing, loans but no external grants. Focus on mission to the world from the Oxford international education doorstep. Bank borrowing against security repaid in 7yrs.

10. Property check. Is it all useful to mission?. Would it be better to release some value?. How would you redeploy the funds? Are we denying mission facilities for today be holding on to property?

11. Releasing value. The refurbishment costs, internal replanning costs and much more would be realised with this project.

12. Releasing value. From your redundant property. Identify the opportunities. Leveraging best value & managing risk. Sale or long lease. Denominational controls. Missional development masterplanning. Releasing the value of underused property may enable new mission needs to be met. Getting value and controlling your adjoining uses will need to be managed.

13. Tax & financial control. Finance skilled project member / leader. Set up banking & records. Understand tax relief opportunities. Register for GST tax rebate. Your project team will need someone with financial control skills.

14. Borrowing or shareholding. Should we borrow and rent or save and buy? Which is the better investment in souls now? Borrowing may be time restricted. Sharing ownership with members through superannuation could be investigated. There are creative ways of using member’s dormant assets.

15. Willow creek. Part of Willow Creek’s children’s centre.

16. Willow creek. Started with 125 people in a rented Chicago cinema 1975. Around 100 families mortgaged their homes in 1977 to buy the site and start to build. Moved in 1981. Now on 9 sites and with a world-wide ministry. This started with faith and deep financial commitment.

17. Combinations. Most projects involve: 2 or 3 fund-raising campaigns for cash and pledges from members, Borrowing from bank or other institution. Some one-off financial gifts or grants. Any accumulated savings. In addition some use funds from property sales.

18. St Alfred’s. Built in 2007 this new complex now serves membership of 630 (it was 250 in 2000).

19. St Alfred’s. Firstly paid off past building debt. Declared a vision and commenced design. 3 fundraising campaigns over several years. $1.6m pledged before construction. $3m construction cost in 2009. Long term loan but paid off in 5yrs.

20. Involve everyone. Involve all members so that everyone is an owner…but don’t rely on jumble sales alone. Serious commitment by many is needed. Start with significant commitment by leaders. Always focus on Mission outcomes. Develop a movement but maintain $ anonymity.

21. Communicate. Keep everyone informed and praying – it is their money. Host a walk around the site to describe the future changes to groups of members. Paint the picture with images, plans, video, words, experiences, progress reports. Celebrate together at stages. Seek out a good communicator to lead progress report messages and celebrate wins. Also tell people about problems and invite prayer to overcome.

22. Summary. Be wise with all assets. Test against mission.. Disequilibrium then lead a vision for mission.. Raise the challenge clearly. Combine assets with sacrificial giving & loans.. Learn from others and involve everyone.. Communicate and celebrate. Establish a project team to drive the project.

23. From gifts…When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. John 6: 12,13. This miracle has parallels with raising funds for property to serve mission.

24. Next Time; Troubleshooting and FAQs.

 

8. What are the Processes? – Discussion Resources

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Questions and comments relate to the following slides:

3. Nehemiah – Yearning and prayer ch1 / Vision and permits 2 1-9 / Local opposition Neh 2 10, 19 / Site inspection Neh 2 11-15 / Enlisting support Neh ch3 / Toil & trouble Neh ch4-7/ Celebration Neh 8 / Putting it to use Neh ch10. The book of Nehemiah is a story of creative tension, a sense of unease with the current situation. Then a process develops to solve the problem. This has parallels with changing or creating property for mission.

4. Mission facilities alone: This 3 stage process focusses firstly and primarily on clarifying each church’s specific Mission. Then Stage 2 develops a brief and then develops a masterplan solution with high-level design workshopped together. Stage 3 is the normal design and construction process run by your architect.

5. Mission facilities and development: Stage 1 is the same as previously. Stage 2 is also similar but involves advice from a development consultant on the potential of the property to contain “Enabling Development”, commercially beneficial development that will create income to assist in funding the mission development.

6. Stage 1 – opportunity: Identify your own mission. Critically assess your property in service of your mission. Review any previously identified needs. Develop a property strategy. Explore the property opportunity with an architect. Your own local mission is the basis for any building works or redeployment of property.

7. Skills needed: Most churches have inherited a property opportunity. This may not be obvious to the local church. Professional assessment of the potential offered by your property is needed. What could be unlocked?. Requires experience, lateral thinking and design skills. Your church needs a project champion and support team with vision who can lead from within.

8. Solution masterplan: example

9. Stage 2 – solution: Develop an accommodation brief to serve mission. Architect to develop a preliminary design based on your mission, strategy, brief and opportunity.. Workshop the proposals with the church leaders. Review and finalise a masterplan with costing. Present and equip all leaders as ambassadors for the project.

10. Mission facilities and development: This church needed $6m for heritage restoration and replanning. The IMDM process showed that apartment development would have provided between $8m and $15m to the church in addition to costs and a developer profit. Without the process, the church may have been offered $6m to meet their needs.

11. Mission facilities and development: example. The process considers how the interface between the mission and commercial developments can be mutually beneficial to both occupiers in addition to basic value.

12. Enabling development: Using the value from your site opportunity can enable you to expand your facilities.

13. Stage 3 implementation: Stage 3 takes the masterplan and proceeds to implement the first stage of the masterplan. This can be led by your architect. If you have enabling development, this is usually the point at which to first select a developer and establish a legal agreement before designing and moving on to permits.

14. Maintain & OHS: Insurance – basic stewardship of your inheritance. Have a health and safety plan – consider all risks. Establish a maintenance plan with regular gutter cleaning. Design can enhance security. St Barnabas Broadway’s new complex was partly funded from the insurance claim after the fire that destroyed the heritage church building.

15. Masterplanning: Do this before commencing any building work. Ensure that every small project will contribute to a greater whole.. This ensures that no work has to be undone or becomes a barrier to effective future mission. If mission changes, review your masterplan.

16. Next time: How can we pay for it?

Part 7.2 What are the basic design considerations – Auditoria and Gathering? – Discussion Resources

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3. Building for purpose: “Build a boat for yourself out of good timber: make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. Make it 133m long, 22m wide, and…” Genesis 6 14-15 GNB “… Solomon began work on the temple. Inside it was 27m long, 9m wide and …” 1 Kings 6 1-2 GNB. Getting the design right was important to God.

4. Gathering spaces: Should they be themed (eg Kids) or neutral? Borrow kids’ space and rejoice that you have kids at church Matt 19: 14. Room size needs to suit group. Intimacy is encouraged by smaller size. Creating comfort shows you care. Retail and business knows about caring for and engaging its customers. Church can learn from this.

5. Kids spaces …should be fun like this US church.

6. Meeting spaces: This is the cafe space in a Launceston church.

7. Worship auditorium: “A place for hearing” but also for seeing and for participation. Sense of transcendence. Sense of worshipping together. Direction of focus towards leaders and visual imagery. Is it acoustically successful? Here are some key considerations. These apply to traditional or historic interiors as well as modern ones. How does your church worship space perform against these criteria? Have you been in more successful ones?

8. Heritage auditorium: This heritage interior is reconfigured for different uses.

9. Future worship auditorium: Larger auditoria need to carefully consider view-lines from seats and closeness to the platform for as many people as possible as well as many other issues.

10. Worship c/w theatre: Consider the basic principles for worship compared with theatre.

11. Fixed seating; Required if sloping or tiered floor. Sloping floor may be needed over 700. However European cathedrals have chairs. No flexible use of the room – restricts. Tip seats assists cleaning. Pews restrict alternative uses & may be uncomfortable. There are many other considerations – these are just a few.

12. Fixed seating: For a large church, fixed seating will normally be needed for many reasons.

13. Movable seating: Flat floor auditorium allows reconfiguration. Often enables heritage building to be used more widely and often in the life of the church. New building viable up to 500 – 700 seats. Chose comfort, ergonomics, lightweight, stack-ability, clean-ability and aesthetics. Cheap seats may be less easy to move/store and restrict use or require more labour. Consider the wider economies and benefits.

14. Movable seating: …can make your building more useful.

15. Shape: More people can gather within 20m in a fan shape. Screens important for speaker’s facial expression at 20m and beyond. 900 and 1350 engage people better. Greater than 1350 is less successful at the perimeter.

16. Shape: Seeing fellow worshippers faces. Many people close to platform (20m limit). Clearly seeing screens (if used). Height can convey transcendence. Sound desk location to be subservient. People cannot see the leader’s facial expression beyond 20m away. Cameras and screens become necessary. Screen orientation and distribution become important for everyone to be engaged.

17. Heating & cooling Heritage church will have negligible insulation so heat rises to roof and escapes. Warm and cool the people, not the building. Engage the thermal mass for cooling. Full a/c to 220 is very costly to install and run for a large auditorium. Instead be sustainable. Sustainability and running costs are vital considerations. Comfort can be within a range.

18. Lighting: Daylight must be controlled, but view to landscape can be beneficial. Reveal a beautiful heritage roof structure with lighting and colour. Light the room differently for alternative uses. Externally highlight your entrance.

19. Lighting: Careful mix of daylight and artificial lighting can be successful.

20. Next time: What are the processes – Part 8

7.1. What are the basic design considerations for entry & hospitality? – Discussion Resources

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3. Building for welcome “Remember to welcome strangers into your homes. There are some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it” Hebrews 13 2 GNB “…an elder must…be hospitable and love what is good”. Titus 1 6-8 GNB -Welcome and hospitality are key characteristics of the church.

4. Entry & welcome: What makes a building appear inviting? How does a person in the street see your church? Is it inviting and welcoming or foreboding and private? Would it be OK to go in, sit down, check my social media and then leave? Apart from church, what other buildings to you enter and feel welcome in? Think of a building that you entered for the first time recently. What did you look for?

5. Entry & welcome: Transparency is inviting. Nothing to hide and open to all.

6. Entry & welcome: At this new church a shortcut path was created from the pedestrian crossing to the bus stop bringing people as close as possible to the glass entry doors, encouraging them to look inside.

7. Hospitality: Can I see food and signs of good coffee? Do they want me in here? Can I see what they are about and if it suits me? What makes them tick? Do they have fun? Is it meaningful? Your building could give answers to some of these questions

8. Hospitality: This church is on the edge of a business Park and opens its foyer café each weekday.

9. Foyer: Place for welcome and hospitality. Place for gathering after worship. Consolidates your worship into weekly reality as you catch-up with others. Furniture & space must encourage socialising. It either says “stay” or “go home”.

10. Kitchens: Full catering and hybrid domestic depends on your planned usage.

11. Kitchens: Full catering standard or hybrid domestic? Complying with environmental health. Will others beyond our members use it? Who is responsible for hygiene? How do we avoid health risks? How many are we catering for? Regulations will determine if a full catering kitchen is needed but they are costly. They should be used often. They have no concealed spaces – everything is cleanable. Need to comply with statutory food authority standards and hybrid domestic may be OK.

12. Different uses: Find out how many concurrent activities will be able to take place.

13. Actions: Discuss all these issues with your architect. Ask what activities have been planned for? Ask how can it be used Sundays, weekdays and evenings. Ask what message will this building convey?

14. Next time: What are the basic design considerations for auditoria and gathering – Part 7.2

 

6. Who has the skills to help? – Discussion Resources

Questions and comments relate to the following slides:

3. Skills: “But our bodies have many parts and God has put each part just where He wants it” ( 1 Cor 12: 18 NIV) “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it (1 Cor 12: 27 NIV)

4. Church leaders: Committed pastoral leader / Trusted project team leader / Small team of visionaries / Financial expertise / Clear communication back to all members

5. Stakeholders: All Church members / Council & Heritage Authority (as Req’d) / Denominational body / Neighbours & wider community / Potential building users / Financial institution

6. Architect: Check your site / Design to support your mission / Present to your people / Obtain your permits / Engage your builder / Certify progress and completion

7. Master planners

8. Architect & others

9. Identify opportunities: If we don’t need all our property for mission, can we realise value? / An architect can identify potential. / How could we use the value? / Who would be a good neighbour?

10. Ask other churches: What did you learn? / What went well? / What were your challenges? / What would you do differently? / How did you raise the money?

11. Actions: Stir a vision for mission / Select a respected, visionary project leader / Select a small project team / Appoint a suitable, trusted architect / Ask others and press on.

12. Next time: What are the basic design considerations?

5. What are our Opportunities? Discussion Resources

Questions and comments relate to the following slides:

3. Opportunity – A time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something

4. Decay is normal

5. Preservation – Decay is normal. Change is normal. Preservation (like taxidermy) is not normal but may be desirable in a few cases. Building maintenance is a responsibility.

6. Conservation is “The process of maintaining and managing change to a heritage asset in a way that sustains and where appropriate enhances its significance” according to Historic England.

7. Significance – Heritage value depends on Cultural Significance: Aesthetic – attractive, distinctive, style, Historic – architecture, art, events, achievement. Scientific – archaeological . Social – community, landmark. Spiritual – belief system, knowledge. Each can be assessed High to Low. (Burra Charter)

8. Adapting Heritage churches – Churches need to make their own case for change. Careful change will allow: Aesthetic – retention of the basic aesthetic in street Historic – continuous use by original owner Scientific – structural volume retained Social – retains local community identity Spiritual – long term local belief system celebrated Otherwise failure to meet 21stC needs will lead to redundancy and likely greater change.

9. Why change? – Society has changed. People gather in different ways from when heritage churches were built. Music, visual aids, comfort expectations, lighting, sound, catering and alternative uses bring new challenges.

10. Location – Many heritage church buildings have prominent locations in city centres with people passing by. Heritage and contemporary side-by-side makes a powerful statement about the longevity of faith and its relevance to contemporary life. Use the heritage to speak of the message – interpret the history within.

11. Drivers for change – Flexibility of layout. Welcome & hospitality. Comfort expectations. AV needs. Sustainable multi-usage by church and others – any building used only 5% of the week will not pay its way.

12. New church opportunities – New building on a green or brownfield site. Meet another need, eg. sports facility. Adapt another building – industrial, etc. Take over a redundant church building.

13. New-build Issues – Car parking land requirement & cost. Opportunity for sharing? Engaging the wider community. Distinctive & sustainable – landmark? Involve an architect in selecting a site.

14. Enabling development – If you don’t need all your property for future mission, realise some value to re-invest.

15. Next time: Who has the skills to help?

 

 

4. Is Our Building a Help or a Hindrance? – Discussion Resources

Questions and comments relate to the following slides:

3. Is our building obstructing our mission or is it enabling it?
4. Many church communities have inherited buildings like this
5. But what is the task given to us by God? There are some basics and some specific to each church group. What is our Missional DNA?
6. Site, buildings, rooms can each be reviewed against DNA by the users.  Engage leaders in usefulness testing.
7. History –  Been in use for many years. Built as the pride of the community when Christian faith was the default. Originally conservation was the prevention of change. Now considered to be the careful management of change. Did Jesus ask us to be curators of heritage buildings? Are we distracted by preservation?
8. Fortress or welcome? – Only open for a few minutes a week. Closed up and no seeing inside. Is it a private religious club?
9. This church building has been converted to apartments. The lofty wide span internal volume is gone. The need has gone and the shell remains an architectural icon. New churches are being accommodated elsewhere.
10. The early church borrowed public buildings. Later, church buildings were used as the community centre with worship as Sunday use. Then the sacred space concept – all other gatherings elsewhere. With passing of Christendom they became isolated anomalies for private use.
11. Where do people gather now? These are some new architectural icons for gathering.
12. Cafes, pubs and it can be churches if they are opened up.
13. What can we learn from retail ? Transparency and openness. What message do we send?
14. More retail knowledge: how do visitors respond to what they see, hear, smell as they enter? Compare a shop that you use with your church?

3. How Can Property Serve Mission? – Discussion Resources

 

Questions and comments relate to the following slides:

3. What role do the churches buildings have in supporting the Church’s mission?
4. For 2000 years we Christians have gathered. Why?
5. The room in which we worship our God can encourage us in our relationship with him. Issues of focus, concentration, transcendence, symbolism and simplicity may help in expressing our appreciation for the relationship. What helps us in our worship?
6. Have you tested your concept of Sacred Space? Is it based upon traditional usage? Do you use a multi-purpose room for worship? Ask, “What activities are we comfortable to have take place in our church buildings and why?” Here is one church’s conclusion.
7. Many church leaders say they, “…lose people on the way to coffee”. Fellowship time before or after worship consolidates the worship experience into everyday life and promotes caring for one another. A hospitality foyer adjoining the worship space encourages church growth.
8. The size, shape and furnishing of rooms can encourage or discourage relationships. Different size gatherings need different size rooms. This church has rooms for gradual size increases from 2 to 360 people. 80% to 40% rule applies (see MPSM book Ch 31).
9. What does your building say to the people passing by? “Been here a long time and now completely irrelevant”? Or perhaps, “Something happens here that has stood the test of time and is now relevant to contemporary life”?
10. Is there a sense of transparency, welcome, the offer of hospitality, does it invite curiosity? Or is it closed up, looking like the private member’s club, rarely open?
11. This church built a café and conference centre together with a children’s play centre. They run special events for families, giving parents time together over a meal to help build their relationship. This ministry developed following several suicides in the locality. How does your church use its buildings to bless its neighbours? Who would you like to encourage over the threshold.